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barbarianmissy 's review for:
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a very unique read. I really enjoyed the premise being that this whole book was written by a member of the UN who was sent out to collect facts from survivors post-zombie war; but in hearing these survivors stories the “author” decided to publish the interviews he conducted to allow for a “human factor” to be documented aside from the simple facts.
The actual book was then a collection of interviews from “all over the world” and there were definitely some ok stories and some major stand outs. I found the more unique premises much more interesting (such as a blind man, a movie director, and an astronaut, etc). Whereas a few of the military/political stories lost me a lil bit with the jargon. I understood they were there to provide context for the rest of the stories but I found them lacking in the human factor they were supposedly “published” to present. It can be a bit hard to get attached to any one character when each person’s interview is only a few pages long.
Overall I really liked the flow of the book. I’d never read a book that was fully written in interview style and that was really neat. It was cool to see how the author wrote the entire flow of the war (pre, during, and post) through all these different cultural lenses and perspectives while also building a cohesive world WHILE ALSO dissecting true human nature. Seriously, them zombies be spooky, but them people be even spookier.
Thanks Paul for the recommendation and loaning me your copy! It was a really good palette cleanser read!
The actual book was then a collection of interviews from “all over the world” and there were definitely some ok stories and some major stand outs. I found the more unique premises much more interesting (such as a blind man, a movie director, and an astronaut, etc). Whereas a few of the military/political stories lost me a lil bit with the jargon. I understood they were there to provide context for the rest of the stories but I found them lacking in the human factor they were supposedly “published” to present. It can be a bit hard to get attached to any one character when each person’s interview is only a few pages long.
Overall I really liked the flow of the book. I’d never read a book that was fully written in interview style and that was really neat. It was cool to see how the author wrote the entire flow of the war (pre, during, and post) through all these different cultural lenses and perspectives while also building a cohesive world WHILE ALSO dissecting true human nature. Seriously, them zombies be spooky, but them people be even spookier.
Thanks Paul for the recommendation and loaning me your copy! It was a really good palette cleanser read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic