World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks is a narrative of the fictional Zombie War as told by a myriad of survivors—politicians, soldiers, policy makers, doctors, or just regular people who happened to think on their feet or were merely lucky. (The premise is basically Studs Terkel but with zombies). It begins with the first recorded case of a zombie in China. Each chapter is another person telling a small bit of history from their perspective—the spread, the illusion of safety in the United States, the official policy that governments adopted of creating small safe zone while using the rest of the populace as bait, military strategy.
The amazing thing about this novel is that it seems so incredibly, disturbingly real. Everything that is described, as chilling as it, seems plausible. These stories are tiny little windows into the larger human experience of how mankind might deal with such a calamity such as this—there is terror, ugliness, greed, but also some kindness and hope.
While I occasionally wished for a more linear storyline with reoccurring characters, this format was extremely effective in immersing the reader in the war against the “Z’s”. If you’re a fan of zombies and a multi-perspective narrative style, this is a must-read book.
Five stars
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I've seen this one around and thought it looked kind of strange but after reading your review I may have to pick it up. Thanks!
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