tstone
03-01-2008, 10:47 AM
The day finally came. No one is sure exactly where it started, though in the aftermath, we've got an idea. But one day, a frickin' horror movie came to life. From China, to Tibet, to outbreaks in every major population center in the world, spreading outward, the dead began getting up again. And they wanted to eat us, the living. Warm, homeostatic life systems, scurrying before the shuffling, stumbling, moaning, groaning hordes. Modern battlefield weaponry, marginially effective against them, definitely weren't getting our bang for the buck. At Yonkers, we couldn't stop them, the highest tech armored force the US Army could muster, devastating to any other Army in the world, they just kept on coming.
Russia, Israel, South Africa, on and on and on. We took to the high ground, to the sea, even space. And they just kept coming.
It looked like it was truly the end of it all...
And that's the scenario for Max Brooks' "World War Z". A global scale zombie outbreak that takes advantage of chinks in modern civilization, from closely packed populations, to rapid transportation, to a general disbelief that such a thing is even possible. And then, it's a wildfire out of control.
The book is composed of a series of recorded interviews taken by a surveyor sponsored by the United Nations after the war. They wanted as much hard data as possible to try to study the event. The narrator then went on and published the "annecdotal" information, the actual stories these people told.
The depths and heights of the human soul are examined in the conflict. The plague is helped spread by human smugglers. Its aided and abetted by companies which offer fake vaccines against the spread of the contagion.
You see people seeking safety among each other, then turning on each other as things get more desperate.
You see the armed forces of various countries dealing with daunting situations that their training, doctrine and equipment simply don't initially prepare them for. And governments taking extremely desperate steps to try to ensure SOMETHING survives on the other side of this crisis.
But there is hope. You do see human nobility and perserverance in this crisis, as well. From an Air Force transport pilot who bails out from her plane in Indian Country and depends on a mysterious voice on her radio to survive, to a Chinese ballistic missle submarine crew who takes to the sea for survival, and manages to find light on the other side, despite having to take up arms against their own government.
And finally, you see those who push themselves past the point of ordinary human endurance, just to see this crisis through. Astronauts on the International Space Station, keeping their lonely vigil to safeguard Earth's satellite network, infantry on the line who keep on going, holding the line, despite their minds deteriorating under the onslaught. And other tales just as heartbreaking.
This is not what you call an optimistic story, World War Z. But it is one that is definitely hopeful. The Earth is in trouble when the book ends.
But not in as much trouble as it was when things started.
Excellent book. Max Brooks made me a zombie fan, when I previously wasn't.
BTW, I got to interview Mr. Brooks on my show. I compared the book to the New Battlestar Galactica, dark but hopeful. He liked the comparison.
He cited two primary inspirations for the book on what he saw on 9/11 and the weeks after. He was in NYC that day, as a staff writer that season for Saturday Night Live.
Another inspiration came from wartime tales from his father, the legendary Mel Brooks, who served in Europe in the US Army during World War 2.
Russia, Israel, South Africa, on and on and on. We took to the high ground, to the sea, even space. And they just kept coming.
It looked like it was truly the end of it all...
And that's the scenario for Max Brooks' "World War Z". A global scale zombie outbreak that takes advantage of chinks in modern civilization, from closely packed populations, to rapid transportation, to a general disbelief that such a thing is even possible. And then, it's a wildfire out of control.
The book is composed of a series of recorded interviews taken by a surveyor sponsored by the United Nations after the war. They wanted as much hard data as possible to try to study the event. The narrator then went on and published the "annecdotal" information, the actual stories these people told.
The depths and heights of the human soul are examined in the conflict. The plague is helped spread by human smugglers. Its aided and abetted by companies which offer fake vaccines against the spread of the contagion.
You see people seeking safety among each other, then turning on each other as things get more desperate.
You see the armed forces of various countries dealing with daunting situations that their training, doctrine and equipment simply don't initially prepare them for. And governments taking extremely desperate steps to try to ensure SOMETHING survives on the other side of this crisis.
But there is hope. You do see human nobility and perserverance in this crisis, as well. From an Air Force transport pilot who bails out from her plane in Indian Country and depends on a mysterious voice on her radio to survive, to a Chinese ballistic missle submarine crew who takes to the sea for survival, and manages to find light on the other side, despite having to take up arms against their own government.
And finally, you see those who push themselves past the point of ordinary human endurance, just to see this crisis through. Astronauts on the International Space Station, keeping their lonely vigil to safeguard Earth's satellite network, infantry on the line who keep on going, holding the line, despite their minds deteriorating under the onslaught. And other tales just as heartbreaking.
This is not what you call an optimistic story, World War Z. But it is one that is definitely hopeful. The Earth is in trouble when the book ends.
But not in as much trouble as it was when things started.
Excellent book. Max Brooks made me a zombie fan, when I previously wasn't.
BTW, I got to interview Mr. Brooks on my show. I compared the book to the New Battlestar Galactica, dark but hopeful. He liked the comparison.
He cited two primary inspirations for the book on what he saw on 9/11 and the weeks after. He was in NYC that day, as a staff writer that season for Saturday Night Live.
Another inspiration came from wartime tales from his father, the legendary Mel Brooks, who served in Europe in the US Army during World War 2.