February 10, 2008

Book 4: World War Z

World War Z
Max Brooks

Thankfully, I'm picking up the pace quite a bit here, and with mind-blowing entertainment too. World War Z has everything: a clever concept executed with amazing clarity, gripping narration engrossing yet effortless, a compelling human interest story, good writing, a touch of black humor, and a combination of hope and cynicism that would astound Hemingway. I was a bit worried while approaching this book; in fact, I laughed it off. A book about a zombie war, by the son of Mel Brooks? Well, hey, I had to read it for class. Having finished the book, I wish to ban my ignorance forever to the wayside. This book is amazing and strong from start to finish. Brooks is a master of adaptation and movement, tracking a zombie plague throughout the globe and nailing international relations as well as intricate human relationships. Brooks deals with concepts as familiar as love and as unfamiliar as, well, a zombie apocalypse. He may have chosen a niche topic around which to weave his tales of violent upheaval and worldwide panic, but his excellent authorial skills should not be dismissed and instead lend the somewhat marginalized topic of zombies a piece of credible, highly executed art.

From the first page of the book, I knew that Brooks had chosen exactly the right medium in which to tell his story. By compiling a selection of interviews, Brooks is able to present the multiple viewpoints modern readers should expect with an event of this scope. Instead of limiting his story to the United States or even expanding to Europe or Australia, Brooks provides a truly worldwide outlook on a colossal global event, made possible only through the globalization utilized to brilliant ends within the book. By beginning in China, Brooks roots out the very beginning of the problem and sets off the chain reaction he will follow around the globe as the contagion spreads. More importantly, he thinks outside of the realm of the particular interview at hand and includes references to future or past interviews that, taken together, provide a complete view of events. Brooks recognizes both the strengths and weaknesses of oral interviews as a source of information and exploits both brilliantly, adding insightful satire and critiques without becoming too overbearing (usually). A few references to the Iraq War become a bit cumbersome and are too transparently linked to the views of the author (though I happen to agree with them), but authorial presence is usually held to a minimum in the book. That presence that Brooks does show is usually filtered through the lens of the interviewer who has collected the data available here; adding this voice gives the book an extra dimension of realism.

This realistic take on such a cliched and overly fantastic subject as zombies is shockingly effective. Brooks uses the viral strain of zombie history and links it into current fears about potential bird flu or SARS pandemics. The path he traces is realistic and recalls the spread of other diseases. The actions of the different countries most represented (particularly the United States, Russia, and China) seem to be realistic extrapolations based on their current conduct. Is it so unbelievable that China would do all in its power to hide news of the spreading crisis (just think of the more benign toy contaminations) or that Russia would revert to a pseudo-Romanov "Holy Russian Empire"? Brooks presents much of the darker side of human nature but is so compelling and so blatantly honest that readers have no choice but to go along for the ride and accept the story as it unfolds. It is, in fact, shocking to be drawn out of the narrative universe and back into the real, zombie-free world.

Brooks's speakers are likewise incredibly real and broadly representative. There are doctors, statesmen, everyday survivors, soldiers, and even emotionally scarred victims of the war. Some appear more than once and all are somehow sympathetic. By presenting them in their own words, Brooks wisely avoids judgment (except for the sly interruptions of the interviewer) and lets the story tell itself. This is the best way to present a global event, and characters run the gamut in almost every respect. Not all are stereotypical representatives of a typical apocalyptic story; you'll find them here but presented in the flesh and without cliche. Each person has a story to tell and yet each story connects to the others and reveals a small piece of the larger picture. The book is a triumph in integration; each section is necessary yet stands on its own. None seem extraneous and all are equally compelling in their own way.

By the time the reader finishes this book, zombies have gone from a tired horror-movie staple to a compellingly terrifying possibility. We are as intimate with the zombies as those who directly encountered them. We know the timeline of the war and are familiar with the different methods and means by which people escaped. We are not only familiar with the war itself but with the shape the postwar world is taking; the story does not stop with the last great pushes against the zombies but lives on in the remarkably and concisely detailed interview settings (as well as the consideration that the plague may not be entirely over).

This book is a well-written and engaging literary piece masquerading as pulp fiction. Brooks knows what he is doing and has brilliantly executed each facet of his incredibly detailed concept, exploring its ramifications and leaving no part of the history of the zombie war along the wayside (my shattered ego lies alone). Some sections of the book are a bit heavy on the present, making me fear for its potential longevity (it is tied incredibly closely to the early 2000s), but I believe that it can function as a work of alternate history, projecting a path based on our own times. While the gore in the book may turn off some readers, it is not overbearing and certainly not extraneous- the horrific moments are central to the plot and help create the vivid sense of reality that ultimately makes the novel work. I may have been skeptical at the outset, but I will undoubtedly return to this incredible book time and again to explore its insights into human nature, its bizarrely relevant take on the fate of humanity in a world gone mad. With zombies.

Grade: A

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