World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War Paperback – 27 Sept. 2012

This is the first time I read a book that's been turned into a movie (classics aside). And I did it on purpose. The movie is not in theatres yet but I saw some trailers and found them rather silly. So I thought: what is the book like? The answer is simple: GREAT!The book's narrative is constructed of short interviews or stories narrated by survivors of the war. They were conducted for a report for an international community. Since the report is void of emotions and concentrates on facts and figures, author publishes them as a book for all to read. This is an ingenious way of telling a story: it has credibility of first hand accounts and enough emotions to make it personal. Each story is short, proceeded by a brief info about where it was recorded and what is the situation of the survivor who tells it. Ingenious. What is more important, it is not a story of a one man or group of people. It is a story of all humanity told by its members from various paths of life, countries, of different religions and beliefs. This makes it credible, well balanced and extremely readable.Some bits are not for the faint hatred, some are tat boring, just like in real life. One thing that I'm certain of, although I saw only trailers and not the whole movie, that wave of zombies, that tide of bodies that you can see in the movie engulfing everything on their way... Somebody should have had explained to the director what a metaphor is. Or to the scriptwriter. Man, that thing just does not exist in book. On the contrary, it is even scarier, more overwhelming in its slow but unstoppable progress...From the beginning, since the book is written after the war, we know that it ends in a good kind of way, well humanity survives, just... So as a reader you can relax and enjoy studying the story, origins, developments etc. it's a good book for anyone who likes biographies, non-fiction and real-life stories. Even if it is sci-fi.And by the way... I will go to see the movie. Just to see what else they changed. Although I don't hold high hopes...

In 'World War Z,' Max Brooks takes one of our times' most beloved geek cliches - the zombie apocalypse - and makes an unusually serious effort to answer the question of what exactly it would look like. Mercifully, the result is not another tale of a rag-tag band of survivors struggling to make it in a brave new world. World War Z is instead a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of its premise, as well as a gripping and entertaining read.Taking the form of a series of interviews with a disparate group of participants in 'World War Z,' this oral history weaves together dozens of brief tales highlighting different aspects of a global effort to overcome the zombie horde. This unusual structure proves a excellent vehicle for Brooks' strong storytelling. We hear tales of grim survival interspersed with military folly and individual heroism. Besides conventional civilian and military perspectives, Brooks takes pains to view the apocalypse from a number of quirky viewpoints, from submarine warfare to astronauts stranded on the ISS. Many of these individual tales are engrossing novellas in themselves, whilst those that are less compelling are too brief to outstay their welcome. The only flaw in this approach is that the segments are too short, and their protagonists recur too infrequently, to allow much character development or emotional investment in their plight.What elevates World War Z above similar efforts is how effortlessly it weaves fairly weighty concepts into its narrative. Military strategists ponder the nature of the struggle as the world's first true 'total war,' whilst US government officials officials describe how they retool the capitalist free market into a centrally-controlled war economy. Certain segments, too, hold an unflattering mirror to the face of contemporary Western society. We hear of a group of celebrities who pay to fortify themselves in a luxurious island complex, broadcasting live as apocalyptic reality TV; only to be attacked and overwhelmed by a horde of former fans. We hear too of big pharma cashing in on the crisis, Pentagon strategists 'fighting the last war,' ordering thousands of grunts to their deaths, and authoritarian regimes struggling to suppress news of the calamity rather than address the cause. These more cerebral oral histories sit comfortably alongside World War Z's action-packed sequences, whilst adding interest and richness to Brooks' nightmare world.As other reviewers have pointed out, where the book falls down is in its rather US-centric view of a supposedly global war. It deserves credit for including perspectives from a number of other nationalities, but immediately looses such goodwill by perpetuating a number of crude national stereotypes. Featuring, amongst others, an Arab who hates Israelis, an Israeli who hates Arabs, a geeky Japenese teenager and his samurai master, and a stiff upper lip British royalist, the book's non-American characters are rarely nuanced. World War Z's intelligent substance deserves better than such risible stock characters. Furthermore, reading in 2013 a book first published in 2006, some of Brooks' insights now appear a little dated. This is a near-future world, for instance, in which India is an economic superpower to rival China, where Russia is a country of rampant robber-baron capitalism, and where Fidel Castro still rules Cuba. These outdated views slightly take the shine off a book straining for verisimilitude.Despite the above, however, Brooks has still achieved something impressive in World War Z. He has taken a hoary old cliche and made it seem fresh again. Geeks will no doubt find plenty to enjoy here. But in its satire, compelling miniature dramas and interesting intellectual asides, Brooks' apocalypse has something to offer everyone.

Great condition , came fast.

I though I would be reading fiction. But it’s like a political science book and leftist too.

What a book ! Okay for fellow readers out there, this is not a big novel with a protagonist and a plot but this book is in a universe where a zombie apocalypse would take place and the stories of people from different backgrounds responding to it and their ways of adaptation. The author has a truly unorthodox way to write books I believe so. This would be the hands-down best book to read if you are into zombie horror books.Overall, ranging from paper quality to font size and reader experience, its a 5 out of 5.

We may not be facing zombies but we are reacting these ways to current world situations. Hopefully we’ll be able to see how terrible our reactions have been.

Muito bom