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owls_rainbow's review against another edition
I didn't like the reporter style and none of the people spoken to had distinct voices and nothing was happening quickly enough.
laurenw22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
grizelybear's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I didn't realize this book would be delivered in a multi-interview format, but it was interesting. I almost want to see if there's an audiobook version, as I'm sure that's a good way to make this book more riveting.
Zombies are one of my favorite sub-genres of horror, so reading about how the world may respond and turn out if zombies ever attacked had been really fun for me. I am in awe of the author's imagination when it came to the lore and I honestly don't believe I could think up half of what he envisioned in this book. I also liked that each interviewee was written to have their own "voice" and that they also showed other countries' responses and perspectives, not just America's.
Unfortunately, some chapters were better written than the others, and some were just plain boring to me. It's probably all the politics and military terms that made me lose some of my interest. However, I still think this book was actually overall really good! Now I know why my brothers really liked this.
This isn't the book to read if you're looking for a fast, thrilling ride, but if you want to read about a lore-rich post apocalyptic world brought about by zombies, then you should give this a try.
Zombies are one of my favorite sub-genres of horror, so reading about how the world may respond and turn out if zombies ever attacked had been really fun for me. I am in awe of the author's imagination when it came to the lore and I honestly don't believe I could think up half of what he envisioned in this book. I also liked that each interviewee was written to have their own "voice" and that they also showed other countries' responses and perspectives, not just America's.
Unfortunately, some chapters were better written than the others, and some were just plain boring to me. It's probably all the politics and military terms that made me lose some of my interest. However, I still think this book was actually overall really good! Now I know why my brothers really liked this.
This isn't the book to read if you're looking for a fast, thrilling ride, but if you want to read about a lore-rich post apocalyptic world brought about by zombies, then you should give this a try.
raygersh's review against another edition
4.0
Unlike anything I've read before, World War Z is a historical account of the world's survival through the zombie apocalypse. It seems like a real historical text, where the author interviews survivors and gets firsthand accounts of how the world descended into zombie chaos. I really appreciated the style and approach Max Brooks took here.
This book was also so incredibly smart. I believed how everything happened. Now that we have experienced a worldwide pandemic, I understand how people, from the average citizen to health and government officials, reacted to the crisis. Max Brooks is so insightful in his analysis of human reaction to this kind of threat. It was really brilliantly researched.
Overall: A really interesting take on the zombie genre and a fun and thought-provoking read.
This book was also so incredibly smart. I believed how everything happened. Now that we have experienced a worldwide pandemic, I understand how people, from the average citizen to health and government officials, reacted to the crisis. Max Brooks is so insightful in his analysis of human reaction to this kind of threat. It was really brilliantly researched.
Overall: A really interesting take on the zombie genre and a fun and thought-provoking read.
mborer23's review against another edition
5.0
This book was a revelation. I'd never read the Zombie Survival Handbook but had read several reviews of the film "World War Z" which complained that it wasn't as good as the book, so I had to find out what the book was like.
I enjoy works of alternate history, and World War Z does not disappoint on that note. The book really makes you believe in the characters and feel every moment of the terror and will to survive they exhibit. I suspect some of the passages will stay with me for quite some time. I'm no zombie enthusiast, and I absolutely could not put this book down. Highly recommended for those who enjoy zombie fiction, alternate history, and apocalyptic fiction.
(Companion Viewing: Film School Rejects' "Ken Burns' World War Z," available on YouTube...that's how the film should have been done!)
I enjoy works of alternate history, and World War Z does not disappoint on that note. The book really makes you believe in the characters and feel every moment of the terror and will to survive they exhibit. I suspect some of the passages will stay with me for quite some time. I'm no zombie enthusiast, and I absolutely could not put this book down. Highly recommended for those who enjoy zombie fiction, alternate history, and apocalyptic fiction.
(Companion Viewing: Film School Rejects' "Ken Burns' World War Z," available on YouTube...that's how the film should have been done!)
tasha_bombastic's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
cooperca's review against another edition
4.0
Stories from the people who survived the Zombie War.....great read!
Favorite passages:
'Once, on a fact-finding tour through LA, I sat in the back of a reeducation lecture. The trainees had all held lofty positions in the entertainment industry, a melange of agents, managers, "creative executives," whatever the hell that means. I can understand their resistance, their arrogance. Before the war, entertainment had been the most valued export of the United States. Now they were being trained as custodians for a munitions plant in Bakersfield, California. One woman, a casting director, exploded. How dare they degrade her like this! She had an MFA in Conceptual Theater, she had cast the top three grossing sitcoms in the last five seasons and she made more in a week than her instructor could dram of in several lifetimes!'
'All human armies need supplies, this army didn't. No food, no ammo, no fuel, not even water to drink or air to breath! There were no logistics lines to sever, no depots to destroy. You couldn't just surround and starve them out, or let them "wither on the vine." Lock a hundred of them in a room and three years later they'll come out just as deadly.'
Favorite passages:
'Once, on a fact-finding tour through LA, I sat in the back of a reeducation lecture. The trainees had all held lofty positions in the entertainment industry, a melange of agents, managers, "creative executives," whatever the hell that means. I can understand their resistance, their arrogance. Before the war, entertainment had been the most valued export of the United States. Now they were being trained as custodians for a munitions plant in Bakersfield, California. One woman, a casting director, exploded. How dare they degrade her like this! She had an MFA in Conceptual Theater, she had cast the top three grossing sitcoms in the last five seasons and she made more in a week than her instructor could dram of in several lifetimes!'
'All human armies need supplies, this army didn't. No food, no ammo, no fuel, not even water to drink or air to breath! There were no logistics lines to sever, no depots to destroy. You couldn't just surround and starve them out, or let them "wither on the vine." Lock a hundred of them in a room and three years later they'll come out just as deadly.'
harmonictempest's review against another edition
4.0
This was pretty awesome honestly, especially for such well-trod ground as a zombie apocalypse. I thought the format was an effective way to treat lightly with such a broad scope without turning it into an overweight epic novel. I remember “Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse” being a popular tongue-in-cheek purchase from the college bookstore, and it was fun (and unsurprising) to discover that this was the same author.
A few parts haven’t aged well, though in the author’s defense, he wrote this before the social media / smartphone age really took off, and before we had a real pandemic. How effectively some information was suppressed would never happen today, and media is no longer monolithic enough for the blackout he describes. It’s hard to know if it would have read more plausibly 15 years ago, but some of it unavoidably reads as a very shallow and negative take on human nature now.
A few parts haven’t aged well, though in the author’s defense, he wrote this before the social media / smartphone age really took off, and before we had a real pandemic. How effectively some information was suppressed would never happen today, and media is no longer monolithic enough for the blackout he describes. It’s hard to know if it would have read more plausibly 15 years ago, but some of it unavoidably reads as a very shallow and negative take on human nature now.