World War Z.

Title/Author: World War Z by Max Brooks.

Narrated by: Ensemble Cast.

Genre: Horror, Speculative Fiction, Dark Fiction.

Publisher: Brilliance Audio.

Source: Purchased.

Favorite Character: Christina and Jessica.

Synopsis:  The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result.
 
This invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duation of the Zombie War, but most of all, the audiobook captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event.  Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the listener, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it?"

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission. ~Product description.

My Thoughts:  World War Z is a re-imagining of the world if a zombie apocalypse occured. Not just the world around a few characters or the world in one town.  But the entire world. Different countries, towns and citizens have different issues and deal with the outbreak in various ways. 

What makes this book very unique is the way it is executed.  Told in varying perspectives from politicians to soldiers to the commoner it encompasses not just personal accounts, but political, socio-economic, and cultural impacts.  Zombies simply make civilization as we know it break down, but the catalyst could have been anything - disease, natural disasters - which I guess one could argue that zombies are a disease and a natural disaster as well.  Although I didn't understand all the political ramifications, I felt the outcomes were very thorough and detailed. 

World War Z is not just a zombie book.  It's a look at how our world could change from the comforts and perhaps even some of the hardships that we are familiar with.  It's a glimpse into a realistic future that we may not all survive. 

My favorite characters were the two women in the story, yeah call me biased or maybe it *is* just a coincidence.  Christina Eliopolis is a pilot who bugged out of her plane and had help in her survival via her walkie talkie.  Her story has a supernatural or psychological twist, depending on how you view it.  Jesika Hendricks told the story of her childhood experiences during the outbreak, which included sorrowful and gruesome details.  

Narration: The cast that portrayed the characters did a very good job.  Again the women who spoke for  Christina and Jesika are very engaging and so are most of the narrators.  Notably the bodyguard.  Alan Alda and Rob Reiner have wonderful voices to begin with and portrayed their characters nicely. 

All in all: An interesting look at the world if faced with a zombie apocalpyse.  The different narrators and shorter accounts kept things interesting.

And yes, I saw the movie and enjoyed it.  It has echoes of the book, but as I'm sure you've guessed it is very different.  I didn't love the movie as much as some of my friends however.  I wonder if I'm desensitized to zombie shows/movies.