Welcome the July 4th diary of My Favorite Authors/Books! For those who are not familiar with us, this is a new series where one of us Kossacks takes the opportunity to tell us why they love a certain author or book. Is there an author whose books you never miss? A particular book that you love so much you want to tell random people on the street about? This is the place for you.
As it is the Fourth of July, I wanted to discuss a book that features American themes. There is nothing that represents America more than persevering and triumphing over adverse circumstances. And there is nothing that says adverse circumstances more than battling the forces of the undead as they threatening to overwhelm both our country and the whole world. So join me below the squiggle as I talk about that epitome of triumph over zombie adversity, World War Z.
Zombies are, of course, very popular in current pop culture. Movies are where they are best known from George Romero’s Living Dead series to the fast moving Rage suffers of 28 Days Later. Literature has recently caught up with numerous novels, both written and graphic, such as Walking Dead and Mira Grant’s Feed (a series I really need to get into). Some have more quality than the others but I still say that the epitome of all these, the one that stands as the one to which all others aspire, is Max Brooks’ World War Z.
A little history. I first came across World War Z in 2006 when I was working for Barnes & Noble. One of the great perks of working there was receiving advance reading copies of titles. It was a fine summer day when the ARC of WWZ came through the door. I recognized Max Brooks from his book Zombie Survival Guide, but didn’t give the novel too much thought. After reading the description on the back cover, I decided that one of our booksellers, Marc, would really enjoy it and put it in the office until he came in for his shift. A bit later during my lunch break I decided to kill some time by reading the first few pages.
After twenty minutes I discovered it would be some time before Marc got his chance to read this book.
WWZ quickly made the rounds of the store and one of the most frustrating things was realizing it would be a month and a half before it would actually go on sale. I could not wait to share this book with customers, to describe how much I enjoyed it, to literally put it in their hands. Why do I love World War Z so much? I think it is a perfect example of what can happen when an author successfully melds storytelling with ideas to stimulate the reader on many levels.
First and foremost, this book is fun. On its most basic level it just tells a great story of a danger that the world faces, the battles and drama that need to occur to overcome the zombies, and the after effects and implications of victory, such as it is. The best decision Brooks made was to frame his novel as an “oral history.” He eliminates the need to create a bunch of characters that we follow from the opening paragraph to the last line and does not waste time discussing side events in an attempt to build the necessary character development. Focusing briefly on a wide cast of characters recounting their experiences allows Brooks to deftly flesh out their personalities in a few deft strokes and keep the story moving an quick pace. The interviews give a fascinating glimpse of this world and the drama, both mundane human-level aspects and zombie attacks, are non-stop and riveting.
We get to see the whole story from the beginning, from the initial outbreak and attacks to the how society unravels and then comes back together in a show of unification to beat back the zombies. And while all the action and drama is top notch, it would just be a mechanical exercise if it weren’t for the sociological commentary inserted. It may be out in the open but Brooks does not beat you over the head with it. I love how he shows how both the general public and governments deal with zombie crisis, mainly with denial. If you want, zombies are simply a symbol for the entire real world such as climate change or a dwindling supply. We read diaries all the time on the head-in-the-sand attitude lawmakers have over these issues. Is it so hard to believe that the government would have the same attitude and denial over the possibility of the undead? Though some of the worst characters do receive their just rewards; I don’t think any of us would fail to enjoy the fact that one of the more venal administration figures is now reduced to picking up dung as his job.
And then when the threat became too big to ignore, what would happen? What would governments do if faced with an enemy that mindlessly wants to overrun its citizenry? How would these same governments cope with feeding a populace when supply lines to other countries are cut, seemingly permanently? What would be an effective justice system? The geopolitical aspects of the WWZ are not limited only to the United States. Brooks examines the reactions of countries all around the world and the lasting effects it has on those nations. Not wanting to give away any spoilers to his clever speculations, I will only say that Cuba plays a larger part than anyone would have guessed.
I have always had a penchant for post-apocalyptic stories, another reason I love reading this book. This doesn't necessary mean the end of the world where there is nothing left except for a few people left making do until everything fades away. It often is simply a severe breakdown in what currently passes as civilization, and humanity most decidedly continues to go on just in a radically different manner. We all like our Starbucks and Internet and all the other conveniences of society in the 21st century. Even with all that, there is small part that wonders what it would be like of all that is frivolous and shallow were stripped away and we were forced to live with much more stripped-down circumstances. How would we survive and move on if something cataclysmic happened? Would we rise to the occasion and help build a new society or would we crumble from the pressure? This small passage below gives a glimpse of how interconnected we all are and what we would be missing with that breakdown of society:
He swivels in his chair, motioning to a picture above his desk. I lean closer and see that it’s not a picture but a framed label:
Ingredients:
Molasses from the United States
Anise from Spain
Licorice from France
Vanilla (bourbon) from Madagascar
Cinnamon from Sri Lanka
Cloves from Indonesia
Wintergreen from China
Pimento berry oil from Jamaica
Balsam oil from Peru
And that’s just for a bottle for peacetime root beer. We’re not even talking about something like a desktop PC, or a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
To continue to describe the book any further would be to give away more of the small delights and surprises contained within it. We all are savvy of the current political scene and I cannot imagine that any of would fail to enjoy the references to the current political scene that augment this great story. The highest praise I can give World War Z is that it wasn’t long enough; I disappointed that it was over and wished that Brooks had written a longer novel or even conceived it as a series so I could experience more of this world. I will definitely be there if he ever decides he wants to revisit the landscape he created.