World War Z
By Max Brooks
(Broadway Books, Paperback, 9780307346612, October 2007, 352pp.)
The Short of It:
Slightly different take on the zombie stories you’ve read before.
The Rest of It:
I think everyone has read this one or at least seen the movie starring Brad Pitt, but it took me forever to read the book. I finally got to it just because The Walking Dead ended for the season and I was still twitchy for more zombie action.
It’s different from anything I’ve read before because it’s told through survivor accounts and interviews. Right away, you know that there are survivors and that the world did not, in fact, end with the plague. I must say that knowing this up front sort of lessened the suspense factor for me a little bit. The thrill of reading about the apocalypse is that you never know how it’s going to end. Here though, many of the accounts are provided by the military and what these men and woman went through while fighting in World War Z. Some handled it better than others but I was most taken with the civilian accounts. Some, very detailed.
Overall, it was an interesting read for me. Entertaining without being over-the-top or unbelievable. I think its “real” factor is what makes this book work and that such a thing could happen anywhere makes this a chilling read. I have not seen the movie, but I have been told by others that the movie is the scarier of the two.
Source: Borrowed
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Book Chatter 
I think Vance has this book. I’m not sure it’s for me, though, so I’ll have to think about it.
The book is more focused on the tactical side of battling such a plague. The mechanics behind such an event, not really the gore. I imagine the movie would be much harder to deal with because zombie gore is usually on the graphic side.
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I haven’t read this yet, but have seen the movie. I liked the movie.
I really liked this book, and I’m sure the formatting of they story had much to do with it. The movie is very different than the book, but I enjoyed it just the same.
I just heard from another reader that said the book was like the movie. Huh. I haven’t seen the movie. The book was more clinical and leaned heavily on the military side.
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I liked the movie and I am looking forward to reading the book. In the movie, you really don’t know how it ends, so that kept it a little suspenseful. Though I can’t say that it worked, because that ending felt anti-climactic.
The book is open-ended too. I had to read the ending three times to be sure I didn’t miss something, but I thought it was good.
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We really liked the movie, but I’d heard a couple of times that it was so much different than the book. People who experienced both liked the movie better, which is not usually the way it works. I am not against reading it though. I like zombies and the apocalypse!
Hmmm…I think Zombies are not my cup of tea…but I will take a handsome toothy vamp any day!
I watched this movie with my husband last month and enjoyed it. It was nothing what I was expecting though. I am still curious about the book and at some point I will pick it up.
I haven’t read the book but the movie is a great action flick. I’m told that the audio version should be really something!
Scott and I tried to listen to this one on our roadtrip this summer but Elle didn’t nap like we hoped and I felt it was too graphic for her to listen to–even if she wasn’t paying attention. I since tried to listen again but it felt too disjointed. I think I could have paid more attention on paper.
We both liked the movie and it was left pretty wide open.