World War Z - Max Brooks

I wouldn't say I'm a fan of zombie films, but these days it's more about execution than the concept. "Oh, look at the zombie rip that person's throat out! Look at the blood spray and flesh hanging from its teeth! Isn't that cool?" No, no it's not.

Maybe the key is to stick to books about zombies, then, where the visualization is left to my imagination. Or to read something Like Max Brooks' World War Z, where the majority of the zombie-related action is over. Not entirely mind you, there are still some frozen in the northern reaches that will thaw and begin shambling about in spring, and there's who knows how many in the ocean (poor whales). But for the most part, the living have regained control of the planet from the undead.

The book is presented as a series of interviews between someone working for the U.N. in the aftermath and various people around the world who lived through the years of struggle with the living dead. This enables Brooks to present a wide array of perspectives: those who were in power before, during, and after. Children, elderly people, soldiers, rich, poor, people with families, loners. This gives us an idea of how slowly the world responded to the threat, the setbacks and solutions different countries faced, and the problems that lie ahead.

Brooks does a good job of distinguishing the different people being interviewed, either by their speech patterns or their perspective, and he's a very suggestive world builder. There are things the subjects mention, or that the interviewer tosses in to describe the setting that make me want to know more. How did Breckinridge Scott make it to Antarctica (and will the IRS ever get to have that conversation with him)? How did Jacob Nyathi get the funds to purchase a ship that converts seawater to electricity? Things like that.

My favorite section was the short one at the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea, which broaches the subject of just where everyone in North Korea has gone to. The suggestion is there were networks of underground tunnels, which brings images of millions of people down there without a clue what's happening on the surface. Conversely, it also raises the possibility of millions of zombies locked up down there, like a Pandora's Box waiting to be unleashed. Which looks terrifying in my head. There are reasons given why it hasn't happened yet, but I had to wonder how long until someone ventures in for the heck of it.