Max Brooks Resident Scholar Profiles TOP SCHOLAR: Colin Kehm SCHOLARS:
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Review Summaries
" World War Z consists of a series of interviews with men and women who survived the zombie war (World War Z). Each interview focuses on a specific stage in the zombie war, and those interviewed vary radically in terms of diversity.
The story is set not far in the future, when the global political situation is very nearly the same as it is today. Brooks chronicles the very first isolated outbreaks in China; the zombie disease (solanum) very quickly spreads to Africa, where it is thought to be a form of rabies. A major medical corporation, hoping to cash in on the scare African Rabies has caused, develops an entirely ineffective but well-selling drug called Phalanx to combat the unusual disease. Despite the media attention African Rabies receives, many nations do not see the outbreaks as cause for major concern, and only Israel quarantines itself and prepares for the imminent disaster.
A period towards the start of the war, known as the Great Panic, coincides with the world's sudden realization that this disease is not something to be taken lightly. China, due to it's large population and ineffective leadership, is very quickly over-run, and infected Chinese refugees help to spread the blight to the Americas and Europe. It's not long before the zombie population outnumbers the human population in both China and Africa. In many of the major cities in North America and Europe the disease also spreads quickly, and humanity suffers a crushing defeat in a New York suburb when the United States military attempts to face off against approximately 100,000 zombies in the streets.
Air combat proves to be worthless against the zombie hordes because zombies do not rely on tactics or leaders: each zombie is, so to speak, a one man army. Militaries the world over have to retrain themselves and break old habits, conventional warfare needs to be put to rest, and whole new strategies, tactics, and weapons need to be developed if the zombies are to be combated successfully. Eventually, it is realized that the armed forces are simply too few to protect everyone, and, following South Africa's lead, many nations opt to retreat and regroup within an easily defensible area, clear the zombies out there, then push back into the zombie-controlled wastes and systematically wipe out the zombies, mile by mile, if need be. Part of the strategy, as cold as it is, is to use humans who could not be easily rescued as live bait, making it easier to clear out heavily-infested areas. Everyone else who isn't actively fighting provides labor, making weapons and feeding the army.
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Colin Kehm, Resident Max Brooks Scholar
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Overall Review
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Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 30% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 50%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
War or Invasion
Yes
Major kinds of combat:
- guns
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story?
Yes
Horror plotlets
- the zombie chased me!
Main Character
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Main Adversary
Identity:
- An "It".
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an above average amount
Setting
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue?
- mostly dialog
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