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TheSite.org Book Club: Discussion on June's book - World War Z

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
Go on then...

Edit: Remember kids, chat for this book is Wednesday 4th July :).
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Firstly, I really felt like it was a true story. A genuine history, I was completely sold on the premise and the writing. They were all real people, with real histories and the events were real.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote: »
    Firstly, I really felt like it was a true story. A genuine history, I was completely sold on the premise and the writing. They were all real people, with real histories and the events were real.

    Totally. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't the history of a true war.

    I was seriously impressed with his knowledge of modern international politics, that's what marks it out from other post-apocalyptic fantasy/horror - even the good ones (e.g. The Passage by Justin Cronin)

    I believed in all the characters and stories - made it genuinely scary.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What added to that I thought was all the slang he stuck in. Zack, G, Quislings, all things that make it realistic.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I loved this book and I'm so glad that I nominated it.

    The style of the story - writing it in the way that you might watch a TV documentary - made the story sound much more believable. The use of a series of interviews which covered the whole passage of time, from the first infection to the liberation of the US again gave the whole thing an air of authenticity.

    The other thing for me, and part of the reason why I nominated in the first place, was to see how the story matched the reality around the collapse of civilisation. Let me explain. Many of you will know that I work for the NHS, and it's a pretty senior position. The consequence of this is that I get involved in planning for major incidents - such as terrorist bombings, crashes etc.

    When Swine Flu was at it's height we were briefed on the health impact but also what would happen on a wider, societal, scale. It was terrifiying. The collapse of everything which we hold dear as everyone slowly became infected or we impacted by the loss of food deliveries, law enforcement, health provision, water and power etc. Part of the briefing also covered how our (and other) Govts would react to that scenario. I wanted to see how well this book demonstrated this aspect.

    I wasn't disappointed. The author was pretty much spot on, from denial, to cover up, to the rise of both good and bad aspects of society - some look after neighbours, others will rob them blind etc. The only real difference between this story and the briefing we had was that we didn't need to destroy the brain to cure the infected :)

    My only gripe is that it was too US centric, the US ride to save the world again. *yawn* Prefect Hollywood fodder and it's no surprise therefore that the film is apparently in production.

    Yeah, of course I'll go an see it...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's hard for it not to be US centric, Max Brooks is a yankie.
  • plugitinplugitin Posts: 2,197 Boards Champion
    ackk, forgot to read this! will hopefully manage to get a sizeable way into the book before Wednesday!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote: »
    It's hard for it not to be US centric, Max Brooks is a yankie.

    Not sure that's relevant because the book covers the rest of the world in other ways, just that the US as a saviour is a lame and easy approach IMHO. Independence Day style.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I didn't get the impression that the USA was the saviour. It went on from the three group push across the states to the french underground, america had nothing to do with that at all.

    I think it was just an honest reflection of how the US would behave, they would fight back, they would want to take back the country it would have been their "God given right and duty" or something like that. The US think they have to behave that way so they do.

    It was another critical and accurate analysis.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote: »
    The US think they have to behave that way so they do.

    Ask yourself though, who perpetuates that story?

    I get what you mean by the "French resistance" and I also remember reference to the Queen and Windsor Castle, but if you look at the end of the book though, Europe still isn't as the US frees itself, and the fight is still going on 10 years later, led by the US.

    It's a minor quibble of mine TBH because I really enjoyed the book.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It may be a frustrating and almost predictable part of literature and film out of the states. But on one hand at least, you could reasonably concede that the states WOULD lead the fight, because they've got the most imaginary money.
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