Has anyone else read this amazing book? I finished it last night and never really wanted it to end. If you're not into zombie horror, you may not like this book. But what's even more terrifying in it than zombies is simply other humans and governments and how they respond to world wide crises. The entire book is written in a journalistic format. The author is basically interviewing people all over the world who survived the zombie war and the stories of these people are so well written, it was such an addicting book.
Stories from people range from a young teen who was a child when the zombies first attacked her town, to the commander of a Chinese submarine, to even a man who was stationed aboard the International Space Station, watching the world go up in flames as the Great Panic first swept the globe.
The book also has a lot of fascinating political and social commentary that is done through the accounts of the survivors, discussing how their government handled the situation, or how social taboos of particular culture managed to override the extenuating circumstances of the living dead prowling the streets.
I'm gonna write a more extensive review of this book on my Shelfari account, but I just wanted to recommend it to everyone here looking for a good book to read. There's an audio interview with the author Max Brooks on Talk of the Nation that I was gonna link to from here, but their website has been down for a couple of days which is really annoying.
Yeah I read that too. It's really hard to imagine them doing it right in a film. Few zombie movies have ever impressed me and the author isn't going to have any creative control over it. If you do see the movie though, the book should definitely be read first.
The Zombie Survival Guide book is his only other book and it's pretty interesting, though not as entertaining as World War Z.
I own World War Z, but I never finished it, as I had school. But I did finish the Zombie Survival Guide which was written by the same author. Now that I have the time I might go back to it, I'll probably go read it since your "review" was inspiring.
The best part of the Zombie Survival Guide I thought was toward the end when it had the timeline of all the known zombie attacks, some dating back possibly as far as thousands of years ago.
I really liked how he described the zombies at the beginning, as he uses all those scientific terms. But the main thing I really like about this author is that he finally realizes what a "zombie" really is, which is what I hate about modern zombie movies.
Yeah in one interview he talks about how zombie movies like Return of the Living Dead set back the genre really far because of campy it is. Personally, I kind of like the notion that zombies could rise from the grave after being dead for so long. But it doesn't fit under the rules of how Solanum works.
A prison would be rather ideal. I mean, assuming all the convicts have already broken out. You already have a fortress with it, possibly weapons. And possibly even food and room for planting your own food. A public school could possibly be a good place too.
If the prisoners were gone, then easily yes. But you most also face the fact that ten or more people are inside a fortress built for hundreds. The mental stress of you being mostly alone in that building would be ridiculous, enough for someone to go crazy.
A school is usually smaller, and has most material than prisons, like gyms, cafeterias, a gymnasium, sports equipment for entertainment, electricity, vending machines, books, etc.
It really depends even on who is in that group of ten people. If I was all by myself, a prison would be a bad idea because I wouldn't have the manpower to keep it secure. Depending on its size, 10 people might not even be enough. And if you were there for a long time, and say, the boy girl ration was really bad with maybe one or two women and the rest men, that could also lead to violence within the group.
And that's just the biggest problem that Brooks constantly emphasizes. Zombies are predictable, but humans are just predictably bad over long periods of time and they are just as an important factor in your survival as the zombies. Oh and most prisons have things like gyms too. And a school or prison are just as likely to lose power during a zombie attack.
But out of all the rotting corpses on the streets, I think the biggest attack you could have is about fifty zombies, as most of them would be distracted.
And just out of curiousity, wouldn't waterproof clothing keep Solanum out?
Hmm, if Solanum got in your body in any way, you'd be infected. But the most common way to get it is to be bitten. So if a zombie can bite through your waterproof clothes, then yeah you would have it.
But I think you're underestimating just how bad an outbreak could be in a city like New Work, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, or Hong Kong. People get bitten, feasted on, and as other people are fleeing the scene, screaming and making noise, the zombie will cease what it is feeding on and go after another target, leaving that person to die, become reanimated, and repeating the cycle.
Imagine a crowded island like Japan. Only so many ways to evacuate the island. There could be millions of zombies swarming the country, as is described in World War Z.
If there was one place where I wouldn't want to be, it would somewhere like Los Angeles or some other big city. Not only would there such a large population of zombies, the human crime would increase a lot more since people would kill each other to survive.
As for the water proof thing, if, for example, you have a water proof winter coat and zombie bit you, all you would feel is the pressure of the teeth on your skin through your layers of clothing. So it would be the ideal protection for you, since it's warm and strong.
What about escaping into dense bush, like in New-Zealand. Would that work out well according to this Zombie Survival thing?
A 10 minute drive from my place (speed limit aside) and I could be out in the middle of nowhere with a place to catch eels, fish and maybe wild pigs. Then theres all that farm land, cows, sheep... mmmmm
Stuck in the middle of an ultra urbanised city with millions of Zombies... Damn
The book actually does cover all types of terrain from swamps to tundra. I can't remember exactly what it says about dense bush. Usually you're supposed to avoid areas with any tall grass because legless zombies could be hiding in them. While such an area is not likely to have too many zombies, it is possible other humans got the same idea to go there as well and may or may not welcome you.
Fantastic book. For the longest time my cousin had it sitting on his shelf and not until I played the WC3 custom map 'World War Z' did it spark an interest in me. This was an interesting article if no one has read it from the author. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6376416.html
The big battle scene in the book, Yonkers, I have this perfect image in my mind of what it looks and even sounds like, with music and everything. And the movie, I just think they're gonna blow it.
No worries though. The book is pretty amazing as it is. I hear the audio version of it was really well done also.
Stories from people range from a young teen who was a child when the zombies first attacked her town, to the commander of a Chinese submarine, to even a man who was stationed aboard the International Space Station, watching the world go up in flames as the Great Panic first swept the globe.
The book also has a lot of fascinating political and social commentary that is done through the accounts of the survivors, discussing how their government handled the situation, or how social taboos of particular culture managed to override the extenuating circumstances of the living dead prowling the streets.
I'm gonna write a more extensive review of this book on my Shelfari account, but I just wanted to recommend it to everyone here looking for a good book to read. There's an audio interview with the author Max Brooks on Talk of the Nation that I was gonna link to from here, but their website has been down for a couple of days which is really annoying.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
I think they might be making a movie of this book?
The Zombie Survival Guide book is his only other book and it's pretty interesting, though not as entertaining as World War Z.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Would you realy hide in a prison?
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
A school is usually smaller, and has most material than prisons, like gyms, cafeterias, a gymnasium, sports equipment for entertainment, electricity, vending machines, books, etc.
I would take my chances in a school.
And that's just the biggest problem that Brooks constantly emphasizes. Zombies are predictable, but humans are just predictably bad over long periods of time and they are just as an important factor in your survival as the zombies. Oh and most prisons have things like gyms too. And a school or prison are just as likely to lose power during a zombie attack.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
And just out of curiousity, wouldn't waterproof clothing keep Solanum out?
But I think you're underestimating just how bad an outbreak could be in a city like New Work, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, or Hong Kong. People get bitten, feasted on, and as other people are fleeing the scene, screaming and making noise, the zombie will cease what it is feeding on and go after another target, leaving that person to die, become reanimated, and repeating the cycle.
Imagine a crowded island like Japan. Only so many ways to evacuate the island. There could be millions of zombies swarming the country, as is described in World War Z.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
As for the water proof thing, if, for example, you have a water proof winter coat and zombie bit you, all you would feel is the pressure of the teeth on your skin through your layers of clothing. So it would be the ideal protection for you, since it's warm and strong.
A 10 minute drive from my place (speed limit aside) and I could be out in the middle of nowhere with a place to catch eels, fish and maybe wild pigs. Then theres all that farm land, cows, sheep... mmmmm
Stuck in the middle of an ultra urbanised city with millions of Zombies... Damn
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
I really think they're gonna ruin the movie for WWZ though. The director is the same guy who did Quantum of Solace. And Quantum of Solace is a shitpile.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=quantum_of_phallus
The big battle scene in the book, Yonkers, I have this perfect image in my mind of what it looks and even sounds like, with music and everything. And the movie, I just think they're gonna blow it.
No worries though. The book is pretty amazing as it is. I hear the audio version of it was really well done also.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs