World War Z

Of all the books we have had to read this semester for this class, World War Z by Max Brooks has been the densest one for me to get through.  I grew up in the era when zombie movies were popular on late Friday night movie channels.  However, I have never been fond of this genre.  So when I began to read this book, I found it very slow going.  This is not a book I would ever choose for pleasure reading, but if it had been, it is one I would not have finished.  I think for me part of this was the way in which the book was organized.  I realize the author was trying to show the action that was occurring at various places throughout the world to show the invasion of the zombies was a global epidemic but the format to me read too much like a log of occurrences to be documented and lacked the personal attachment I would expect from a journal which is what I believe the author was trying to develop.  Because the story would jump from one site to another it would be easy to put this book down after one scene and not pick it up again.  There was nothing to compel me to continue reading other than it being a required book for a class.  However, with that being said, from the interest other students in class had for this book, I do think there would be students who would really enjoy this book.  When I was reading this book I saw no value in teaching it. But then during class students gave some great ways in which this book or parts of it could be used in studying this genre so that made me seriously rethink my ideas.  If I were to teach an English Lit class I still would not teach this book to class but rather have it as an option students could choose.  The reason is I do believe there would be some students like myself that would have a difficult time getting into the book.  This book is also very dense and could turn off students who already struggle with reading.

There were parts of the book that did engage me.  For example the boy who is a computer junky who seems to live in his technical world rather than the real world who finally is forced to face reality when a zombie tries to break into his apartment.  This begins his three-day climb from his 19^th floor apartment to the ground below.  Another story that also grabbed my attention was the story of the female airline pilot who is using the bathroom when the plane gets in trouble and she has to parachute to safety only to wander through zombie territory.  She is guided by a woman on a radio, but upon her rescue when she wants to thank the woman, there is no record of a cabin or a woman in the area.  So it left an open question as to whether the woman ever existed, if it was all part of a hallucination on the part of the female pilot or if the helpful woman was some kind of divine intervention.  If all of the stories in the book would have been this interesting I would have enjoyed the book more.

Normally they say a book is much better than the movie and I tend to agree with that.  However, since this story takes place in so many different settings, I wonder if the movie would be an exception.  Perhaps by seeing the various settings, I would have more interest in the plot than I did while reading the book.  I know that I enjoyed the interview we listened to class much more than I did the book.  The author was witty and I found myself laughing and wishing the episode had been longer.