The Library Unbound: Milne Library News

Recently I’ve been reading World War Z, by author Max Brooks (fun fact: Max Brooks is the son of legendary director Mel Brooks). World War Z is a collection of interviews done in the aftermath of a fictitious zombie apocalypse – nothing like a little topical horror.  

WWZ is not just one story, it’s dozens of stories from different survivors and it tells the tale of how a variety of people, governments, and faith deal with the zombie apocalypse in their own way. Sometimes the novel is a cold analysis, other times it’s a psychological horror, it has scenes reminiscent of military thrillers, and it also has the occasional beautiful moment.  

I’ve read WWZ probably five times and I always come back to it for a good zombie romp – I just find the details so compelling. Max Brooks spent years researching how governments and people had historically reacted to different extreme scenarios and the result is a novel that feels believable. While you’re reading you can hear the echoes of real politics, military strategy and humanity.  

There is a World War Z movie, it has almost nothing to do with the book (how that happened, I have no idea). Although, it’s not the worst movie ever. Do you want to know what WWZ “accessory” is incredible though? The Audiobook. Because of the way the book is written, with short stories from different character’s perspectives, the audiobook has dozens of different readers and the cast puts some blockbuster movies to shame. Here’s a short list of some of the stars: Alan Alda, Mark Hamil, Nathan Fillion, Simon Pegg, Rob Reiner… it goes on.  

Overall, I really love the novel and its audiobook adaptation. Partly, it’s a guilty pleasure and partly, I do think it’s a really good book.