It seems like Zombie books, movies, graphic novels
have become for our times what UFOs were for the 1950s.
I have read various theories about this rise in popularity. In our age, threats
are far more subtle than a Soviet invasion: the shadowy world of Al-Qaeda, the threat of a pandemic, all these are reflected in stories of the undead.
They are the threat we don’t see until it is too late. They are our extinction event.
There may be other phenomenon at work. Anxiety of overpopulation, xenophobia and
mistrust of immigrants, as well as the old fashioned fear of death. Death can be a
concrete event, or an abstract fear. In
a blunt way, zombies are one instrument in trying to understand the uncertain
boundary between life and death.
This brings us to World War Z, Max Brooks novel of
zombie apocalypse. In such an overworked
genre, it is hard to believe that anything new or exciting could be done. But Brooks provides and interesting and
compelling account. Part of the trick is
his deft use of the oral history format, perfected by Studs Turkel.
Brooks is very good at throwing on the guise of different
voices, placing us in the experience of people retelling a history that never
happened. He never allows the fantasy
of the zombie apocalypse to eclipse the very human drama of people trying to
survive, and then to rebuild their world.
Brook has done some good work here, combining genre
elements we expect and deserve in a zombie story, with some excellent
storytelling and insights of what it is to be human.
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