My summer officially began at 10am on June 6th when I turned in the aformentioned paper, and since then I've been a busy little bee. I've mostly been reading...that's right!...reading for pleasure. In the last two weeks, I've finished four books. Here are some concise "reviews" of the texts that have been occupying me during the summer thus far.
With World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, author Max Brooks transitions from the full-on humor of The Zombie Survival Guide to pure fiction. Despite the necessarily gruesome details that crop up from time to time throughout the book, the work as a whole may not qualify as "horror." Brooks spends most of his time talking, not about the specific antics of the undead, but about how the world's nations deal with the mass panic, rampant misinformation, and societal breakdown that follow the outbreak of zombie-ism on a massive scale. As the title suggests, the book is arranged in the form of interviews with persons who survived the Zombie Apocalypse. The list of witnesses span a diverse range, from a teenage computer hacker in Japan to a general in the South African army to the former Vice-President of the United States. Brooks' careful consideration of how the world might react to a global epidemic of disease and violence, coupled with his impressive attention to detail, make the not-so-distant future he envisions highly believable. This book is fantastic, far exceeding the great expectations I had for it. And given how much I enjoyed The Zombie Survival Guide, that's quite the compliment to (the man I have been told is) the son of Mel Brooks. 4 out of 4 stars.
I've just learned this morning that an abridged version of World War Z has been recorded as an Audio Book featuring a full cast of voice actors. Among the talent collected for this project are Alan Alda, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Das Boot's Jurgen Prochnow, John Turturro, my main man Henry Rollins, and Luke Skywalker himself: Mark Hamill. I'm going to have to check this out.
Survivor, published in 1999, comes from the pen of Chuck Palahniuk (pronounced paul-UH-nick), author of Fight Club. The story is told from the prespective of Tender Branson, whose lucrative stint as a religious personality in popular culture has just come to an abrupt and disreptuable end. Branson is the last surviving member of the apocalyptic Creedish cult colony. Having spent several years in the "outside world" as a missionary of sorts, Branson receives word that the Creedish leaders recently declared that "the end is here" and the entire colony "delivered" itself to God through mass-suicide. As one of the hundreds of Creedish who were sent out into the world, part of Branson's religious training is that, upon receiving news of the colony's demise, he should immediately deliver himself over as well. But he's enjoying his time in the world too much to end things so soon.
Branson's decision to defer self-termination turns his life into an everyday experience of guilt and self-condemnation. When he becomes the last Creedish known to be alive, Branson gets pulled in by a fast-talking agent who makes him the face of a pre-fabricated, multi-million dollar media campaign. As unsettling as the dramatic lifestyle change proves to be for Branson, it is not his only cause for concern. He suspects that several of the most recent Creedish suicides were not exactly voluntary. Once he begins receiving threatening phone calls, he becomes convinced that many of his religious kin have been murdered by someone with intimate knowledge of the cult and that Tender Branson is likely the killer's next victim. I really dug the outlines of Creedish life and teaching Palahniuk creates for Survivor. Yet, in regards to plot, I thought the second half of the book did not fulfill the potential developed in the first half. The book's climax was neverthless satisfying. 3 out of 4 stars.
Not only is this text both intellectually stimulating and written for the non-specialist, it will bring to light details about the story and characters of Tarantino's films you may have overlooked. There is also more than one quotation drawn from the original scripts...material that was cut before principle photography began but is nevertheless illuminating and enjoyable. The only reason(s) I am not giving the book a full four stars is that at least two of the essays are not as clear or organized as they should have been, and the volume as a whole contains far too many typographical errors for a book with not one but two editors. 3.5 out of 4 stars.
I enjoyed this book so much I read it cover to cover in about 36 hours. Better than Survivor or Rant (the other Palahniuk book I've experienced up to this point) yet not quite as satisfying a read as Choke. Nevertheless, an engaging novel. I think the book's greatest strengths are its basic premise and its narrative structure. Its only real weakness is that the polemic Palahniuk communicates through the story isn't articulated with as much skill as those in Choke or Fight Club. (I only have the movie version to draw on where the latter book is concerned. However, given what Palahniuk says in conversation with screenwriter Jim Uhls in a DVD commentary, the author seems to think that the film sufficiently captures the spirit of its source material).
On a related note, the thematic climax of the book seems, in no small way, to undercut its dramatic climax. With only ten or so pages left, I had the sense that the trajectory of the plot was going to require another act in order to provide the confrontation between protagonist and antagonists the book seemed to be building toward. To Palahniuk's credit, the climax he does provide stands as a genuine resolution. It simply is not of the sort I had anticipated, and my vivid imagination had me psyched up for one hell of a dramatic climax. :)
At the end of the day, this is the author's creation and not mine, and I respect his creative choices. The book he has written is excellent and well worth your time. 3.5 out of 4 stars.
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