World War Z
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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Max Brooks |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror, Satirical novel |
| Publisher | Crown |
Publication date | September 12, 2006 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback/Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0307346609 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
World War Z (abbreviated WWZ) is a novel by Max Brooks which chronicles the fictional titular "Zombie World War". It is a follow-up to his previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide. The book was released on September 12, 2006, and it has a movie based on it in the pre-production stage. [1]
Plot summary
The book charts a war against the undead from global pandemic to mass panic, and then to the eventual armed struggle to reclaim the planet. Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a collection of individual accounts, each revealing an aspect of the larger plot and simultaneously presenting a very personal tale. These different accounts take the form of interviews. The book draws from post-apocalyptic and zombie literature. "The Great Panic" chapter describes the rout of civilization in a similar manner to H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. The tales cover many genres -- the story of a Chinese admiral who spent the war on a submarine would fit easily among techno-thrillers. The viewpoint is not exclusively American, but focuses on the global nature of the struggle. This use of small personal tales creates a patchwork tapestry of the larger events unfolding in the book. Brooks addresses current issues such as environmentalism, the Iraq War and international health care. He also offers an interesting juxtaposition between the modern world and that of postwar Earth. For example, Cuba becomes the world's leading economy, Great Britain becomes a major producer of oil, and Tibet becomes the most populous country. This vision of a postwar Earth is startling in its contrast to that of today. It is implied that tribal groups such as South American Indians, Zulu of Southern Africa and Māori of New Zealand fared surprisingly well. One character relates an anecdote about 500 Māori taking on half of the Auckland horde, using traditional tribal weapons, did much better than the world's various military forces or Western civilians.
Characters
The book consists of a series of more than twenty personal accounts from war survivors.[1]
Audio book
The abridged audio book is read by author Max Brooks and a full cast, including Mark Hamill, Alan Alda, Henry Rollins, Rob Reiner, and Carl Reiner. The audio book was published by Random House Audio, directed by John McElroy, produced by Dan Zitt, with sound editing by Charles De Montebello. The audio book was awarded with the 2007 Audie Award for best Multi-Voiced Performance.[1] Around half of the material in the book was omitted.
- Max Brooks (who authored the book) as the interviewer
- Steve Park as Kwang Jingshu, Chinese doctor
- Alan Alda as Arthur Sinclair, former SEC chairman
- Carl Reiner as Jürgen Warbrunn, Israeli intelligence officer
- Waleed Zuiater as Saladin Kader, Palestinian militant
- Jay O. Sanders as Bob Archer, director of the CIA
- Dennis Boutsikaris as General Travis D'Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander of Europe
- Jürgen Prochnow as Philip Adler, German army officer
- Dean Edwards as Joe Muhammad, disabled American artist
- Michelle Kholos as Jessika Hendricks, Canadian volunteer
- Maz Jobrani as Ahmed Farahnakian, Iranian Air Force major
- Mark Hamill as Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman
- Henry Rollins as T. Sean Collins, U.S. mercenary
- Eamonn Walker as David Allen Forbes, British author; as Xolelwa Azania; and as Paul Redeker, Afrikaner military strategist
- Ajay Naudu as Ajay Shah, Indian office manager
- John Turturro as Serosha Garcia Alvarez, Cuban businessman
- Rob Reiner as "The Wacko", Vice President of the United States
- Becky Ann Baker as Colonel Christina Eliopolis, US Air Force officer
- Frank Kamai as Nury Televaldi, Chinese smuggler; and as Tomonaga Ijiro, blind Japanese martial artist
- John McElroy (who also directed) as Ernesto Olguin, naval attaché
The role of Philip Adler, the character who laments the cruelty of the German military strategy called the "Prochnow Plan", was played by an actor whose last name is Prochnow.
Film adaptation
A film adaptation is due for release in 2008 after the rights were obtained by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, with the screenplay being written by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Template:Http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/ Cite error: The named reference "pr" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Nicole LaPorte, Michael Fleming (2006). "Par, Plan B raise 'Zombie'". Variety.
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