BookTalk.org

When i was in high school i remembered thinking a zombie apocalypse wouldn't be all that bad. Zombies aren't like vampires or other monsters which are physically superior to you. They can't catch you in a race, you are faster, smarter, and you should be able to take one out in a fight.

But if you stop to think for a second, zombies would be a terrible way to go. And i think they serve as an interesting analog for the "mob".

I think Brooks has really nailed it in this book. Not so much just for the zombies, but far more importantly in how everyone reacts in world war z.

The spread of the virus through black-market organ transplants, and people smuggling were things i would not have thought of, but i think really would, and probably do play a big role in the spread of a disease like this. Especially one that might cause mass panic.

I'm trying to figure out why zombies and dystopian futures in general resonate with people these days. A zombie apocalypse is essentially a disease pandemic. We fear collapse, an economic meltdown or some kind of viral pandemic. Maybe stories like these are a way of rehearsing or ttrying it on for size to see how we would react in the face of such a catastrophe. Do we we relax our moral standards when our survival is at stake. What becomes of the humans we think we are in the face of global catastrophe?

Goes to show, you couldn't possibly predict a cultural phenomenon, I mean no way, no how. Zombies suddenly becoming omnipresent in the culture? The "why" is so hard to puzzle out; you've made a good stab, but maybe the answer is simply that people are weird creatures.

I'm a little edgy about the upcoming Lincoln zombie movie. Our youth already know so little about history. So we'll supply them with some "information" they might not have the ability to filter. Brilliant.

We can analyse monster fetishes in terms of psychological archetypes of identification. There are features of modern life that make people feel like werewolves, vampires, Frankensteins, aliens, Godzilla and zombies. The popularity of these monsters is partly a function of their resonance with subconscious feelings of identity. The same can be said for heroes such as Superman and Jesus.

With the zombie, its lack of soul and automatic behavior reflect the anomie and alienation of mass industrial society. People feel no sense of belonging in the urban technocracy, and celebrate this isolated emptiness through the cult of the zombie.

Fear of plague is also very much there below the surface of our modern insistence that science can control nature. Antibiotics are breeding superbugs, creating major risk of mass death through unstoppable epidemics. Life is scary.

I can't believe I just ordered a book on Zombies. But dystopian literature is certainly the main course on the menu these days. Think about the highly popular "Hunger Games". Literature reflects the society from which it stems, intentionally or unintentionally. Think of Golding's "Lord of the Flies" or Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" ......or "1984". The list goes on and on. But I must admit, I enjoy dystopian lit. So, my Zombies should arrive tomorrow (you guys do realise that I probably won't be able to live this one down in my family, don't you?).

Life aint as scary as this book, Robert. Oblivion, glad you are joining us. I thought I was the only female. This type of book not usually to my taste, and wouldn't normally pick it up.

I bought this book today and read the first chapter. It is entertaining and I like it. It tells a few parables, like the inability of people to see obvious things until it is too late, and the indifference to the consequences of actions.

When something is outside people's experience, like a zombie plague, they find excuses to ignore and deny that it is happening. In hindsight, these excuses continue long after the truth is obvious, showing the capacity of people to be wilfully blind. And when people make money from something that is unethical, like sale of bodily organs from live prisoners, the initial unethical stance leads them to ignore all other ethical consequences, like the organs carrying a virus that turns your blood brown and makes you impervious to bullets except in the head and encourages you to eat other people in the most rude and aggressive way.

The global dimension of the zombie plague is a good plot device, with incidents from China, Brazil, Palestine, Kuwait, South Africa and the USA. You have to suspend disbelief, not just about zombies, but also about the failure of the word to get out. Something like that would cause mass panic and organized mobilization. Brooks probably modelled it on the responses to bird flu and mad cow disease.

Oblivion, is there no such thing as reading for fun in your family? haha.

And besides, like i said, this book isn't REALLY about zombies. They are just the catalyst for world wide change. The real meat of this story is how people, governments and cultures respond to a threat. This particular threat isn't likely to happen in reality, but because it's so off the wall some of the poor reactions to the threat are justified.

I admit it would take some serious convincing to get me to believe we were under threat of a zombie pandemic.

The global nature of the story is what's so strong about this book. Every movie about this subject follows just a small group of survivors who have no idea what's going on outside their little fort and we never get to see how things are being handled, or why things ARENT being handled.

I think end of days mythology is so popular because of our knowledge and obsession with death. We know one day we will die, and apocalyptic mythology extends beyond into the death of our civilizations. It lets us be present for something we aren't going to see (unless we happen to be peasants in the dark ages who kinda DID preside over an apocalypse after the fall of classical civilization). Sometimes i'll be driving home later in the day and there won't be much traffic. it's eerie to be surrounded by all these artifacts of humanity and imagine them to be empty.

As for why zombies? They combine so many things that are terrifying. The fear of death, the fear of the dead (ghosts, vengeful spirits), the fear of the unreasoning mob, cannibalism, being surrounded, survival without your support network, family members turning on you, and the gaurantee of a violent death if you are caught. As brooks says, "there is no bargaining. No middle ground" with zombies.

Thanks for jumping on board guys!

I've had this book for a while and i think you will all enjoy it.