World War Z

Since I've been seeing promos for the movie, and the book has been on my to-read shelf for a while, I pulled the book off and read it. I prefer to read the book before I see the movie, if I know ahead of time that it's made from one. From the promos I can tell that all they've used from the book is the title and the fact that there are zombies. This would have been a tricky book to faithfully translate to film, but it could have been done with skill and originality. Oh wait, I'm talking about Hollywood. Not going to happen.

The promos look quite a lot like the movie 2012. Family in vehicle, trying to escape. Lots of chase scenes and explosions. I'll watch it - probably will wait for the dollar movie. Looks like a pretty standard action flick. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised.

The book, on the other hand, is written as a series of interviews with a wide variety of people after the war is over (for the most part - it can't really ever be completely over). Each interview, ranging in length from one page to ten, is from a different person and has a completely different voice. Person by person, they tell the story from Patient Zero to when humanity finally gets its feet under it and rallys. People from all over the world tell their piece of the story: heartbreaking, scary, self-deprecating, blunt. Along the way, bureaucracy, pride, government/military hubris, greed, and a host of other social ills get in the way. Talk about illuminating the human condition - the author illuminates and skewers virtually every social, government, and religious institution on earth. Every country. And without being obvious or preachy.

If you read this expecting a conventional horror or thriller, you'll be disappointed. But if you're willing to let a story unfold slowly, bit by bit, until it takes over the entire world and changes it forever, read this. It's an amazing book.

The first entry: August 24, 2007

My two favorite things in the world are cats and books, not necessarily in that order. I've been trying to get a book published for decades - not the same one, a lot of different ones. Either I've had wretched luck, or I'm a real slow learner, or I'm just a crappy writer. Pick one. At any rate, I'll keep trying. What else am I going to do? If I just let all these people and stories sit in my brain I'll go nuts.

Currently I'm struggling through the first draft of a romantic suspense novel, called Against Her Will. It's going fairly well. I have a finished fantasy, called For the Seven Kingdoms (though I really don't like the title). I'm running through my writing group. I've finished several novels, but as soon as I get them done I'm convinced they're no good. I think I've just gotten too many rejection letters. Now I can't bring myself to send them out.

I tend to read several books at once. I just finished First Warning by Anne McCaffery and Elizabeth Scarborough. Before that, Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, and Red Lily by Nora Roberts. Right now I'm reading Wyrd Sisters by my favorite author, Terry Pratchet - that book lives in my purse. On the dining room table is Affaire Royale by Nora Roberts.

Quote for the day:

A writer is like a bean plant – he has his little day, and then gets stringy.
E.B. White