World War Z by Max Brooks

World War Z was one of those break-out hits like The Hunger Games, The Martian, and The Da Vinci Code. But what sets this book apart from those three (other than not starting with the article “The”) is that it is not follow the traditional narrative we see in most books. There isn’t a beginning, middle and end in the sense that we’re all used to when picking up a book.

Rather, it is made up of an end with a prologue.  

I read the first few chapters of the book, like I do with all books. I pick it up, I turn the pages, I follow the story.

I hated it.

I was strapped in and braced for a rip-roaring ride through the zombie apocalypse. I saw the movie, and though I knew it wasn’t exactly faithful to the book, I was hoping for so much more. Where was the instant classic that so many people love? In fact, after this book, I hated the movie more because it could have been so much more. It could have been as great as the book I read.

Wait, what? How could I simultaneously hate it and love? Easy.

I hated reading it, but loved listening to the audio book.

I have never listened to an audio book for more than a chapter or two. I hate being read to. I hate listening to books as much as I hate reading movies. Call it an aversion to media-based synesthesia.

This past week a made a marathon move across the country. Some days I was driving fourteen hours or more. Of course, that amount of time on the road left little extra for curling up with a book. I decided that a book called World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War would best be told, well, orally.

And it was. What was at first a pile of rejected journalist’s notes became a cohesive story that could have been the isolated audio track of a History Channel documentary. The audio book employed some pretty well-known names in the entertainment industry, and it was fun hearing them take on the roles of survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

I listened to the entire book in one shot, after reading only the first section (Warnings) a few weeks prior. I found it far more engaging than what was on the radio in Mississippi on a Sunday (although, there were plenty of horror stories there). I found it more engaging that my travel mix. I found it so engaging, that I drove longer than I should have so I wouldn’t have to wait until the next day to listen to it some more.  I listened to it until I made it to my destination and then I sat in my car and listened to the final Goodbyes.

It was riveting as an audio book.

Brooks does a fantastic job weaving the science, horror and political machinations of a zombie apocalypse into a cohesive novel. Telling the story in any of those three formats would be good, but he goes or great and gets as close as possible with the format he chose.

Because as great as the book is in its format as an audio book, I think I would have enjoyed it more in a more traditional format if I was reading it.

I would almost venture to say Brooks took the easy way out by skirting the essential elements of a good fiction novel and instead relying nearly solely on dialogue. He gives brief descriptions in that dialogue, but for the most part it’s just folks talking. He organizes the “interviews” in a beginning, middle, and end, but for the most parts it’s just folks talking.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brilliant technique and there are some haunting passages. My favorites were Air Force Colonel Christina Eliopolis and Todd Wainio. Not sure if it’s my military background or that they were just the most action-packed, but I really found myself drawn to these characters. Eliopolis had a somewhat cliché story, but it was still haunting—when acted out in audio book. I went back and re-read that section and found it less satisfying in print.

Brooks is the son of comedian Mel Brooks and wrote for a while on SNL. He’s found himself a niche in the zombie genre with a couple of hits, including WWZ and The Zombie Survival Guide. I’m glad I discovered the virtues of the audio book, because I don’t think I would have liked this as much as I did if I’d read it in its entirety.