World War Z

By: Max Brooks

Narrated by: Christopher Ragland, Rupert Farley, Nigel Pilkington, Jennifer Woodward, David Thorpe, Adam Sims, Robert Slade

Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

"The end was near." Voices from the Zombie War.

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched firsthand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet.

He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living - or at least the undead - hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

©2012 Max Brooks (P)2012 Audible Ltd

Highly Recommended

Where does World War Z rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I am not big zombie's story fan, but the approach of the book (after war) the different stories (different point of views - characters so differents) and the different narrators (voices and accents) make it a very good audio book.

I really enjoy the format and the performance. If I have to find something to critic I will say one or two stories had too much of weapon's details and i felt lost :-) and it look too long. but my rating still 5 stars.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I always have the feeling with audio books that the na

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes.

this is the prime example of an audiobook

listened to this audiobook several times now. amazing voice acting, the unconventional story layout, everything about this book is just amazing, would recommend to all my friends

Did not spoil the movie at all

Did not realise it was in documentary format, and was unsure, but loved driving just so I could listen to the book - haven't seen the movie but I am sure that it would not have spoiled the story, as it was written as a post mortem of the total outcome of World War Z, with the main character not being part of the actual story body, but the story teller.

I really enjoyed this audio book

Where does World War Z rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's right up there with the best of them.

What did you like best about this story?

It wasn't what I was expecting, it was much better.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They made me feel like they had really been there. I believed they'd been part of a zombie war.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no extremes, just liked it a lot.

Any additional comments?

buy this audio book, you won't regret it.

Positively surprised, despite hype

What did you like best about this story?

The author make use of several different styles of writing to convey a complex history of a global catastrophe. I found the global angle particularly compelling; the zombie threat not only shows how societies hang together, but also how they differ and consequently respond to the situation in different ways. The author compellingly uses the zombie theme to implicitly ask some disquieting questions about class, justice and the economy. For me, it was this political and philosophical dimension that made the novel stand out from other more action-oriented zombie-themed narratives. That is not to say that World War Z does not have its share of action and suspense - two important reasons why I choose this kind of book to begin with.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are several interesting and thought-provoking subplots. Admittedly, some are a bit cheesy, such as one involving traditional Japanese martial arts. I did nevertheless find most of them nicely sculptured. I was particularly intrigued by the story about the Russian army using guilt to whip a generation of soldiers into obedience. Such episodes, which situates the narrative in a long-standign discussion over human nature, strangely lends credence to the surreal narrative and almost make it feel anchored in history.

Amazing

I’ve read the book several times but the audio with accents from the different countries is just amazing, giving the audio book a different dimension

Not what I expected

Where does World War Z rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was a pretty good book to listen to. Interesting story/stories, and a few different narrators - which is a first for me. I will listen to it again.

What was one of the most memorable moments of World War Z?

There was a "ooh" moment half way through - don't want to say too much in case it gives something away, but it was a good little surprise.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

For the most part the narrators's performances were pretty good - except when they were supposed to be chinese/Japanese/Russian - and they all sounded half German....

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

This book has already been made into a film - and let me tell you IT IS NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE!!!!!!! I think two lines from the book were used in the movie and that was it....

I expected more from the story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The very begging of the book and the early description of the war were interesting. It covered individuals, countries, and explained how the virus spread and how people helped the curse to become global. Well, this was it! The rest of the book just described other individuals, their encounters, little survivor's stories and nothing that I would prefer to hear about the war.

This is likely caused by the Walking Dead series and other similar zombie related films/books.

If you are anything like me, then I do not recommend to read this book. The movie will do just fine.

Would you be willing to try another book from Max Brooks? Why or why not?

I would be willing to try another book from Max Brooks. However, will spend more time going through the reviews and see if other readers with similar preferences recommend a book.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

If it was not for the narrators, most likely the book will never be read until the end. The narrators did a wonderful work.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I read this book because of the latest movie "World War Z" starring Bred Pitt. I liked the movie.

Great book about society

Great book, how different countries could respond to an epidemic when the society breaks down

The best audiobook I have ever listened to.

I loved this book. The choice to have different narrators benefited the book a lot.