World War Z (Max Brooks)

World War Z. I wanted to love this story, I really did.
Zombie stories aren’t so much about the reanimated corpses as they are about politics and people. That is what makes them so good. Unfortunately you only have one of the two elements here.
A good political bent will make the relationships between the villain and the hero states vague- you can never be absolutely certain which countries they are talking about and can transcend the generations to fit the current political climate at the time of reading.
That is definitely not what you get here. What you get is a blow by blow of political relationships across the world, the enemies that are the enemies now. This means that, apart from feeling a lot like you are being hit over the head with a hefty high school text, it is soon quickly going to go out of date. In ten years it will be a period novel.
It also fails to pull you in with its characters. Sure, the idea that it is a political report is a good one, only it fails to give you a relationship with any of the characters. There is no one to care about, no actual storyline to follow. Every voice is the same, the whiney voice of the author. If this was in fact an investigation then the interview somehow managed to find people who all sounded exactly the same.
There is nothing new or original here. Even the human plight is so drearily drawn that it’s hard to really care or even picture it outside of the many zombie films or books that have come before.
And it moves terribly slowly. Slowly. So much for the human factor. Not that he has anything nice to say about people anyway. It is simple enough to skip entire chapters in order to speed up the reading without actually missing out on anything important.

And as a side note, because I can’t pull any actual evidence to support my argument, or can’t be bothered, I just wanted to say that I’m feeling some deep rooted racism coming from Brooks.
If I had to say one good thing about this book, other than the fact that the concept is interesting (even if poorly executed) I would say this- the Afrikaner plan, though abhorrent, was a clever touch. A truly horrible solution meant, I assume, to show you who you are by how you react to it.
My absolute favourite bit? The very last four words, dedication at the end- I love you, Mom.
I preferred Cell to this.

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Skeleton Crew (Stephen King)

It took me a few weeks to get through the 600-odd pages of this collection of short stories, giving me the time to chew on some of the stories. I usually have two books on the go at the same time- the one that I carry around in my bag for when I have to wait for class to start or a bus or any time that I am outside of the house and am alone. Then there is the book at home. The book in my bag can take weeks to finish reading, depending on how much time I have to fill outside of the house. This is what happened with Skeleton Crew.

I have an odd relationship with Stephen King. While I love his earlier work, The Long Walk, The Stand, Insomnia, Misery, etc., I am not all that much on love with his newer works. I find his arrogance distasteful. It isn't the same sort of self importance that you will find in Kurt Vonnegut's work or even Alfred Hitchcock's films. It's a self righteousness that has only gotten worse over time. Of course, every author has to have a little of this in them.
It is clearly evident in this collection. King has something against fat people, lazy people and stupid people. Mostly fat people. You can pity them and even forgive them if you really want to, but he seems to find it impossible to move past it. He has an opinion and isn't afraid to say it. Over and over again.
That doesn't mean that his stories aren't good. He can paint a pretty picture (or pretty gruesome). He has some pretty damn good stories in there. And it is all horror all the time.
The Mist was one of my favourites for its ambiguity and it physical strength. It was 80's horror at its best, which includes ridiculous monsters that wouldn't seem out of place in a John Carpenter film. The Monkey almost terrified me. Mrs. Todd's Shortcut entertained me (I however, am one of those people who likes to know the quickest way, but will however take a different route each time to enjoy the scenery and literally smell the roses). The protagonist in The Raft pissed me off (which generally boils down to good writing). Morning Deliveries was confusing. Survivor type was though provoking. The Reach was predictable.
All in all it was a fun trip to take over a few weeks. Some of it is King at his best and some of it is King at his corniest. He wasn't always a self righteous twat. And despite my gripe that he should get out of the horror rut once in a while, he is adept at it. Unfortunately most of it is forgettable.

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