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madda_gaska loaned me this on Sunday and I finished it this morning on the tube. I have to say it was fantastic!!!! I would recommend it VERY highly. Easily one of the best modern novels I've ever read. As all good stories about zombies should be it was not about zombies but how humans cope with overwhleming disaster and terror. The book was a collection of interviews with survivors. The tales started like individual zombie films, but still had a strong sense of cohesion as each built on things happening in the past. In a way despite being very little interconnection I felt that I had a complete picture of what happened. It really was a fantastic example of oral history. The story of how it all happened was fascinating, the first few outbreaks, the rumors, the wide spread panic, the total destruction, and the eventual turning of the tides. Each broken down from different viewpoints all over the globe and often very touching and moving stories. There was the young girl who went north with her parents and from the open sharing atmosphere at the start of their camp ended with them trading a radio for part of the human stew so they could survive the winter, there was the japanese computer geek who spent three days climbing down the outside of his building when he finally reallised the place had been over-run, there were the soliders who talked of battles, the leaders who realised they couldn't save everyone. It was all so visual and so realistic. It was intersting to see the breakdown of civilisaition, the total apocalyptic feel, the depression and suicide of so many of the survivors. The closest thing to this I've ever read was the Ming Qing Cataclysm which was real stories written about that period of Chinese history where so many disasters happened. This obviously wasn't real but was one of those books that really made you think about what humanity means and what it does. As I said, Fantastic! It will give you nightmares but they'll be worth it!madda_gaska loaned me this on Sunday and I finished it this morning on the tube. I have to say it was fantastic!!!! I would recommend it VERY highly. Easily one of the best modern novels I've ever read. As all good stories about zombies should be it was not about zombies but how humans cope with overwhleming disaster and terror. The book was a collection of interviews with survivors. The tales started like individual zombie films, but still had a strong sense of cohesion as each built on things happening in the past. In a way despite being very little interconnection I felt that I had a complete picture of what happened. It really was a fantastic example of oral history. The story of how it all happened was fascinating, the first few outbreaks, the rumors, the wide spread panic, the total destruction, and the eventual turning of the tides. Each broken down from different viewpoints all over the globe and often very touching and moving stories. There was the young girl who went north with her parents and from the open sharing atmosphere at the start of their camp ended with them trading a radio for part of the human stew so they could survive the winter, there was the japanese computer geek who spent three days climbing down the outside of his building when he finally reallised the place had been over-run, there were the soliders who talked of battles, the leaders who realised they couldn't save everyone. It was all so visual and so realistic. It was intersting to see the breakdown of civilisaition, the total apocalyptic feel, the depression and suicide of so many of the survivors. The closest thing to this I've ever read was the Ming Qing Cataclysm which was real stories written about that period of Chinese history where so many disasters happened. This obviously wasn't real but was one of those books that really made you think about what humanity means and what it does. As I said, Fantastic! It will give you nightmares but they'll be worth it!.