Tuesday, March 12, 2013

I Dreamt My Lady Came and Found Me Dead

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 

So this was a little different.

Full disclosure.  I have a severe dislike of anything to do with vampires, werewolves, fairies, mermaids or anything else fantastical or otherworldly.  Ostensibly, this is a zombie book, but only insofar as the main character is dead… stay with me.

But Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion is a little different.  It’s a love story beginning when a zombie (who knows himself only as ‘R’) eats the brain of a boy, collecting his memories and immediately falling in love with the boy’s girlfriend, Julie.  Not your typical setup for a book about the zombie apocalypse.  R makes it his mission to protect Julie until he can return her to safety.

The real strength in Warm Bodies is R’s narration.  He recognizes that he’s different from the other zombies around him.  He has a preoccupation with human objects, gathering tchotchkes to put in his home (an abandoned 747), and has a sizable collection of vinyl.  The introduction of Julie only magnifies these differences tenfold.  Marion uses this dissonance to examine exactly what constitutes “humanity.”  Can a person be completely written off just because he’s dead?

This is a brisk read; the narrative pushes forward from one major event to the next.  It makes it easy to get through it one sitting.  It’s also an excellent book for anyone who isn’t a fan of the zombie craze that’s happening.  Warm Bodies is fun, action packed, and offers a little bit to think about when you’re finished reading. 

Still don’t really care about zombies, but want a well written story with a side of quirk?  Head on over to John Green’s Paper Towns.  Looking for a little more hardcore zombie action?  World War Z by Max Brooks, it is.

~Meredith T.

1 comment:

  1. Meredith, I totally agree with your review of this book. I have read the book and watched the film and found them both very good. I noticed in the film they went with a Romeo and Juliet theme which was interesting. The Balcony scene brought it out clearly to me. Now looking back at the book I see it differently.

    Mary Beth P.

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