Consequences

In the last chapters of the book you began to notice the long-term consequences of the war and the nature of it. This war is entirely different from any other conflict faced by any civilization. The psycological damage was too big, the lack of resourses was even worse, but more important, the enemy was completely different. Zombies did not need any rest, they do not give up, they not even had a strategy. At first, the ignorance helped to keep control over the population, but it did not last long. The ignorance killed millions of people because the population were not able to understand the desease, and either the enemy. 

In addition, the consequences of the choices taken by specific persons lead in problems or solutions with an enourmous scale. Millions of people depend on the creativity of the governments to create strategies to regain territory, but this people are not excluded. A high percent of the population had militar duties because the war demanded a lot of people. 

I think that, as I said before, the best tool to defeat is the preocupation for the others and also the information given to everyone. Also, it is important to take into account the general mood of the population because it is difficult to conquer something without a positive attitude, and, in this case, the achievement was life.

This are some quotes that support what I am saying:

"Ignorance was the enemy. Lies and superstition, misinformation, disinformation. Sometimes not information at all. Ignorance killed billions of people..."

"The living dead had taken more from us than land and loved ones..."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

Vocabulary: 

Pag. 266

Clamped: To fasten, grip, or support with or as if with a clamp.

Pag. 306

Counteracts: To oppose and mitigate the effects of by contrary action; check.

Pag. 311

Doomed: Inevitable destruction or ruin.

Pag. 320

Ghoul: One who delights in the revolting, morbid, or loathsome.

Pag. 371

Hunk: A large piece; a chunk.

Home Front USA

This part of the book describes clearly the reaction of the government to the difficult situation. There are several measures that changed the way of living of all the society. Some of them involved the learning of many skills for basic activities that not everybody accepted very well. Activities related with art no longer had importance, the objective was surviving. As a result, many persons were not very happy and they even seemed to be rude, but if they wanted to survive they needed to adapt to all this changes. I specially liked a part in which a member of the airforce describes how many doctors were willing to risk their lives in order to save other people, or to teach certain skills essential for surviving. I like this part of humanity in the middle of the problem, the part that makes us very different from another creature. You could learn from this part that we depend entirely from other people, and other people from us, if we do not help each other, then who?


This are some quotes from the parts I am talking about:

"I have a lot of respect for those guys. Most of them knew it was for the duration; a lot of the Blue Zones did not have airstrips, so they had to parachute in without any hope of pick up."

"Helping people to help themselves is great in theory, but you still gotta keep them alive..."


Also I will leave some vocabulary in case you do not understand some words:

Pag. 188

Burden: A responsibility or duty

Pag. 197

Quislings: A traitor who serves as the puppet of the enemy occupying his or her country.

Pag. 218

Trudging: To walk in a laborious, heavy-footed way; plod.

Pag. 219

Halted: A suspension of movement or progress, especially a temporary one.

Pag. 221

Tattered: Worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing.

Panic

Today I will go into detail about the part of the book in which all the problems really began to appear. Can you imagine the beginning of an epidemic of this dimensions? The reactions of all the parts of society? The book entitled this part as "The turning tide". In this section you can perceive a lot of chaos, breaking down of organization, lack of order and control. No one knows what to do, the lack of information leads in the inconformity and anger of people and a situation of selfishness and individualism began to appear.

This attitude causes more problems because the only objective of the people is to save their lives and they do not care if they are already infected, they stay with the great mass of the population representing a danger for all. With the same attitude of individualism, in several countries are applied measures that try to solve the problem but this cautions only protect a minority. 

There is an special part in which a Canadian narrates his story in the Great Panic. His family moves to the North and when they get to a place "safe" from de zombies they stay there with a group of people in the same conditions. You can see how the behavior of the group changes. First everybody is too cooperative, but when the resources, like food, are running short, they become more agressive. No one can trust no one, they only care on surviving. I think that this story represents this period very well. I think I would react the same way, maybe no agressive but make sure that the people I trust is reliable. 

There are some words I did not understand, so I search their meaning and here they are:

Pag. 103

Tattered: Torn into shreds; ragged.

Pag. 113

Ghouls: One who delights in the revolting, morbid, or loathsome.

Pag. 123

Mangled: To mutilate or disfigure by battering, hacking, cutting, or tearing.

Pag. 127

Bugged: To grow large; bulge.

Pag. 137

Insidiously: Intended to entrap; treacherous.

Lapels: The part of a garment, such as a coat or jacket, that is an extension of the collar and folds back against the breast.

Pag. 141

Scrounge: To obtain (something) by begging or borrowing with no intention of reparation.

Pag. 142

Burden: Something that is carried.

Pag. 161

Screeching: A high-pitched, strident cry.

Pag. 169

Bash: To strike with a heavy, crushing blow.

Warnings

This book is a compilation of testimonies of people all over the world who lived through the World War Z. I´ve already read the first 100 pages of this book finishing the first part called "Warnings". As every important event, this zombie war was a consecuence of different situations that, specially in this case, went out of control and the human civilization was not able to prevent. I like this first part because it shows characteristics of society that, in fact, are present nowadays like manipulation of information, organ trafficking, corruption in pharmaceutical industry, etc. We have already get used to this conditions, that I see like problems, and maybe we dont know the impact that they may cause in an event of this dimensions. 

Another important aspect of this first part is that the fear is a natural emotion of the human being and, therefore, present in everyone. I think that at the beginning it was important to overcome this emotion to think up a solution instead of letting it take control of the situation. I think that something that would have helped a lot was to inform the real situation to everyone not to frighten them, bu,t instead, to give several measures of real prevention. 

¿Which aspect would you have change?

Vocabulary

I found this part really easy to read, but here are some words (with meanings) that, at first,  may be difficult to understand:

Page 21:
Jalopy: An old, dilapidated motor vehicle, especially an automobile.
Swaying: To swing back and forth or to and fro. 
Fists: The hand closed tightly with the fingers bent against the palm.

Page 22:
Rumpled: To wrinkle or form into folds or creases.

Page 25: 
Infirmary: A place for the care of the infirm, sick, or injured, especially a small hospital or dispensary in an institution.

Page 27:
Morgue: A place in which the bodies of persons found dead are kept until identified and claimed or until arrangements for burial have been made.

Page 31:
Oozed: To flow or leak out slowly, as through small openings.

Page 37:
Stirrings: Exciting strong feelings, as of inspiration; rousing.

Page 48:
Riot: A wild or turbulent disturbance created by a large number of people.

Page 51:
Escorting: One or more persons accompanying another to guide, protect, or show honor.

Page 74: 
Slammed: To hit or strike with great force.

Page 77: 
Stock: A supply accumulated for future use; a store.
Nosedive: A sudden sharp drop or rapid decline; "the stock took a nosedive"
Whining: To complain or protest in a childish fashion.

Page 81:
Rehash: To bring forth again in another form without significant alteration.

Page 89:
Deck: A platform extending horizontally from one side of a ship to the other.

Read with Me

World War Z

Recently, the subject of Zombies has become very common among television series, movies, novels, etc. However, this topic is not new. Our culture is full of tales describing  dead creatures walking  like if they were alive. In fact, many people do believe that a zombie apocalypse could happen. Personally, I like to discuss this type of  topics because they have to do with the psicological reaction of society. In part, that is why I chose to read "World War Z" a novel of Max Brooks that describes the history of a zombie war.

Besides, as well as liking novels which show the reaction of a society, I chose to read this book because I saw the first  season of a serie called Walking Dead and I get interested in zombies. Moreover, I love to read books that describe events that take place in the future, they show circumstances that have the posibility to happen. The book has 400 pages, but it is not difficult to read. Sometimes you may have some trouble with specific words, but that is why I will post in this blog some words that, for me, are difficult to understand.  Also, as I go on through the book, I will post several ideas that this novel communicates and how I would react to several situations. I hope you to enjoy the book and, of course, this blog!