Max Brooks’ thriller World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, is set in an alternate 21st-century after a zombie apocalypse that began in a small Chinese village. First banned in China, and then in Florida and Wisconsin, Ali Velshi sits down with Brooks to ask why and break down the message of the book, exploring why it inspires fear not just in the reader, but also in those in power.
If you haven’t read it, World War Z has a non-traditional narrative structure, where the story is relayed through interviews with survivors from a variety of roles and perspectives on the apocalypse. There are doctors, artists, soldiers, parents, and politicians. It reads like an official report, a necessary chronicle of the event for future generations to study. There is no hero. The story is one of survival, but World War Z‘s themes are really human shortsightedness, the power of fear, the fragility of modern life, and the necessity of humanity in the face of chaos.
It is these ideas that make the novel a target for book-banning. It exposes weakness and criticizes politically expedient decision-making. Looking back now after the Covid 19 pandemic, which coincidentally, also began in a small Chinese village, it’s no wonder that regimes that fear accountability and critical thinking would ban World War Z.
“It shows the cracks in our society and our government. It remains more relevant than ever,” says Velshi.
Listen to Velshi and Max Brooks
Watch Velshi and Brooks on the symbolism of a zombie apocalypse
Velshi on banned books on MSNBC:
MORE FROM VELSHI’S BANNED BOOK CLUB
