Review of "Warm Bodies" by Isaac Marion
R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, noidentity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.
After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and stragely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.
Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead, and the blurry line in between.
A couple of months ago I got to see an advanced screening of Warm Bodies. I plan to see the movie again very soon now that it is out in theaters.
I just finished reading the book and I loved it. The movie is a bit different than the book. Some events and details were changed or omitted. The details of how they are cured are different. But I am not bothered by that. I very much enjoyed the book and the movie in their own ways. Each story fit it's medium perfectly.
Memorable quotes:
Page 19 - "Another of M's undead ironies - from nametags to newspapers, the answers to our questions are written all around us, and we don't know how to read."
This is sad that the zombies have lost the ability to read.
Also, R had obsession with names. On page 39 wants to know wife's name, but she can't speak and he can't read her nametage. He wanted to know what her job was, her school, favorite movie, song, book, food, family. All those human connections were lost.
Yet, what I found really interesting was that though most of the zombies were aimless and mindless, even the Dead had their own community, ruled (dictated) by the Boneys (the skeletons). There was a "church" where they would hold hands and sway and groan. There was a school for the zombie children where they had to be taught how to attack the living and feed on them.
I found this funny on page 39 because the Dead live in an airport: "She starts walking, dragging me behind her like rolling luggage."
Some other quotes I found funny or inspiring:
Page 49 "Is it psychosomatic? Maybe a distant memory of the drinking experience left over from my old life? If so, apparently I was a lightweight."
Page 57 "Music is life! It's physical emotion- you can touch it! It's neon ecto-energy sucked out of spirits and switched into sound waves for your ears to swallow. Are you telling me, what it's boring? You don't have time for it?"
Page 61 "People used to say music was the great communicator; I wonder if this is still true in this posthuman, posthumous age."
Page 73 "She reaches down and sticks a daisy into my folded hands, then giggles. It takes me a moment to realize I look like the corpse in an old-fashioned funeral. I jolt upright as if struck by lightning and Julie bursts out laughing. I can't help but smile."
Page 78 "The scene as Julie and I make our way out of the airport resembles either a wedding procession or a buffet line."
Page 90" I was like eight, Dad, I probably liked pretending I lived in a spaceship."
Page 159 "I study every line in her face, wondering what mysteries lie in the glowing nuclei of her cells."
Page 167 "Her warm memories. I’d like to paint them over the bare plaster walls of my soul, but everything I paint seems to peel." I loved this. Thought it was so poetic.
Page 192 "The Boneys rush in behind us, loping forward with the relentless commitment of the Reaper himself, but we're losing them." I was on the edge of my seat!
Page 206 "I can feel the elation of every atom in my flesh, brimming with gratitude for the second chance they never expected to get."
Page 206 "I’m not going to yawn off in the middle of a sentence and hide it in a drawer. Not this time." Don't let life pass you by.
Page 206 "I want life in all its stupid sticky rawness."
Page 213 "But I'm a new thing. A fresh canvas. I can choose what history I build my future on, and I choose a new one."
The plague is their curse for the destruction they caused. The book, though a dark comedy, is also a social commentary. For example, here are some quotes from the character of Julie:
Page 71, "Do you really not remember what it was like before? All the political and social breakdowns? The global flooding? Wars and riots and constant bombing? The world was pretty far gone before you guys even showed up. You were just the final judgement."
Page 199 "I don't think it's from any spell or virus or nuclear rays. I think it's from a deeper place. I think we brought it here."... "I think we crushed ourselves down over the centuries. Buried ourselves under greed and hate and whatever other sins we could find until our souls finally hit the rock bottom of the universe. And then they scraped a hole through it, into some...dark place."
Page 200 'We released it. We poked through the seabed and the oil erupted, painted us black, pulled our inner sickness out for everyone to see. Now here we are in this dry corpse of a world, rotting on our feet till there's nothing left but bones and the buzz of flies."
I certainly give it 5 out of 5 Braaaiiiins
By the way, I am really enjoying reading on my nook. More than I ever thought I would. I get to highlight quotes, bookmark pages. Share quotes on facebook. Share my reading status on facebook. It weights nearly nothing so I can take it everywhere with me without hurting my neck and shoulder.
After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and stragely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.
Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead, and the blurry line in between.
A couple of months ago I got to see an advanced screening of Warm Bodies. I plan to see the movie again very soon now that it is out in theaters.
I just finished reading the book and I loved it. The movie is a bit different than the book. Some events and details were changed or omitted. The details of how they are cured are different. But I am not bothered by that. I very much enjoyed the book and the movie in their own ways. Each story fit it's medium perfectly.
Memorable quotes:
Page 19 - "Another of M's undead ironies - from nametags to newspapers, the answers to our questions are written all around us, and we don't know how to read."
This is sad that the zombies have lost the ability to read.
Also, R had obsession with names. On page 39 wants to know wife's name, but she can't speak and he can't read her nametage. He wanted to know what her job was, her school, favorite movie, song, book, food, family. All those human connections were lost.
Yet, what I found really interesting was that though most of the zombies were aimless and mindless, even the Dead had their own community, ruled (dictated) by the Boneys (the skeletons). There was a "church" where they would hold hands and sway and groan. There was a school for the zombie children where they had to be taught how to attack the living and feed on them.
I found this funny on page 39 because the Dead live in an airport: "She starts walking, dragging me behind her like rolling luggage."
Some other quotes I found funny or inspiring:
Page 49 "Is it psychosomatic? Maybe a distant memory of the drinking experience left over from my old life? If so, apparently I was a lightweight."
Page 57 "Music is life! It's physical emotion- you can touch it! It's neon ecto-energy sucked out of spirits and switched into sound waves for your ears to swallow. Are you telling me, what it's boring? You don't have time for it?"
Page 61 "People used to say music was the great communicator; I wonder if this is still true in this posthuman, posthumous age."
Page 73 "She reaches down and sticks a daisy into my folded hands, then giggles. It takes me a moment to realize I look like the corpse in an old-fashioned funeral. I jolt upright as if struck by lightning and Julie bursts out laughing. I can't help but smile."
Page 78 "The scene as Julie and I make our way out of the airport resembles either a wedding procession or a buffet line."
Page 90" I was like eight, Dad, I probably liked pretending I lived in a spaceship."
Page 159 "I study every line in her face, wondering what mysteries lie in the glowing nuclei of her cells."
Page 167 "Her warm memories. I’d like to paint them over the bare plaster walls of my soul, but everything I paint seems to peel." I loved this. Thought it was so poetic.
Page 192 "The Boneys rush in behind us, loping forward with the relentless commitment of the Reaper himself, but we're losing them." I was on the edge of my seat!
Page 206 "I can feel the elation of every atom in my flesh, brimming with gratitude for the second chance they never expected to get."
Page 206 "I’m not going to yawn off in the middle of a sentence and hide it in a drawer. Not this time." Don't let life pass you by.
Page 206 "I want life in all its stupid sticky rawness."
Page 213 "But I'm a new thing. A fresh canvas. I can choose what history I build my future on, and I choose a new one."
The plague is their curse for the destruction they caused. The book, though a dark comedy, is also a social commentary. For example, here are some quotes from the character of Julie:
Page 71, "Do you really not remember what it was like before? All the political and social breakdowns? The global flooding? Wars and riots and constant bombing? The world was pretty far gone before you guys even showed up. You were just the final judgement."
Page 199 "I don't think it's from any spell or virus or nuclear rays. I think it's from a deeper place. I think we brought it here."... "I think we crushed ourselves down over the centuries. Buried ourselves under greed and hate and whatever other sins we could find until our souls finally hit the rock bottom of the universe. And then they scraped a hole through it, into some...dark place."
Page 200 'We released it. We poked through the seabed and the oil erupted, painted us black, pulled our inner sickness out for everyone to see. Now here we are in this dry corpse of a world, rotting on our feet till there's nothing left but bones and the buzz of flies."
I certainly give it 5 out of 5 Braaaiiiins
By the way, I am really enjoying reading on my nook. More than I ever thought I would. I get to highlight quotes, bookmark pages. Share quotes on facebook. Share my reading status on facebook. It weights nearly nothing so I can take it everywhere with me without hurting my neck and shoulder.