Explore what it means to be Human with 'Warm Bodies'
On the surface, Isaac Marion’s “Warm Bodies” is a tale about a zombie that falls in love with a girl. Basically, it appears to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast complete with Stockholm syndrome undertones. Don’t let appearances fool you though. “Warm Bodies” is a deeply powerful book that explores topics more pertinent than ever in today’s society.
You may have to get over the incongruity of an inarticulate monster being able to write, but let that one thing go and wait for its reasons to unfold, and you will be rewarded with characters whose darkness gives them depth and a story whose reflections, echoes and themes are deftly woven into a unified whole with a symmetry that is scary and illuminating.
Marion’s writing style is easy to read, full of cultural references and creates a fully fleshed (or unfleshed) out world. Among the ideas, Marion explores are choice, love, and forgiveness. He uses the monster to show us what it really means to be human, and as in every zombie apocalypse story, he uses the monster to show us that humans are often the monsters we fear to become.
While “Warm Bodies” may strike you at first glance as a Young Adult type book, it isn’t. With its combination of swear words, recreational marijuana use, alcohol and horrifyingly funny zombie sex where nothing is actually exchanged, it stands squarely in the Adult category. It isn’t that young people shouldn’t read this book; they absolutely should. It’s just that if parents are squeamish about what their children are reading, then the parents might want to read it first. It will be well worth it, and you’ll have something to talk to your children about.
Read my review of "The Burning World"
Read about Isaac Marion and the Warm Bodies movie from his panel at Lilac City Comicon 2017
Read about Isaac Marion and "Warm Bodies" from his panel at Lilac City Comicon 2017
Looking for another zombie book? Try Darren Lamb's "Rebirth: A Zombie Tale"
You may have to get over the incongruity of an inarticulate monster being able to write, but let that one thing go and wait for its reasons to unfold, and you will be rewarded with characters whose darkness gives them depth and a story whose reflections, echoes and themes are deftly woven into a unified whole with a symmetry that is scary and illuminating.
Marion’s writing style is easy to read, full of cultural references and creates a fully fleshed (or unfleshed) out world. Among the ideas, Marion explores are choice, love, and forgiveness. He uses the monster to show us what it really means to be human, and as in every zombie apocalypse story, he uses the monster to show us that humans are often the monsters we fear to become.
While “Warm Bodies” may strike you at first glance as a Young Adult type book, it isn’t. With its combination of swear words, recreational marijuana use, alcohol and horrifyingly funny zombie sex where nothing is actually exchanged, it stands squarely in the Adult category. It isn’t that young people shouldn’t read this book; they absolutely should. It’s just that if parents are squeamish about what their children are reading, then the parents might want to read it first. It will be well worth it, and you’ll have something to talk to your children about.
Read my review of "The Burning World"
Read about Isaac Marion and the Warm Bodies movie from his panel at Lilac City Comicon 2017
Read about Isaac Marion and "Warm Bodies" from his panel at Lilac City Comicon 2017
Looking for another zombie book? Try Darren Lamb's "Rebirth: A Zombie Tale"