| Title | : | Closure, Limited and Other Zombie Stories |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0715642936 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780715642931 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 124 |
| Publication | : | First published June 1, 2011 |
Closure, Limited and Other Zombie Stories Reviews
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-Flojito pero, además, con varias oportunidades perdidas.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro La marcha zombi (publicación original: Closure, Limited and Other Zombie Tales, 2011) es una recopilación de cuatro relatos del autor sobre zombis (qué raro en Brooks, ¿verdad?), con solo uno inédito en el momento de su publicación, que nos permitirán conocer a un superviviente encerrado, la actitud de un vampiro frente a la plaga, la reforma y reforzamiento de un sector de la Gran Muralla en China y un tratamiento ¿psicológico? de ciertos traumas relacionados con los zombis.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com... -
I really enjoy Max Brooks' stories. I love his insightful way of looking at the zombie culture, what it represents, what it means for us, what we would, or could, do about it if it were to occur.
I recently recommended Max's World War Z to a friend, and loaned him my copy so he could read it. (Don't worry, it's back in my possession now, and unharmed. :D) He returned it with the comment that it was probably one of the best stories about society in crisis he'd ever read, and that the realism was incredible. I completely agree, which is why I recommended it to him in the first place. ;)
So anyway, my point in mentioning this is that Max Brooks' books have been on my mind recently, and so when I was browsing Audible last night looking for something to listen to so I could clean the kitchen (What? Like you don't...), I discovered Closure Limited. I'd never heard of it before, so I was kinda excited by the thought of new material.
So, I downloaded, listened, and cleaned... in that order. Priorities, people. O_o
Overall, I liked this - maybe not AS much as Zombie Survival Guide or World War Z, but close. I think part of what detracted from this a bit was the format and the reading. For one thing, the reader sounded a lot like Max Brooks himself to me. I have heard Max read on the WWZ audiobook (the abridged one - I've yet to listen to the newer unabridged version), and I've seen him on that one zombie documentary show that I can't think of the name of... *IMDBs* "Zombies: A Living History". So for the intro, the reader's voice worked fine for me... but in the stories themselves... it wasn't the best match.
That's not to say that the performance wasn't good... It was good, but I am kinda picky when it comes to audiobook readers, and I wouldn't say that Christopher Ragland is among my favorites. The male voices were OK - but the females were... not. And three times he had to do accents: one from The Netherlands (if I remember right?), another from Vietnam, and then a woman from China. Oddly, the Chinese woman's voice distracted me the least, which was kind of contradictory to how I felt about how he read other women - maybe it was the more staccato way in which he read her that helped. Not sure.
Before I talk about the individual stories, I'll just mention one other thing that detracted from this book for me, with regards to the audio version. That issue is that each story is headed by a chapter. "Chapter One: Closure Limited". I didn't actually NOTICE this, though, until midway through the 2nd story, when I was wondering what the hell the events I was listening to had to do with where I thought the story was going. I'm used to stories jumping around at chapter breaks. It gives a different perspective, and progresses the story, etc, so I heard, "Chapter Two: Steve & Fred" and didn't think anything of it being a NEW story, but a 2nd chapter in the story I was listening to already.
It was a little distracting, the be honest. Probably in print form, this wouldn't be an issue, because I'd know, getting to the next story, that it's not really "Chapter Two". Anyway, so when I eventually realized that it was a different story, it made a LOT more sense.
Moving on to the stories themselves, I really enjoyed them.
Closure Limited:
Think about a zombie apocalypse... You know that the undead are everywhere, and that they are relentless killing, and turning, machines. Think about your loved ones, the ones that are now out of contact with you in your safehouse, or compound, or whatever. You don't know whether they are alive or dead or undead. You hope that they are alive, but the odds are... slim. After a while, the wondering starts to get to you... it starts to be harder to live with NOT knowing than it would be to just mourn. That's where Closure Limited comes in - they allow you to end that uncertainty. They provide a service that gives just what their name says: closure. Granted, there's a certain amount of self-deception that's required, because, after all, you HIRED this company to give you closure... but if you just need the symbolic aspect, you're all set.
This one really made me think... It is kind of awful in its way, and extremely risky, but could I really say that I wouldn't want something like this to exist if I was in the situation of needing it? At the very least, it would be cathartic to destroy the hope that just stubbornly hangs on and insists on tormenting us...
Steve & Fred:
When I listened to this one last night, I was... not impressed. It didn't help that I didn't realize it was a new story (as I mentioned above), but to add to that the story also has a shift of its own. So, to be fair, I listened to this one again this morning, and I've changed my initial opinion. This is a GOOD story. It's like a little polaroid of a story, one that is still working on developing toward the middle. There's not much to this one - it's 22 minutes long, so, maybe I'd estimate a similar number of pages if the reader goes through 1 per minute. Maybe double if he reads slower. I dunno. But either way, the way it expands to show the whole situation is impressive, and enormous in its capacity for dread. And the irony of the story-within-a-story aspect is not lost on me. This is good stuff.
The Extinction Parade:
This one is probably my least favorite of the lot, and oddly enough for the "unreality" of this zombie story containing vampires. Yes. Really.
I mean, it's not that I'm against vampires and zombies in the same story; in fact, usually I'm good with that. But in Max Brooks' universe, zombies invade the normal, everyday world due to a virus. There's nothing paranormal about them. So the insertion of the paranormal here just felt... out of place.
That being said, if I put that aside, the story is still a good one. It brings to light the concept of resources - that if suddenly a previously thought continually renewable resource suddenly starts to dwindle, would those who rely on the resource notice in time to stop it... COULD they stop it even if they did?
The Great Wall:
This story, previous to my re-listen to Steve & Fred, was my favorite of the four. Now, I'd say they are tied. I loved this story for everything that it represented in terms of human resilience and stoicism and courage. It brought tears to my eyes, both of pride and sadness, and I loved every second of it.
This one is definitely a keeper for anyone who enjoys zombie lit, or who is a fan of Max Brooks, or both. I definitely recommend it. -
Cuatro relatos interesantes sobre el mundo zombi; empiezan bien, pero van bajando en emoción mientras se cambia de historia.
El desfile hacia la extinción es mi favorito. Un vampiro que se ve amenazado por los muertos vivientes y que decide intervenir para que todo vuelva a la normalidad.
Tiene sus toques melancólicos cuando el vampiro empieza a cuestionarse su lugar en el mundo, pero luego hay mucha acción cuando forma un plan para tratar de salvar a los más posibles.
La gran muralla es el más triste de todos. Nos narra el valor de los humanos frente a una amenaza que no pueden vencer y cómo se deben tomar decisiones difíciles para lograr la supervivencia a cualquier costo.
"Steve y Fred" y "Punto Final, S.A" pasaron desapercibidos, me recordaron a Guerra Mundial Z, pero sin nada de emoción. -
Me gustan las historias de zombis de Max Brooks, pero no han sido de las mejores, creo que hay otras que prefiero de Guerra mundial Z.
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If I had paid £5.99 for this book I'd have been extremely pissed off! It's only 120 pages (the print over covers about three quarters of the page).. and.. well it's not great. I loved LOVED World War Z but this does not live up to it, it's wreaks of cheap, lazy money making off the back of that. Even the writing isn't up to Brook's usual standard.
I can only assume the endorsements on the back are for World War Z, and whoever wrote the blurb that calls this a "terrifying new collection of short stories" has clearly not read it (or is a damn liar!).
To be honest it barely even warrants writing a review for.. but here we go..
Two of the stories are completely forgettable, one is average and the fourth (the one that makes the majority of the pages) was not bad which is why it gets two stars.
The first story: The titular 'Closure Limited' is set with World War Z, and while it was one of the better ones, and pretty creepy, I had the feeling that I'd read it before?! Either I have and forgot, or it was included in the copy of World War Z I have. Who knows.. my memory is bad.
'Steve and Fred' was just crap. It was boring and I found it impossible to focus on it. It's not worth your time.
'The Extinction Parade' earns the two stars. It's 54 of the pages, and it was an interesting idea telling the zombie story from the point of view of vampires. Don't get me wrong.. even this could have been a lot, LOT, better but I liked the idea, and some of it was cool.
The final story 'Great Wall: A story from the Zombie War' was ok but instantly forgettable. It's in the style of World War Z as a first person account of survival, but isolated on its own it's not of much interest.
Honestly.. don't pick up this book. If you've never read Max Brooks stay away.. get World War Z.. he's much much better than this pile of garbage. If you are a fan I'll still warn you to stay away, don't tarnish your memories of his work!
It only took me a few hours to read, and it was my 50th book of the year.. just a shame I went on on 2014 with this disappointing waste of time! -
3.25 stars
#cafeteríaDeAudrey #ExplorandoLaIslaPerdida.
Para empezar no está mal. Y hasta que no lea guerra mundial Z, que es la novela más representativa de Max Brooks podré opinar, pero como no estamos en esa obra sino en estos relatos, considero que están bien. el primero me pareció el que está mejor desarrollado al punto que podría parecer una mininovela, me gustó más. La muralla es más corto, pero también está bien, y en cuanto a los otros dos, no sentí mucha conexión y fueron los más flojos de los 4. -
Libro corto de Max Brooks que sigue la línea lanzada en Guerra mundial Z a través de cuatro cuentos que amplían dicho universo.
Un pequeño mordisco para los que disfrutan de historias de zombies con cierto nivel. -
Igual de bueno que "Guerra Mundial Z". Recomendable 100%.
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Son 4 relatos cortos, el que más me gustó fue el primero, nunca pensé ver reunidos a zombies y vampiros en un mismo cuento jaja me ha gustado bastante. De los otros tres el que más merece la pena fue el de la Muralla China, se me hizo un poco triste la forma como esta narrada te muestra como afrontar cosas que no puedes vencer y las decisiones que puedes tomar al respecto. Los otros dos relatos para mi fue como si no hubieran estado, fueron bastante meh.
Cafetería de Audrey La isla perdida 2a parte -
Partiendo de que no me gusta el género, el libro no me ha disgustado, son 4 relatos independientes que, para mí, tienen su sentido y están muy bien escritos. No son gore ni se detienen en detalles desagradables o demasiado sangrientos, si me han gustado.
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Four short zombie stories from the zombie master himself.
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Closure, Limited: A Story of World War Z--Picks up right where WWZ ended in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. The interviewer visits a post-war company that goes to great lengths to make zeds up like lost loved ones so that the client can achieve some measure of closure. With a handgun.
Well-written and realistic, a solid addition to the oral history of the zombie war. 4 stars.
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Steve and Fred--Steve is an 80s style action hero. He scores headshots at 200 yards while racing a motorcycle at high speed. He Evel-Knevels an 8 foot fence using a ramp of squirming body parts. He tosses offidioticsnappy one liners. And he does it all with a Hot Lady Scientist (the second most tiresome character trope, after Moody Angst-Ridden Teen) clinging to him for guidance and protection. I wanted Steve and HLS to get eaten for lowering my IQ.
Except... 5 stars.
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The Extinction Parade--The spoiled, narcissistic vampire community smirks at humanity's struggles with the zombie apocalypse, until it suddenly dawns on them that their food is about to go extinct. A few vampires actually find the will to fight for their own survival. And, tangentially, man's.
Eh, it reads like it failed to go through editing. A contradictory triple-negative here, a clearly-missing word there. Lines like "I fantasized that suddenly hundreds of us would suddenly materialize out of the night." Amateur hour. It detracted from a well-conceived story. 3 stars.
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Great Wall: A Story from the Zombie War--First paragraph: "...a general store near the SIGHT of its former location." I think I saw this exact mistake three times. Did Brooks voice-to-text this one in on his celphone? Sigh.
Anyway, this is another solid WWZ chapter. A Chinese survivor describes the desperate battle to rebuild the Great Wall of China before the arrival of the million-strong mass of zombies. People melting sand into glass bricks as fast as possible, dropping dead of dehydration and exhaustion by the thousands.
Long on wonderful details and logistics. 5 stars.
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This short anthology was even better on second read, back to back with World War Z. -
This is a great little book with a few short zombie stories...If you're expecting descriptions of gore however then avoid this book, this looks more at the survivors and the war they wage upon the undead in order to survive. It deals with self sacrifice, hope and strategy. I particularly enjoyed the story 'The Extinction Parade' because it dealt with vampires too..
All in all a great book if you're after something to read in a day, however it fell short of 5 stars because I would have liked to have seen more from the 2nd story. -
Sadly, Brooks fails to live up to the quality of his previous work here. Weak storylines, lack of resolution and one story that is too bizarre even for zombie fiction makes this book one to not worry about missing.
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Holy crap, it really is short.
Anthology includes 4 stories, all in the same world as WWZ, set during and after the war.
Chapter 1 - Set after the war, a company makes bank This one had the voice closest to WWZ, in my opinion, but its all build up to a big reveal that wasn't that big. Enjoyable, and probably the strongest of the four, but I don't know how much re-read value it has.
Chapter 2 - Short story about a man trapped I kept comparing it to the 2004 Dawn of the Dead short film, The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed. It doesn't have the quite pure dread of The Lost Tape (and it really needs it), but it has a cute intro that plays with your assumptions. An average tale.
Chapter 3 - Man, this was the odd one out. It was one of the most fleshed out stories, but was completely out of left field. I enjoy little twists on my expectations (see Clean Sweep), but this was a massive shift for the established universe, and not one I am sure can be pulled off in a single short story. In short: It wasn't terrible, just an average short, but it didn't fit. The characters also seemed kinda dim, but that is explained in-universe as .
Chapter 4 - Short story centered in China and the rebuilding of the Great Wall. If you liked WWZ you'll probably enjoy it - it feels like (and its alluded to as) cut content from that book. Its hard to say "More of the same" without it sounding like an insult.
This book overall is definitely weaker than the first two entries in the series, but I think its still a bit ahead of The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. My biggest issue is the length - it really is short. 2-3 more short stories would have made a huge difference. -
I can't get enough of this author so I got this book through interlibrary loan. It ended up coming from Ohio. Crazy.
So the first story follows the writing style and it's okay. It's really secretive until the end so I don't want to give anything away but I'm not sure why the excess effort would be spent on something like this when there's civilization to rebuild. I suppose it depends on how long after the war the story was.
The second story was two stories in one and were told in a completely different way from WWZ. Uplifting and sad at the same time in an Atonement sort of way.
I'm pretty sure the third story was the longest in the book. It's concept is freshest. It focuses on vampires and how nonchalant they are about the breakout because humans have always been able to contain it. At first, I thought that it was a bit unrealistic (I mean, more than there being vampires and zombies, obviously) that you wouldn't worry about your one food-source getting a virus and dying out but aren't humans doing that right now with earth? compelling.
The last story is also a nod to the original book with a woman who took part in rebuilding the Great Wall of China (this time from the outside to keep the zombies in. It was good, gritty, just like the original book.
Overall it was a super quick read and I'm so starved for another book like WWZ that I'll read anything having to do with it. -
This was a short (a very very short) collection of just 4 short stories seemingly set in the same universe as
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. I say seemingly because it is not specifically stated as such, it is just that the stories are all zombie related.
All are entertaining in their own way, the best of the bunch is probably the one which posits the question of how vampires might react to their food source all turning dead and inedible. It's a question that has been asked before, such as Spike's defense of humans in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by calling them "Happy meals on legs" and the film Daybreakers, but it is told in an entertaining way here. I also appreciated seeing points of view from other countries and cultures, such as the story set in China.
In the end though, such a small morsel doesn't really fill you up, and the author might have been better to wait until he had more stories to fill a book. This smells just like it is, a cash-in from the film based on his World War Z. -
This was a fun, fast paced, quick read and I enjoyed all of the stories.
I really like Max Brooks' "zombie style" of storytelling and this collection didn't disappoint at all. These short stories are unique and the perfect length if you are looking for something creepy but contained in a handful of pages.
My top favorite was definitely Steve and Fred. This one has the most unique twist to it and that is worth the read altogether! My other favorite was The Extinction Parade. Who doesn't enjoy a great zombie story told from the perspective of a vampire?!
If you are a fan of zombie reads and looking for something creepy cool and truly unique, this is definitely one to consider. -
Es una interesante antología, en total son 4 relatos, de los cuales 2 son a modo de entrevistas.
Creo que el mejor fue "El desfile hacia la extinción", tiene un aire reflexivo, esta escrito desde un punto de vista muy interesante y tambien el autor se tomó su tiempo para desarrollar bien la historia. -
Decent zombie stories, but disappointing Max Brooks' stories.
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I've been hooked and smashed by World War Z so I wanted more. I enjoyed these short stories, especially the one with vampires. Now I'm on my way to finally read The Zombie Survival Guide!
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A great little extra to World War Z! Written in a similar style, it brings you back to a world after a zombie epidemic!
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Snippets, but enjoyable even years after reading the novel they were excised from.
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3.5 stars
Kinda bleak as expected from the genre.
I don't usually care for mashups, but the vampire story was really good. Reminded me of
The Madness Season
Great narration. -
Los dos primeros relatos son buenos, lo demás demasiado meh. Pero si estuvo bueno para pasar el rato.
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Nice, light, entertaining short stories.
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Closure, Limited by Max Books
Book 48/52
Max Brooks you are so much fun! Best zombie novelist going -
Último libro del año... Solo me gustó el primer relato de los cuatro. Ojalá un libro solo de la primera historia.
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3'5 / 5
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Para ser mi primera lectura de temática Zombie, me pareció "entretenido", tiene 4 pequeñas historias que, según pude leer en internet son de formato similar al libro anterior del mismo autor: "Guerra Mundial Z", [el cuál aún no leo pero pretendo leer próximamente].
La primera de ellas titulada "El camino a la extinción", a mi parecer fue la mejor, explica de manera un tanto humorística la lucha entre vivos y no-muertos, desde el particular punto de vista de un "ser" que se alimenta de humanos (no puedo revelar que tipo de ser es éste). Esta primera parte me entretuvo bastante, como para leer el relato de principio a fin.
El segundo relato, titulado "La Gran muralla" habla de una reconstrucción de la "gran muralla China" a marchas forzadas, para evitar una mega invasión de zombies en la parte norte de China. Este relato se me figuró más dedicado a plasmar los horrores de una guerra, una guerra cualquiera más allá de la temática zombie, a mi gusto muy bien capturado.
El tercer relato titulado "Steve y Fred" en principio no me atrajo mucho, pues al inicio hablaban de un "gran héroe" que se encargaba de aniquilar zombies como si se tratara de moscas, un tipo rudo, montado en una motocicleta, capaz de luchar y enamorar a una guapa chica mientras dispara, golpea y salva diferentes obstáculos, pero este relato, que retrata la valentía de un héroe solitario, fue contrapuesta por un relato de temor, donde un humano común, se encuentra atrapado sin salida, atemorizado, esperando el final de su agua y su posterior muerte por inanición, o su intento de escape hacía una desafortunada muerte en manos de los zombies que lo acechan; el cambio súbito de valor a miedo, me pareció rescatable de este relato.
Y finalmente un relato llamado "Punto Final S.A.", donde lentamente nos van metiendo a un contexto interesante, acerca de las personas que necesitan cerrar ciclos, quienes no se pueden quedar con la incertidumbre, quienes no pueden quedarse con historias inconclusas, prefieren vivir un "engaño" y terminar el sufrimiento/duda que permanecer toda la vida en zozobra; este relato cierra abrupta mente, y me dejó en un estado de profundo "análisis" acerca del bienestar mental de cada persona.
CONCLUSIÓN
Pues es un libro entretenido, de ágil lectura, las historias son divertidas y analizables, pero, para leerlo uno tiene que estar bien seguro de lo que va a tomar entre sus manos, pues es como ver Zombieland (Tierra de zombies) o el Desesperar de los muertos (The shaun of the Dead) esperando que aparezca nominada a algún Oscar, obviamente no va a pasar, pero considero que son relatos amenos, para unas dos horas de ocio. -
"No closure, whatsoever"
I am a huge fan of Max Brooks' work and of World War Z, as I am sure practically everyone who buys this is.
If you have never read any of Brooks' work before, do not buy this as a first foray in to his work, it doesn't do him justice at all.
I was so excited to hear another Brooks' compendium of stories was coming out. Imagine my disappointment when a wafer thin 'tome' with paper quality matching that of a pulp paperback landed on my door.
Still, not to be one to judge the book by its cover (by the by, the illustration is probably the most in keeping element this book has with 'Z') I opened it out and made a start.
There is a cute little introduction by the author on why he got in to the genre in the first place. But cute essentially doesn't have a place in zombie fiction and the amount it 'fleshed out' the pages seemed more in keeping with a footnote or commentary in a magazine.
So, with hopes fading, on to the stories themselves.
There are only 4 short stories in this 'collection'. The text on the pages is quite large for the size of the book and the text is widely spaced, so you are not receiving a lot of concentrated substance for your money. The first story is a wan effort, and whilst the effect seems in keeping with the commentary in 'Z', the feasibility of it was lacking and the depth was non existent (and this was the titular story).
The second story had a neat twist, and that's all there is to be said there, and the third story? Oh Brooks, come on, give your readers a bit of credibility. Undead helping humans kill undead. Yeah. Right.
The fourth saves the lot, but it is not worth paying your money for a snippet that would fit on a web page.
The book is of poor quality, the writing feels rushed. I love Brooks and the genre as a whole, but if you were hoping for something amazing, you will be disappointed. If you need some zombie lovliness, either re-read 'Z', or purchase the Day By Day Armageddon series of books by J L Bourne, or Plague of the Dead: The Morningstar Strain by the late Z A Recht.
