I‘m all for a post-apocalyptic horror novel. Let‘s go!
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Whitehead is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed his take on the zombie novel.
#OminousOctober #Undead
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Zone One: A Novel | 
Whitehead is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed his take on the zombie novel.
#OminousOctober #Undead
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
pickThe zombie 🧟♂️ apocalypse through the eyes of Colson Whitehead. It is not my favorite book of his, but it is an interesting read.
panHonestly, I did not like this book at all. I enjoyed the other books I‘ve read by this author, but not this one. The writing was pedantic, long winded, fancy just for the sake of being fancy. It was like he wanted to show off what a GOOD writer he was, but it came off all wrong, verging on ridiculous in my opinion.
⭐️ out of 5 stars
Read date: 2/21/2021
"The plague touched them all, blood contact or no. The secret murderers, dormant rapists, and latent fascists were now free to express their ruthless natures. The congenitally timid, those who had been stingy with their dreams for themselves, those who came out of the womb scared and remained so: These, too, found a final stage for their weakness and in their last breaths were fulfilled. I've always been like this. Now I'm more me."
pickMy first plague book since the pandemic began, this was a good read. Riding the second wave, I find the characters' philosophizing and coping mechanisms comforting, in a way, and realistic. Covid isn't as intense as a zombie apocalypse (knock wood), but Whitehead's musings about how the strengths and weaknesses of a society manifest themselves when all Hell breaks loose feel relevant to the situation. I'll post a quote shortly.
bailedI hate to bail on Whitehead but I can‘t make any headway with this—at 18% I‘m just slogging through an endless tide of zombies. There are many astute, sometimes wry observations and his prose is outstanding, even electrifying initially, but it doesn‘t seem to be in the service of any kind of plot. Maybe it‘s just a very slow start and eventually goes somewhere great but I‘m not invested enough to find out.
so-soAm I the only one that found this super boring? I‘ve loved everything else I‘ve read from him, so maybe I hyped myself up too much.
It‘s almost October so I needed some more spooky reads, and this has been in my TBR pile forever.
Reading a zombie book...look up to see this creeper. #catsoflitsy
panThis was a very wordy book, which I know sounds strange but Jeez! A story of some sort was in this book but not really my cup of tea, was pleased just to finish it. 3/5
pickThis was so dark and so hard to read right now. However, Whitehead takes a dreadful post-pandemic situation and makes it sound poetic and literary. Mind you, he‘s still talking about zombies and skies raining ash. So, it‘s at the low end of picks. Because the cognitive dissonance of gorgeous prose and grimy story are hard to reconcile.
Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2020 #bookspin #bookinbonanza #litsyatoz #letterz
For whatever messed up reason, I put a post-pandemic zombie book in my #bookspin for May. These two sentences kicked me in the gut today. Maybe we will avoid zombies, but I‘m relating 💯 to “tooth-fairy period.”
#bookspinbonanza #pandemicreading
⭐ Zombies! 😨😱
⭐ Kind of? 🤔 I haven't technically ordered any new books (aside from my BOTM picks for this month!) but there have been books that I preordered a while ago that have come in recently! In fact, Veronica Roth's new book is supposed to arrive today and I'm pretty excited about it! 💕📚
Tagging anyone who wants to play! 😘
@TheSpineView #twofortuesday
bailedI had every intention of reading this one last month but just couldn‘t get into It... I‘ll try again and revisit it another time. 🤷♀️
so-so“We never see other people anyway, only the monsters we make of them.”
I‘d assumed a zombie-in-NYC story would be right up my alley for my first Whitehead but this felt choppy and was difficult to follow. It got better as it went on, though. I am glad I toughed it out. 🧟♂️ 🧟♀️ 🗽 #authoramonth2020
so-soThis was an interesting take on the zombie apocalypse. In it Mark Spitz and compatriots are working on behalf of the government to eradicate New York City of the zombie population in order to allow the city to be reclaimed by the uninfected. Many a zombie story is filled with gore but Colson Whitehead stayed away from this aspect as the typical zombie book for the most part. Found it an enjoyable enough read. #AuthorAMonth #AuthorAMonth2020
bailedStruggling to get into this one and after reading so many weak reviews, I‘m not wasting any more time. #toomanybooks
Stalling on this chilly day. I want to like this but the author is making it tough. #authorofthemonth #authoramonth2020
bailedAfter about 2 hrs on audio I DNFed Zone One. For a zombie book it was rather boring.
Then I discovered Yaoi Mangas which is a Japanese term for a manga that features sexual romances between men that are mostly created for women. Thank you Google. The above 3 are free on for Kindle. They are short and entertaining.
so-soColson Whitehead is an amazing writer with immaculate attention to detail, but I just couldn‘t get into this book. #AuthorAMonth2020
so-soEven if zombies are not your groove, Whitehead‘s writing acumen can win you over. With its urban post-apocalyptic setting, it‘s gritty and existential for the brave warriors who must monitor and eliminate the soulless morphs whose only goal is to feed on vulnerable humans! A Pick for the writing, a So-So for the content.
#authoramonth2020
@Soubhiville
so-soVery pretty writing about a zombie plague that questions whether the infected or the uninfected in Manhattan are really all that different. Dull characters, not much of a plot, mildly amusing satire.
#AuthorAMonth
so-soA genre I don‘t typically read, but wanted another Whitehead book after The Underground Railroad. Stories of Last Night and survival bounced me around a bit, and I seemed to lose focus.
It‘s been a while since I‘ve DNF‘d a work of fiction... but this one is tempting me.
pickI generally enjoyed this book, which is a testament to Whitehead‘s writing. But I didn‘t find the humour and satire (although I may have missed the window for the satire). I found it truly difficult to connect with the characters, especially Mark Spitz because he seemed to be lacking in character traits. It might just be me, but the philosophical point of humans being zombies before the plague didn‘t quite land because he felt so unrealistic.
panZombie novels are my guilty pleasure. I have easily read a hundred or more. This is the worst one that I bothered to finish. I kept thinking it had the potential to get better. Then it was over without ever approaching that potential.
Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area a fan of Colson Whitehead? He is going to be at Dominican University on September 20th.
Small library haul today. I don‘t know if I can handle Saga but I need to face it eventually. I know it will make me sad. I‘v has my eye on The Test and Zone One for awhile; been on a romance kick lately and need some sci fi.
so-soThe world has fallen to the zombie infestation, and some civilian fighters are cleaning Manhattan of the stragglers.
Something that doesn't change, no matter what you're reading, Whitehead's mastery of the English language is breathtaking.
Unfortunately, that couldn't really save this book from a dull protagonist, confusing flashbacks within flashbacks, and the fact that I really wanted the story that happened after "the end." ?????
pickA plague has converted half the country into zombies. By this point, most of the undead have been contained. Mark Spitz is part of a team helping to sweep Manhattan of the stragglers, making it possible to reinhabit the city. In flashbacks, Mark remembers life before the plague and trying to stay alive while the devastation spread across the country. The book is worth reading, but the audiobook is just so-so. I‘d read it instead.
so-soI loved Colson Whitehead‘s The Underground Railroad, so gave this a try despite zombie books not at all being my thing. Took me forever to finish for some reason, but I did enjoy it.
pickExcellent narrative of the aftermath of an undead rising. It was a quick read and it definitely left an impression.
panI am so happy to be done with this book!
It‘s a train of thought novel taking place in a post apocalyptic world.
While Colson writes beautifully, the book was boring and hard to follow. As a reader I struggled with the memories inside a memory to then be thrown back into the present day. It was very difficult. There was also very little dialogue, the book mostly consisted of his thoughts.
Overall it was a very tough and unenjoyable read
I want to bail on this book sooooo bad, but of course it‘s a required reading! 😩
Tonight‘s reading material plus my new mug 🤓
BTW, I‘ve never used the word “fleek” on my life, but I loved the mug and it was only $3 so how could I not?!
Zombies in NYC - what‘s not to love !
https://lithub.com/9-books-that-destroy-new-york-city-as-we-know-it/
#nyclove
so-soNot the best #audiobook of this intellectual slow-paced zombie book: the jumps in time didn't translate well; reader was so-so. I really liked Whitehead's writing but a mostly absent plot combined with an unremarkable MC make it hard to sustain interest. The protagonist is definitely intended to be an average 'everyman', but you need a compelling plot OR character to hold the book up. Also I felt like this got interesting just as it ended?
I really like Whitehead's writing so far (this is the first book by him I've read) but I feel like I'm still waiting for the plot to pick up--to quote the book's blurb "then things start to go wrong." Combine that with an unremarkable main character and it's a little hard to sustain interest. Mark Spitz, the protagonist, is definitely intended to be an average 'everyman', but IMHO you need a compelling plot OR a character to hold the book up.
pickI loved this book. It was beautiful and sad and ominous and funny and completely different than anything I expected from a zombie novel.
First book finished for my first #24in48.
