Marion, I. (2011). Warm
bodies: a novel. New York, NY: Atria Books.
Reading level: 830L
Interest level: Grades 9 -12
Fantasy
R is a
zombie, but he’s different. First, he’s always thinking deep thoughts like
this:
“I am riding the escalators when M finds me. I ride
the escalators several times a day, whenever they move. It’s become a ritual.
The airport is derelict, but the power still flickers on sometimes, maybe
flowing from emergency generators stuttering deep underground. Lights flash and
screens blink, machines jolt into motion. I cherish these moments. The feeling
of things coming to life. I stand on the steps and ascend like a soul into
Heaven, that sugary dream of our childhoods, now a tasteless joke.”
At first,
his thoughtfulness really bothered me, but then I accepted that it wasn’t going
to go all “Flowers for Algernon” and demonstrate the progression of intellect –
although I think that would have added some believability to this work. My main
issue with the otherwise adorable “Warm Bodies” was that it could seem to
decide if it was a civil rights allegory (“She can’t possibly know the sensitive
cultural connotations of the word ‘corpse.’”) or a treatise on the lifelessness
of modern life/the living as the real zombies (“… everything that made him who
he was – just started rotting. He gave up, basically. Quit his life.”). I do know that “Warm Bodies” used a lot of
Romeo and Juliet themes, which
sometimes was too obvious; I mean: R and Julie – kind of difficult not to pick
up on the allusion. There’s even a balcony scene, where Julie waxes
philosophical on what the name “zombie” means. “On the Road” is also a frequent
reference, which Marion revisits several times, just in case we didn’t get it
right away. There’s also some fat phobia, which I found annoying. With all its
heavy handedness and plot holes and implausible-to-the-point-can’t-suspend-disbelief
silliness, I still really enjoyed this book. Use as a companion text to any of the
aforementioned novels.
Edited to add:
Originally I'd intended to knock this book further by mentioning how tacked-on R's first girlfriend felt. I didn't understand why we spent so much time with her and their two assigned children. It doesn't move along the plot at all. Then I realized "Romeo and Juliet" had a pointless, shoehorned in first girlfriend, too!
Edited to add:
Originally I'd intended to knock this book further by mentioning how tacked-on R's first girlfriend felt. I didn't understand why we spent so much time with her and their two assigned children. It doesn't move along the plot at all. Then I realized "Romeo and Juliet" had a pointless, shoehorned in first girlfriend, too!
