Movie Review: Warm Bodies

My rating: 3.5/5

From Amazon: "An unlikely romance between a beautiful human teen and a sensitive undead slacker sets off a chain of events with the power to transform the world."

After reading the book of the same name, this movie just didn't compare. Big surprise I suppose, as so many people say the same thing about so many books-turned-movies. But I really expected this to be at least almost as funny and dramatic and dark as the book, and it just didn't live up to expectations. It actually starts out good with some quick humor, but it very quickly dies down and the majority of the movie drags. Acting is mostly sub-par too, which does it no favors. If you're looking for something to pop in and have as background noise while you work on some homework, it's not terrible. If you're actually looking for Isaac Marion-level entertainment, read one of his books.

Book Review: The Hungry Mouth by Isaac Marion

My rating: 3.75/5

From Goodreads.com: "A man and a woman on their first date discover they have amazing powers.

"A Tyrannosaurus Rex enjoys modern life as the guardian and spiritual mentor of Seattle.

"An angry stoplight manages traffic for the lawless humans it despises.

"An immortal and indestructible man discovers the horror and beauty of living forever.

"A serpent exchanges emails with government agencies, confessing to a lifelong murder spree.

"A feral cat sends psychic postcards to the family dog he left behind.

"A child abandoned into foster care grows into a very, very hungry man.

"A boy competes with his older brother for the affections of a girl before discovering a mysterious hole in the bottom of a lake.

"An old man reminisces on his career as a disease engineer for a shadowy world organization.

"A teenage girl and her kid brother make their way through a post-apocalyptic Seattle while being pursued by a large, lonely zombie.

"The black hole at the center of our galaxy delivers a fierce and final soliloquy.

"From the author of WARM BODIES, a collection of strange stories about strange people, strange creatures, and strange objects experiencing joys and hungers that are not strange at all."


The Goodreads summary says exactly what you're getting when you read this book of short stories: an eclectic mix of Isaac Marion. When I read them, I felt I could probably put them in order, from what was written first to what was written more recently, judging by the quality of writing. That isn't to say that any of them are bad, but he still has become a better writer since he wrote some of these shorts. The stories all have very different topics, but the majority had a very similar feel... which could be both a good thing in that the author is identifiable by his writing style, or a bad thing because you're expecting a much different story each time.  I loved Warm Bodies, so of course I enjoyed "Grass through the Concrete," but I think my favorites were still "Emails from a Serpent to Various Government Agencies" and "You Were Once a Wolf."  Great stuff, and I'm glad I got a copy of this book.

Book Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

My rating: 5/5

"We grunt and groan, we shrug and nod, and sometimes a few words slip out. It's not that different from before. But it does make me sad that we've forgotten our names. Out of everything, this seems to me the most tragic. I miss my own and I mourn for everyone else's, because I'd like to love them, but I don't know who they are."

From Amazon:
"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, no identity, 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 strangely 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."

The narration in this book is perfectly told by "R," a zombie who can't remember the rest of his name. In fact the entire book is good in every aspect and has become book #2 (#1 being Room by Emma Donoghue) from my 2011 reading that I want to own just to have on the bookshelf.  It's a great and exciting story, every character is fantastically three-dimensional, the writing is fantastic, and it's both hilarious and meaningful all at the same time.  I would even compare the author's writing to Douglas Adams' (though not quite as whimsical), and I don't do that lightly.

But on top of all this, it's also a poignant look into what it means to be alive, what it means to be dead, and what it means to have hope.  Though there's an obvious scientific answer to "living" or "dead," it's much more of a quandary when the dead come back to eat you... and when the dead start making choices and communicating their thoughts.  And there's also the question of whether you're truly living while you're still alive, or if you've already let your soul die long before the body perishes. 

I can't recommend this book enough, though I would caution that it's probably appropriate for high school and above.  It's a little gory (though not overly), has drug and alcohol use, and contains some swearing... though mostly from the living, as the vocabulary of the dead is limited.

And it's already being made into a movie!