Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

I managed to read this book before the movie came out. Therefore, as at this moment, I can proudly say: I've both read and watched "Warm Bodies".

Don't get me wrong, both the book and the movie are equally excellent on their own turf. No doubt about that. I like them both immensely.

Back to the book, before I even finished with the book, I had been wanting to mention something about the beginning and the ending of reading a book. All of us know that reading requires a lot of effort. We need to allocate some time off each day in order to read a couple of pages. Not only that, we need to be immersed ourselves totally into the characters with no distraction from our work stress and daily chores nonetheless.

As such, when I begin reading a book, I always feel like there is a distance between me and the book. I need to find or establish a connection with the book before I can start enjoying the story itself.  As readers, all of us know that each book tends to have a "hook" that gets us captivated with the book and motivates us to finish the book. 

I have to admit that I do find it hard sometimes to "locate" the hook in the book (the pun is not intentional :P). What if the hook is located somewhere in the middle or towards the end of the book? Then, it would require a lot of effort from me to plow through the book, particularly if the book is not interesting to begin with. 

What about those challenging books? This effect would sometimes discourage me from beginning reading a book in the first place. 

The same can be said for finishing up reading a book. Once you are engrossed with a book, it is really hard to depart from the book. As you have already invested so much emotion and time with the characters and the story (most of the time), it is quite hard to let go whatever enjoyment you have from reading the book towards the end. This is what I had been through while reading this book. 

I would not say it was the book causing it.. It was just that I had been finishing up reading one book after another.

Speaking of this, the book did not let me down in terms of finding the hook. Within the first few pages, I was already drawn to the protagonist who weirdly went by the name of "R", for lack of a better word, one syllable or one letter did aptly substitute for the zombie hero. Because of this, I therefore had even a more difficult time parting with this book in the end. More of this later.

I really liked how the book starts. We were introduced to R and his clique, and their daily routines. Well, the book does really start with aplomb but the excitement does peter out as soon as we reach the middle part. Not to say that the book is not enjoyable, it is just that the book does really get darker from this point onward.

The introduction of Julie does really make things interesting, lest there would be nothing more interesting to reveal about R. However, I would find the introduction of Perry (Julie's boyfriend) really spot-on. Although Perry was dead early in the story, the character Perry is definitely one of the most engaging characters that I have ever stumbled into and man, I was really delighted. As we manage to dip into memory from time to time, we get to know Perry more at least from R's perspective (you will know more about this if you read the book).

As the story becomes darker and darker towards the end (Perry was really depressed due to his surroundings, the fall of mankind etc & that R kept on gazing into Perry's memories), I would say the book could be quite difficult for certain people especially to those who couldn't handle depressive characters well or especially to those who find it difficult to delve themselves into a depressed person's thoughts and memories. For me, I have absolutely no complaints as I really dig such "heavy" stuffs.

This is all I can say about the story. Well, the writing is impeccable, exquisite LOL, could even be quite poetic at times but I like it immensely nonetheless.

Below is an excerpt from the book for your sampling:

I erupt from the dark, crushing tunnel into a flash of light and noise. A new kind of air surrounds me, dry and cold, as they wipe the last smears of home off my skin. I feel a sharp pain as they snip something, and suddenly I am less. I am no one but myself, tiny and feeble and utterly alone. I am lifted and swung through great heights across yawning distances, and given to Her. She wraps around me, so much bigger and softer than I ever imagined from inside, and I strain my eyes open. I see Her. She is immense, cosmic. She is the world. The world smiles down on me, and when She speaks it's the voice of God, vast and resonant with meaning, but words unknowable, ringing gibberish in my blank white mind.