mark monday's Reviews > Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

Devolution by Max Brooks
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it was ok
bookshelves: horror-modern, rain-man-reviews

Prologue
A Soliloquy featuring the PROTAGONIST:
A Fragile White Lady, ripe with Entitlement & Privilege

Part One
ENTER STAGE LEFT: The Social Satire
this Social Satire will skewer the various nauseating and laughable habits, norms, mores, and customs of the Coastal Elite, in particular the West Coast variety. satire will be broad and full of "gotcha" moments suitable for the self-flagellating fans of Late Night TV comedy and SNL. viewers will smile in condescending amusement at the stereotypes seen on the stage that parallel certain traits held within. the targets of this satire: Whole Food shoppers, "Trust Science" proclaimers, tech workers, bougie eco-warriors, the moneyed liberal class. the presumed audience of this satire: Whole Food shoppers, "Trust Science" proclaimers, tech workers, bougie eco-warriors, the moneyed liberal class.

[during the transition from Part One to Part Two, PROTAGONIST will change attire and acting style in order to fully inhabit the new iteration of her character, TRANSFORMED PROTAGONIST.]

Part Two
ENTER STAGE RIGHT: The Survivalist Horror
this Survivalist Horror will place the viewer in a once-idyllic, now-claustrophobic setting in which subhuman interlopers seek to acquire food, which includes the human body. the protagonists will debate various straw man arguments to allow for maximum delay and minimum preparation from the characters. the scoring of many topical points off of the piece's various two-dimensional characters will occur, due to the almost limitless stupidity and perfidy of these characters, nearly all of whom are fit for maximum killing that will cause the audience minimum sadness. a child will experience light endangerment. gardens shall be grown but no fruit shall be bore, alas, and also that's a metaphor.

Epilogue
A Soliloquy featuring the TRANSFORMED PROTAGONIST:
A Hardened Boss Lady, ripe with Lived Experience
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Reading Progress

September 16, 2022 – Started Reading
September 17, 2022 – Finished Reading
September 19, 2022 – Shelved
September 19, 2022 – Shelved as: horror-modern
September 30, 2022 – Shelved as: rain-man-reviews

Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)

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Shawna I listened to this book solo hiking around Mt Rainier, I actually enjoyed it, but I think it was situational - and the audio has a cast of characters which is always way more fun!


mark monday I wish I had listened to this instead of reading it! I read your review and can't believe the audiobook included both Nathan Fillion & Julie Greer, two of my favorites. And Terry Gross... from NPR?? That's awesome casting. did she play the eastern european character?

Also, listening to this while solo hiking sounds perfect. And perfectly creepy - so apropos!


Shawna If I remember right Gross was doing interviews in the book. It was really well done! Sometimes the audio really pays off.


mark monday Oh that is a great use of her! Love the idea. That's a fairly large role in the book and one that a visual adaptation would probably eliminate.


Steven You were a little more acidic towards this one than me, but the sentiment's pretty much the same.


message 6: by mark (last edited Oct 05, 2022 04:42PM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

mark monday I loved that first image your review. Hilarious!

EDIT: *in*


message 7: by C (new)

C World War Z was so trite and childish I expect nothing less.


mark monday Cat wrote: "World War Z was so trite and childish I expect nothing less."

I enjoyed World War Z well enough, but nothing I'd re-read. I actually liked the move better than the book, a rare occurrence for me.


message 9: by Kirk (new)

Kirk Disagree strongly re: WWZ, especially the bog-standard movie that eliminated the great oral history device.
As to this one, I guess we're still waiting for a great pop culture representation of Bigfoot? Shame. (It sure wasn't that old Six Million Dollar Man episode, which made him a robot created by aliens.)


message 10: by C (new)

C I hated WWZ. It had a lot of potential in terms of the devices but was very badly written. Looking back at my ratings I gave it a 3 and a slightly ranty review but it's slipped below that as it's simmered in my memory or whatever.


message 11: by mark (new) - rated it 2 stars

mark monday Kirk wrote: "Disagree strongly re: WWZ, especially the bog-standard movie..."

two long sequences that I loved about the film adaptation: that intense opening street scene and then everything in the Israel + zombies on a plane scenes. rewatched the movie recently just for those two parts, which I think amount to roughly half the film? although admittedly I fell asleep soon after the plane crash, during the lab portion.


message 12: by C (new)

C I'm laughing so hard at "bog-standard." I never watched it because I think zombies are gross. I would have been really interested in a treatment of it that focused more on politics but I don't think anyone would agree with me.


message 13: by mark (new) - rated it 2 stars

mark monday I will be using "bog-standard" as a standard from now on.

World politics dealing with zombie apocalypse is an interesting & original idea for a drama, I love it. Or a satiric comedy! But I'd prefer a drama.


message 14: by C (new)

C Well that's what he tried to make WWZ but it came out reading like a freshman's lit major's first creative writing project.


message 15: by LiLi (new)

LiLi @Kirk, that sounds a lot like the Yeti of "Doctor Who"


message 16: by Kirk (new)

Kirk OMG, Doctor Who did Bigfoot?? (My wife watches it but I never could get into it.) Did they move him (?) to the UK? Or did the Doctor visit the Pacific Northwest? So many questions!

And mark, the point I forgot to make previously is that the movie isn't even WWZ, aside from the title. Not the story, not the characters. Should have been called Generic Zombie Vehicle with Brad Pitt.


message 17: by Kirk (new)

Kirk Oh wait, now I realize my mistake. Yeti not Bigfoot... ah well. Don't know why I sometimes confuse the two...


message 18: by mark (new) - rated it 2 stars

mark monday the movie isn't even WWZ, aside from the title. Not the story, not the characters. Should have been called Generic Zombie Vehicle with Brad Pitt.

I can agree with that! except for the Generic part, since those sequences I mentioned really were superlative. well, as far as zombie vehicles go. maybe I'm just a sucker for people screaming & running on a street and/or plane.


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