Zone One Post Three

In this section, we meet the character Miriam Cohen Levy, or as we'll come to know her, Mim. Mim is the first person Mark really connects with and becomes close with in his current situation. He opens up to her in the toy store, and they become fast friends. So far this is probably the only section of the book that has caught my interest, as I liked the "get to know you" part about Mim. I find her character interesting as well as being glad that Spitz finally has someone he can truly connect with, as I've been wanting that for him the whole story leading up to this point. I felt bad for Spitz when Mim left to look for pepper, as he has become so accustomed to her and her absence was hard on him.

Zone One, Post Four

Even though I personally was not a fan of this novel, I did appreciate the overall writing style, as it was so different from anything else I have ever read before; this makes me think it was a difficult writing process that required effort on Whitehead's part, rather than a run-of-the-mill novel that he could have written. I also liked how we don't exactly know what happened to Mark Spitz, enabling us to sort of make our own ending of the book, filling in the blanks with what we imagine should happen to him. I can appreciate this writing style, as well as being entertained at certain parts, such as being engrossed in Gary's death and the happenings that took place leading up to and during it. I have always liked and appreciate irony, so the fact that a fortune teller ended up being the end of Gary's life struck me as being a great example of true irony. All this being said, I would definitely not recommend this book to a friend, because I found the process of reading this book to be tedious and required more effort to attempt to understand (and I never fully grasped the concept) than I thought was worth putting into a book written about zombies.

Zone One Post Four

In the last part of Zone One, The base has collapsed and Mark Spitz is making his escape plans. I notices that Mark has changed a bit from his tangents of his pass to where he is now. In the previous part of the book, he used to be kind of derisive of people who held on to the past. Now after Gary’s death we see him stuffing the picture of Corsica in to his back pocket. Maybe as a way to remember him or his time in Zone One? We also see him grabbing an armadillo helmet, which was something he always eschewed in the past. I think he is putting the forbidden thoughts behind him and plans on surviving the fall of the city.

Zone One, Post Four

I actually really liked the end. I liked that the it was kind of open ended because each person can fill in the blanks themselves. Personally, I saw Mark Spitz going into the sea of zombies as suicide.  The ending had me interested and entertained. I wish the first part of the book was that interesting. I started to actually care what the characters were doing. For example, I was really engrossed in the book when Mark Spitz jumped off the truck to check on Gary and Kaitlyn. I wasn't sure if he was going to find Gary eating Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn getting eaten by other zombies or Gary missing. I was also concerned whether or not Mark Spitz was going to be able to get back to the "safe point" when he went to check on them. Another example is that I really like Mark Spitz and Mim's relationship. I'd like to imagine that if somehow they both made it through the apocalypse they would have stayed together. Even though I liked the ending, I probably wouldn't recommend this book to my friends because the rest of the book wasn't as good.

Zone One, Post Three

I like the character Mim. This is the first time in the book that I've found a character that I like a lot. I'm not 100% sure why I like Mim, but her Last Day story really interested me. However, I'd like to know more about it. Was the mother of the party infected and attacked the children? Was one of the children infected? Was it one of Mim's children? Either way, she is on her own. I also liked that she got to have a safe place for a while with Taylor and others. After losing her kids and most likely her husband, it's nice to see that she got some peace during all of this. It's a shame Abel ruined it.

Zone One: Post Three

There were few of scenes, I thought were important in this reading. The first one, where Mark Spitz, Lieutenant and Kaitlyn talked about stragglers followed by Mark Spitz thinking about life as a straggler. I enjoyed, the part where he thinks about like as a straggler. Traveling to the place where the straggler enjoyed the most and, how the Lieutenant mused that they were the ones who had it right. I think, that scene is importing because, it seems that Mark Spitz or Gary was bitten which is a bit disheartening. The second scene, where we learn how Mark Spitz got his name due, to him saying he did not know how to swim. They nicked name him after a famous swimmer. I also think it is interesting that Mark hallucinates the ash in the rain, which to me reinforces the idea that he feels guilty about something. Maybe for killing zombies? I wished, we could have learn more about the other team members of the wrecker crew especially The Quite Storm.  

zone one

Maybe it's because I'm A.D.D., but I seem to find this book easier to read and follow than most other people. The flashbacks and random thoughts make sense to me. I find it fascinating that it's more focused on the thought process of one person and not about violence or playing the hero. I also like that the author creates new slang and eventually explains it, like "pheenie".

I do want to know why he has such disdain for Connecticut, what his real name is, and how the rain became so polluted.

Zone One Reaction Post Two

I'm still really enjoying Zone One, I liked hearing a little bit about Mark's Last Night before the apocalypse, I feel like that was a story we'd been waiting to hear since the beginning and it's nice to finally have it. I'm still wondering what his real name is, and why they call him Mark Spitz. I'm naively hoping that his uncle is still alive and just hasn't found him due to his name change. I go back and forth between thinking that that's why Whitehead has drawn attention to the name change so much, and thinking that it's more an issue of identity, and how much he lost after Last Night. I thought it was really interesting reading his Last Night story, seeing the parallels between zombies and normal people who were just going through the motions. The parts that struck me the most were where he was talking about the slot machines "maintain[ing] their sturdy population of glassy-eyed defectives" (on page 82) and the section where he sees zombies for the first time but doesn't recognize them as such, and instead identifies them as people who have "that deflated curve of the shoulders that marked Sunday night's recurring epidemic: back to work" (on page 84). I'm not sure how much his memory of that night is affected by what came after, and what he realized after, but I found the second image in particular very ironic, and appreciated that parallel. I also really like the parts where he discussed the strategies of the new world, where he talked about rebranding and about creating new slang and using military language to separate their new selves, who're accustomed to the new reality, from their old selves, who weren't. The last thing that I found pretty interesting was how mundane parts of our reality still exist so much in their post-apocalyptic world. It's hard to imagine that fighting over an easy assignment would be something that would be worth it to people who've experienced what they all have, but I think he's right that it would be. When the big battle is as formidable and seemingly unwinnable as that one, the tiny battles seem to matter so much more. I also really hope that the Lieutenant makes a few more appearances. I really liked his character.

Zone One, Post Two

My interest in this books fluctuates and that is mainly because of the writing style. When Mark's mind starts to wonder, so does mine. It takes a little longer to read it because I keep losing interest when Mark goes off on a tangent. However, I do think it is getting a little bit easier than before because I'm getting use to the way the author writes. I think another reason why I'm not always into it is because of the time period it takes place in. It doesn't take place at the very beginning of the apocalypses when everything is crazy or even when the military goes through cities killing the skels and stragglers. It takes place when it is relatively calm and the sweepers are taking care of skels and stragglers that were looked over. The calmness of the story doesn't get my attention as well as it could. There are a few sections and details I like about the book. Early on, I like the detail that Gary uses "we" because he was a triplet. And more recently, I like the explanation of skels verse stragglers. Those details stick out to me even though they aren't extremely important to the plot.

zone one post two

As I get further into the book, I am trying to be more open-minded about it, but I still cannot bring myself to get super into it. It is very hard for me to follow, as well as already being a topic that I am not particularly a fan of. While I can appreciate this style of writing, I myself do not like it. I find it confusing how often Mark jumps in between the present and past, and there does not appear to be defining moments that make it obvious which time he is referring to.

What does the author hope to convey or accomplish by this style of writing?

How is it determined who has what role in their society; how does one become a sweeper, a member of disposal, etc.?

Zone One, Second Post

After reading to page 149 I have grown to like the book a lot, I want to see what is going to happen and what they are going to do next. However, I still don't like how the book is written I have a vary hard time following it at times. The author can be talking about the present time at one point then flash back in time without a good transition leaving me confused on rather or not we are in the present or future.With that I noticed reading more into the book that Mark Spitz in more into talking about the future later in the book then he was in the beginning.  Another thing that has been bothering me while I was reading was that he talks about Last Night a lot, what does he mean by this? Is it a representation of his last night of the world being normal before the sickness broke out? Another thing that came to my attention was that Mark starts to see the zombies as humans, noticing that they call the stragglers male or female but they refer to the skels as its.  What is the difference between he two names and why do they call the stragglers male or female and the skels its?

Zone One Post Two

I am not sure how I feel about Zone One but, this is mostly due to the writing style. Fortunately these tangents are getting easier to deal with and are somewhat interesting. One of the scenes in the book that really stood out to me is when they saw the straggler. I thought it was interesting in how they refer to them as he or she. Also in how Mark was disturbed, in having to kill, so much so that he spent the night in the building. I am willing to bet that the other sweepers are uneasy with killing them too. I notice a few inconsistencies with Mark’s parents the opening of the book Mark’s parents used an old camera but, later on, he describes the high tech living room they had. I am now to page 149 and, I am starting to wonder a few things. Why does the writer and the characters keep referring to Mark by his first and last name? I am also wondering if the ash rain is in his head due to something Gary said. All in all I am looking forward to continue reading this book.

Reaction Post: Zone One Post 2

After reading to page 149 i am finally starting to actually like the book.  I think that it is becoming much more interesting to me and i found myself not wanting to put the book down.  I am still have trouble with keeping up with what Mark is saying.  Sometimes it is hard for me to tell if he is talking about the past or if he is talking about the present.  I feel like he does not transition between the two very nicely so that is why it is hard for me to understand what is going on.  While I was reading i found that Mark has kind of changed, like in the beginning of the book Mark did not want to think about the future or humanity in general, but now Mark views some of the zombies as humans.  On page 102 is where Mark notices that they call stragglers male or female but for the skels they only call them its.
What does Mark mean when he says Last Night? I noticed that he says this a lot but i just don't understand what he means by it.
What is the difference between the skels and the stragglers? Why do the sweepers refer to the skels as its, but the stragglers are called male or female?

Zone One

This authors writing style can be very hard to follow at times.  It seems like he spends a lot of time talking about topics that are irrelevant.  Spitz was in the 18th floor of 135, then the author went on for a few pages really in depth about what was surrounding Spitz on the floor, then suddenly Spitz was talking to the Lieutenant.  Maybe I missed something, but I find this author's writing style interesting.  He can take up pages talking about a memory Spitz has, or a random picture on the wall that Spitz notices.

How have Spitz's dreams evolved after the world changed?

Why does the author spend so much time talking about topics that seem irrelevant?

Does Spitz like being a sweeper, or would he rather be a civilian?