text
stringlengths 8
3.87k
|
|---|
39.53938674926758 175 WikiText2
|
3850 The situation in the British Isles is not entirely clear in the novel , although Ireland may have escaped the worst of the outbreak . Members of the British Royal Family had fled to Ireland and the Isle of Man , following the military retreat to the Antonine Wall , and now exports oil from a reserve under Windsor Castle where the Queen held out for the war 's duration , refusing to flee with her relatives . The Papacy established a wartime refuge in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh . In France , the Palace of Versailles was the site of a massacre and has been burned to the ground ; military losses were particularly high while clearing the catacombs underneath Paris because the catacombs housed nearly a quarter of a million refugees during the early stages of the war , all of whom became zombies . Iceland has been completely depopulated and remains the world 's most heavily infested country .
|
40.111419677734375 164 WikiText2
|
3851 The Israelis and Palestinians have made peace , and the former occupied territories have been renamed " Unified Palestine " . Mexico is now known as " Aztlán " . Several countries are described as having revised borders due to the " dumping " of convicts into infected zones ; these convicts rose to command " powerful fiefdoms " that later became independent states . A so @-@ called " Pacific Continent " appears to encompass previously uninhabited islands as well as ships rendered immobile due to lack of fuel . For unknown reasons , the Saudi Royal Family destroyed the oil fields in Saudi Arabia .
|
69.68487548828125 109 WikiText2
|
3852 The United Nations fields a large military force to eliminate the remaining zombies from overrun areas , defeat hordes that surface from the ocean floor , and kill frozen zombies before they unfreeze . It is stated that previously eradicated diseases have made a comeback and that global life expectancy is greatly reduced as the world starts over from where it began .
|
81.05711364746094 63 WikiText2
|
3853 = = Development = =
|
1121.1448974609375 5 WikiText2
|
3854 Brooks designed World War Z to follow the " laws " set up in his earlier work , The Zombie Survival Guide ( 2003 ) , and explained that the guide may exist in the novel 's fictional universe . The zombies of The Zombie Survival Guide are human bodies reanimated by an incurable virus ( Solanum ) , devoid of intelligence , desirous solely of consuming living flesh , and cannot be killed unless the brain is destroyed . Decomposition will eventually set in , but this process takes longer than for an uninfected body and can be slowed by effects such as freezing . Although zombies do not tire and are as strong as the humans they infect , they are slow @-@ moving and incapable of planning or cooperation in their attacks . Zombies usually reveal their presence by moaning .
|
56.55671691894531 147 WikiText2
|
3855 Brooks discussed the cultural influences on the novel . He claimed inspiration from " The Good War " : An Oral History of World War Two ( 1984 ) by Studs Terkel , stating : " [ Terkel 's book is ] an oral history of World War II . I read it when I was a teenager and it 's sat with me ever since . When I sat down to write World War Z : An Oral History of the Zombie War , I wanted it to be in the vein of an oral history . " Brooks also cited renowned zombie film director George A. Romero as an influence and criticized The Return of the Living Dead films : " They cheapen zombies , make them silly and campy . They 've done for the living dead what the old Batman TV show did for The Dark Knight . " Brooks acknowledged making several references to popular culture in the novel , including one to alien robot franchise Transformers , but declined to identify the others so that readers could discover them independently .
|
32.126930236816406 187 WikiText2
|
3856 Brooks conducted copious research while writing World War Z. The technology , politics , economics , culture , and military tactics were based on a variety of reference books and consultations with expert sources . Brooks also cites the U.S. Army as a reference on firearm statistics .
|
69.71195983886719 49 WikiText2
|
3857 = = Analysis = =
|
656.0547485351562 5 WikiText2
|
3858 = = = Social commentary = = =
|
179.01121520996094 8 WikiText2
|
3859 Reviewers have noted that Brooks uses World War Z as a platform to criticize government ineptitude , corporate corruption , and human short @-@ sightedness . At one point in the book , a Palestinian refugee living in Kuwait refuses to believe the dead are rising , fearing it is a trick by Israel . Many American characters blame the United States ' inability to counter the zombie threat on low confidence in their government due to conflicts in the Middle East .
|
87.42572021484375 85 WikiText2
|
3860 Brooks shows his particular dislike of government bureaucracy . For example , one character in the novel tries to justify lying about the zombie outbreak to avoid widespread panic , while at the same time failing to develop a solution for fear of arousing public ire . He has also criticized American isolationism :
|
60.039730072021484 54 WikiText2
|
3861 = = = Themes = = =
|
122.78669738769531 7 WikiText2
|
3862 = = = = Survivalism = = = =
|
85.46873474121094 9 WikiText2
|
3863 Survivalism and disaster preparation are prevalent themes in the novel . Several interviews , especially those from the United States , focus on policy changes designed to train the surviving Americans to fight the zombies and rebuild the country . For example , when cities were made to be as efficient as possible in order to fight the zombies , the plumber could hold a higher status than the former C.E.O. ; when the ultra @-@ rich hid in their homes , which had been turned into fortified compounds , they were overwhelmed by others trying to get in , leading to mass slaughter . Throughout the novel , characters demonstrate the physical and mental requirements needed to survive a disaster . Brooks described the large amount of research needed to find optimal methods for fighting a worldwide zombie outbreak . He also pointed out that Americans like the zombie genre because they believe they can survive anything with the right tools and talent .
|
47.50809860229492 168 WikiText2
|
3864 = = = = Fear and uncertainty = = = =
|
70.79923248291016 11 WikiText2
|
3865 Brooks considers the theme of uncertainty central to the zombie genre . He believes that zombies allow people to deal with their own anxiety about the end of the world . Brooks has expressed a deep fear of zombies :
|
56.24335479736328 40 WikiText2
|
3866 This mindlessness is connected to the context in which Brooks was writing . He declared : " at this point we 're pretty much living in an irrational time " , full of human suffering and lacking reason or logic . When asked in a subsequent interview about how he would compare terrorists with zombies , Brooks said :
|
67.54186248779297 59 WikiText2
|
3867 = = Reception = =
|
513.3173828125 5 WikiText2
|
3868 Reviews for the novel have been generally positive . Gilbert Cruz of Entertainment Weekly gave the novel an " A " rating , commenting that the novel shared with great zombie stories the use of a central metaphor , describing it as " an addictively readable oral history . " Steven H. Silver identified Brooks ' international focus as the novel 's greatest strength and commented favorably on Brooks ' ability to create an appreciation for the work needed to combat a global zombie outbreak . Silver 's only complaint was with " Good @-@ Byes " — the final chapter — in which characters get a chance to give a final closing statement . Silver felt that it was not always apparent who the sundry , undifferentiated characters were . The Eagle described the book as being " unlike any other zombie tale " as it is " sufficiently terrifying for most readers , and not always in a blood @-@ and @-@ guts way , either . " Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club stated that the format of the novel makes it difficult for it to develop momentum , but found the novel 's individual episodes gripping . Patrick Daily of the Chicago Reader said the novel transcends the " silliness " of The Zombie Survival Guide by " touching on deeper , more somber aspects of the human condition . " In his review for Time Out Chicago , Pete Coco declared that " [ b ] ending horror to the form of alternative history would have been novel in and of itself . Doing so in the mode of Studs Terkel might constitute brilliance . "
|
60.701446533203125 288 WikiText2
|
3869 Ron Currie Jr. named World War Z one of his favorite apocalyptic novels and praised Brooks for illustrating " the tacit agreement between writer and reader that is essential to the success of stories about the end of the world ... [ both ] agree to pretend that this is not fiction , that in fact the horrific tales of a war between humans and zombies are based in reality . " Drew Taylor of the Fairfield County Weekly credited World War Z with making zombies more popular in mainstream society .
|
69.63720703125 92 WikiText2
|
3870 The hardcover version of World War Z spent four weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list , peaking at number nine . By November 2011 , according to Publishers Weekly , World War Z had sold one million copies in all formats .
|
23.906349182128906 45 WikiText2
|
3871 = = Audiobook = =
|
837.3097534179688 5 WikiText2
|
3872 Random House published an abridged audiobook in 2007 , directed by John Mc Elroy and produced by Dan Zitt , with sound editing by Charles De Montebello . The book is read by Brooks but includes other actors taking on the roles of the many individual characters who are interviewed in the novel . Brooks ' previous career in voice acting and voice @-@ over work meant he could recommend a large number of the cast members .
|
79.2138671875 80 WikiText2
|
3873 On May 14 , 2013 , Random House Audio released a lengthier audiobook titled World War Z : The Complete Edition ( Movie Tie @-@ in Edition ) : An Oral History of the Zombie War . It contains the entirety of the original , abridged audiobook , as well as new recordings of each missing segment . A separate , additional audiobook containing only the new recordings not found in the original audiobook was released simultaneously as World War Z : The Lost Files : A Companion to the Abridged Edition .
|
49.52758026123047 95 WikiText2
|
3874 = = = Cast = = =
|
224.00637817382812 7 WikiText2
|
3875 * Unabridged edition
|
208.35621643066406 3 WikiText2
|
3876 = = = Reception = = =
|
175.25091552734375 7 WikiText2
|
3877 In her review of the audiobook for Strange Horizons , Siobhan Carroll called the story " gripping " and found the listening experience evocative of Orson Welles 's famous radio narration of The War of the Worlds ( broadcast October 30 , 1938 ) . Carroll had mixed opinions on the voice acting , commending it as " solid and understated , mercifully free of ' special effects ' and ' scenery chewing ' overall " , but lamenting what she perceived as undue cheeriness on the part of Max Brooks and inauthenticity in Steve Park 's Chinese accent . Publishers Weekly also criticized Brooks ' narration , but found that the rest of the " all @-@ star cast deliver their parts with such fervor and intensity that listeners cannot help but empathize with these characters " . In an article in Slate concerning the mistakes producers make on publishing audiobooks , Nate DiMeo used World War Z as an example of dramatizations whose full casts contributed to making them " great listens " and described the book as a " smarter @-@ than @-@ it @-@ has @-@ any @-@ right @-@ to @-@ be zombie novel " . The World War Z audiobook won the 2007 Audie Award for Multi @-@ Voiced Performance and was nominated for Audiobook of the Year .
|
48.98809051513672 244 WikiText2
|
3878 = = Film adaptation = =
|
870.6000366210938 6 WikiText2
|
3879 In June 2006 , Paramount Studios secured the film rights for World War Z for Brad Pitt 's production company , Plan B Entertainment , to produce . The screenplay was written by J. Michael Straczynski , with Marc Forster directing and Pitt starring as the main character , UN employee Gerry Lane . Despite being the draft that got the film green @-@ lit , Straczynski 's script was tossed aside , so that production , which was to begin at the start of 2009 , was delayed while the script was completely re @-@ written by Matthew Michael Carnahan to set the film in the present , leaving behind much of the book 's premise to make it more of an action film . In a 2012 interview , Brooks claimed the film now had nothing in common with the novel other than the title . Filming commenced mid @-@ 2011 , and the film was released in June 2013 .
|
44.22803497314453 169 WikiText2
|
3880 = Sentence spacing =
|
1168.2169189453125 4 WikiText2
|
3881 Sentence spacing is the horizontal space between sentences in typeset text . It is a matter of typographical convention . Since the introduction of movable @-@ type printing in Europe , various sentence spacing conventions have been used in languages with a Latin alphabet . These include a normal word space ( as between the words in a sentence ) , a single enlarged space , and two full spaces .
|
68.10836029052734 73 WikiText2
|
3882 Until the 20th century , publishing houses and printers in many countries used additional space between sentences . There were exceptions to this traditional spacing method — some printers used spacing between sentences that was no wider than word spacing . This was French spacing — a term synonymous with single @-@ space sentence spacing until the late 20th century . With the introduction of the typewriter in the late 19th century , typists used two spaces between sentences to mimic the style used by traditional typesetters . While wide sentence spacing was phased out in the printing industry in the mid @-@ twentieth century , the practice continued on typewriters and later on computers . Perhaps because of this , many modern sources now incorrectly claim that wide spacing was created for the typewriter .
|
38.18607711791992 140 WikiText2
|
3883 The desired or correct sentence spacing is often debated but many sources now say additional space is not necessary or desirable . From around 1950 , single sentence spacing became standard in books , magazines and newspapers and the majority of style guides that use a Latin @-@ derived alphabet as a language base now prescribe or recommend the use of a single space after the concluding punctuation of a sentence . However , some sources still state that additional spacing is correct or acceptable . The debate continues on the World Wide Web . Many people prefer double sentence spacing for informal use because that was how they were taught to type . There is a debate on which convention is more readable ; the few recent direct studies conducted since 2002 have produced inconclusive results .
|
60.0394401550293 140 WikiText2
|
3884 = = History = =
|
563.5761108398438 5 WikiText2
|
3885 = = = Traditional typesetting = = =
|
300.6687927246094 8 WikiText2
|
3886 Shortly after the invention of movable type , highly variable spacing was created that could create spaces of any size , and allowed for perfectly even justification . Early American , English , and other European typesetters ' style guides ( also known as printers ' rules ) specified spacing standards that were all essentially identical from the 18th century onwards . These guides — e.g. , Jacobi in the UK ( 1890 ) and MacKellar , Harpel , and De Vinne ( 1866 – 1901 ) in the U.S. — indicated that sentences should be em @-@ spaced , and that words should be 1 / 3 or 1 / 2 em @-@ spaced ( illustration right ) . The relative size of the sentence spacing would vary depending on the size of the word spaces and the justification needs . For most countries , this remained the standard for published work until the 20th century . Yet , even in this period , there were publishing houses ( notably in France ) that used a standard word space between sentences — a technique called French spacing ( illustration below ) .
|
52.80992126464844 198 WikiText2
|
3887 = = = Mechanical type and the advent of the typewriter = = =
|
163.20692443847656 14 WikiText2
|
3888 Mechanical type systems introduced near the end of the 19th century , such as the Linotype and Monotype machines , allowed for some variable sentence spacing similar to hand composition . Just as these machines revolutionized the mass production of text , the advent of the typewriter around the same time revolutionized the creation of personal and business documents . But the typewriters ' mechanical limitations did not allow variable spacing — typists could only choose the number of times they pressed the space bar . Typists in some English @-@ speaking countries initially learned to insert three spaces between sentences to approximate the wider sentence spacing used in traditional printing , but later settled on two spaces , a practice that continued throughout the 20th century . This became known as English spacing , and marked a divergence from French typists , who continued to use French spacing .
|
40.189170837402344 152 WikiText2
|
3889 = = = Transition to single spacing = = =
|
561.1463623046875 10 WikiText2
|
3890 In the early 20th century , some printers began using one and a half interword spaces ( an " en quad " ) to separate sentences . This standard continued in use , to some extent , into the 1990s .
|
66.3285903930664 41 WikiText2
|
3891 Magazines , newspapers , and books began to adopt the single space convention in the United States in the 1940s and in the United Kingdom in the 1950s . Typists did not move to single spacing simultaneously . The average writer still relied on the typewriter to create text — with its inherent mechanical spacing limitations .
|
65.60371398925781 57 WikiText2
|
3892 Technological advances began affecting sentence spacing methods . In 1941 , IBM introduced the Executive , a typewriter capable of proportional spacing — which had been used in professional typesetting for hundreds of years . This innovation broke the hold that the monospaced font had on the typewriter — reducing the severity of its mechanical limitations . By the 1960s , electronic phototypesetting systems ignored runs of white space in text . This was also true of the World Wide Web , as HTML normally ignores additional spacing , although in 2011 the CSS 2 @.@ 1 standard officially added an option that can preserve additional spaces . In the 1980s , desktop publishing software provided the average writer with more advanced formatting tools . By the late 20th century , literature on the written word had begun to adjust its guidance on sentence spacing .
|
70.78990936279297 148 WikiText2
|
3893 = = Modern literature = =
|
1034.258056640625 6 WikiText2
|
3894 = = = Typography = = =
|
203.39419555664062 7 WikiText2
|
3895 Early positions on typography ( the " arrangement and appearance of text " ) supported traditional spacing techniques in English publications . In 1954 , Geoffrey Dowding 's book , Finer Points in the Spacing and Arrangement of Type , underscored the widespread shift from a single enlarged em space to a standard word space between sentences .
|
121.80095672607422 58 WikiText2
|
3896 With the advent of the computer age , typographers began deprecating double spacing , even in monospaced text . In 1989 , Desktop Publishing by Design stated that " typesetting requires only one space after periods , question marks , exclamation points , and colons " , and identified single sentence spacing as a typographic convention . Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works ( 1993 ) and Designing with Type : The Essential Guide to Typography ( 2006 ) both indicate that uniform spacing should be used between words , including between sentences .
|
60.087528228759766 97 WikiText2
|
3897 More recent works on typography weigh in strongly . Ilene Strizver , founder of the Type Studio , says , " Forget about tolerating differences of opinion : typographically speaking , typing two spaces before the start of a new sentence is absolutely , unequivocally wrong . " The Complete Manual on Typography ( 2003 ) states that " The typewriter tradition of separating sentences with two word spaces after a period has no place in typesetting " and the single space is " standard typographic practice " . The Elements of Typographic Style ( 2004 ) advocates a single space between sentences , noting that " your typing as well as your typesetting will benefit from unlearning this quaint [ double spacing ] Victorian habit . "
|
72.28531646728516 128 WikiText2
|
3898 David Jury 's book , About Face : Reviving the Rules of Typography ( 2004 ) — published in Switzerland — clarifies the contemporary typographic position on sentence spacing :
|
182.4590606689453 30 WikiText2
|
3899 Word spaces , preceding or following punctuation , should be optically adjusted to appear to be of the same value as a standard word space . If a standard word space is inserted after a full point or a comma , then , optically , this produces a space of up to 50 % wider than that of other word spaces within a line of type . This is because these punctuation marks carry space above them , which , when added to the adjacent standard word spaces , combines to create a visually larger space . Some argue that the " additional " space after a comma and full point serves as a " pause signal " for the reader . But this is unnecessary ( and visually disruptive ) since the pause signal is provided by the punctuation mark itself .
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.