What I'm Reading: John Donne and Zombies

"No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; 


if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; 


any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; 


And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. 


And, also, beware of zombies."


--John Donne, Meditation 17
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

What I'm Reading: World War Z

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by World War Z, Max Brooks’ Zombie-Apocalyptic classic. What’s been most surprising is the depth of insight into various themes that relate to my life. I expected a good read, but I wasn’t prepared to be personally challenged by Zombie fiction. Here’s an example of a passage that struck home:

“They showed us the meaning of democracy…freedom, not just in vague, abstract terms, but on a very real, individually human level.  Freedom isn’t just something you have for the sake of having, you have to want something else first and then want the freedom to fight for it. … They all had such grand dreams, and they’d lay down their lives for the freedom to make those dreams come true.”

I love the idea that freedom begins with a Grand Dream, a dream so strong and all-consuming that the dreamer will stop at nothing to see it realized, a dream so grandiose that it’s worth dying for. I don’t think I dream like that.