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Dying to Live
Jonah Caine, a lone survivor in a zombie-infested world, struggles to understand the apocalypse in which he lives. Unable to find a moral or sane reason for the horror that surrounds him, he is overwhelmed by violence and insignificance.
After wandering for months, Jonah's lonely existence dramatically changes when he discovers a group of survivors. Living in a museum-turned-compound, they are led jointly by Jack, an ever-practical and efficient military man, and Milton, a mysterious, quizzical prophet who holds a strange power over the dead. Both leaders share Jonah's anguish over the brutality of their world, as well as his hope for its beauty. Together with others, they build a community that reestablishes an island of order and humanity surrounded by relentless ghouls.
But this newfound peace is short-lived, as Jonah and his band of refugees clash with another group of survivors who remind them that the undead are not the only—nor the most grotesque—horrors they must face.
After wandering for months, Jonah's lonely existence dramatically changes when he discovers a group of survivors. Living in a museum-turned-compound, they are led jointly by Jack, an ever-practical and efficient military man, and Milton, a mysterious, quizzical prophet who holds a strange power over the dead. Both leaders share Jonah's anguish over the brutality of their world, as well as his hope for its beauty. Together with others, they build a community that reestablishes an island of order and humanity surrounded by relentless ghouls.
But this newfound peace is short-lived, as Jonah and his band of refugees clash with another group of survivors who remind them that the undead are not the only—nor the most grotesque—horrors they must face.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2007
27 people are currently reading
5619 people want to read
About the author
Kim Paffenroth
63 books139 followersI am a professor of religious studies, and the author of several books on the Bible and theology. I grew up in New York, Virginia, and New Mexico. I attended St. John's College, Annapolis, MD (BA, 1988), Harvard Divinity School (MTS, 1990), and the University of Notre Dame (PhD, 1995). I live in upstate New York with my wife and two wonderful kids. In the horror genre, I have written Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth (Baylor, 2006) - WINNER, 2006 Bram Stoker Award; Dying to Live: A Novel of Life among the Undead (Permuted Press, 2007); Orpheus and the Pearl(Magus Press, 2008); and Dying to Live: Life Sentence(Permuted Press, 2008).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
December 2, 2008
I'm always a little hesitant when picking up a zombie book. I have this fear that, like their celluloid cousins, the vast majority of them are crap. And unlike their brain-dead cousins, they waste more than 90 minutes of your life.
I had no need to fear with this book.
My love of all things zombie really began with Romero's take on the subject. I really liked the fact that there was a deeper social meaning behind the gore. There was a message and a warning.
This book took everything I loved about the zombie genre and moved it to the next level.
Taking a very humanistic and philosophical view of the apocalypse, this is definitely the "thinking man's" zombie book. I rate it so highly because it is as much about the struggle to hold on to what makes us human as it is the struggle against the hordes of flesh-hungry mindless zombies—but there's a fair share of that as well.
The ending is a little "different" but is very much in keeping with the themes and tone of the book, so I had no qualms with it's slight straying from the "Romero doctrine."
It is clear that the author is as literate in Romero as his is in philosophy and classic literature. And I couldn't ask for more from a zombie book
I had no need to fear with this book.
My love of all things zombie really began with Romero's take on the subject. I really liked the fact that there was a deeper social meaning behind the gore. There was a message and a warning.
This book took everything I loved about the zombie genre and moved it to the next level.
Taking a very humanistic and philosophical view of the apocalypse, this is definitely the "thinking man's" zombie book. I rate it so highly because it is as much about the struggle to hold on to what makes us human as it is the struggle against the hordes of flesh-hungry mindless zombies—but there's a fair share of that as well.
The ending is a little "different" but is very much in keeping with the themes and tone of the book, so I had no qualms with it's slight straying from the "Romero doctrine."
It is clear that the author is as literate in Romero as his is in philosophy and classic literature. And I couldn't ask for more from a zombie book
September 12, 2024
A post-apocalyptic zombie novel from 2007 with slow-moving zombies. Great for beginners of zombie fiction, if you want to ease into it and prefer character-driven stories with not too much action. You won’t escape all that blood and gore and body horror stuff, though. You never will with zombies, but that’s half of the fun anyway, am I right?
(I do warn you, there are some truly disgusting scenes in here! I’ll show you one who stuck with me at the end of my review.)
Origin of the virus is unknown, by the way. The circumstances leading up to the outbreak and apocalypse are unknown. We simply begin with a man, Jonah, who’s all alone out there among the zombies, trying to survive. He then meets other people and joins their community. Once there, he listens to several people’s very personal stories. There are conflicts happening too, but not before you genuinely get your hopes up.
During the first half of the book, I thought: “Oh, so this is what an average zombie novel looks like!” It’s is fraught with either exposition and needless explanations, like for instance advising us that “a bullet anywhere other than through the brain won’t put a zombie down” (17) or that “the bite would kill me and turn me into zombie in a matter of hours or days” (17), as if the reader needs a crash course in how zombies work. It’s a fairly early zombie novel, though, from the beginning of the zombie renaissance (circa 2003-2015), so I guess we can cut the author some slack for that, but the amount of explanations is jarring, and others are more inexcusable, like “you never used a gun if you didn’t have to, for its noise brought lots of unwanted attention” (5) or “they’d all follow the same goal, which was always the same: find someone to kill and eat”(22).
Geeh, okay.
But then the story grew on me. Or rather, the people Jonah meets touched my heart. They work hard for the people they care about, they support each other, save each other, listen to each other. And yeah, then there’s this weirdly captivating guy called Milton. He’s a “smelly messiah with a weird eczema” (84) who “holds a strange power over the dead” (blurb). He was my favorite character, and I believe I won’t forget him for a while. So humble, wise and compassionate. Another reviewer described him perfectly when he said that Milton has a “tremendous desire to not only rebuild a better civilization but a passion for learning from humanity's greatest weaknesses and strengths”.
The conversations between Jonah and the other members of the community reminded me of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War in the sense that we hear their stories from back when it all started, hear about their journey, their struggles. And you get to take in different perspectives. Their accounts aren’t as comprehensive, of course, but I still enjoyed learning about these people. I started to care about them and the way they reimagine a new world ravaged by the undead.
You also start to think about what makes a good community in the first place, what’s most valuable and what makes it work. How do we make people trust each other, take responsibility and feel better about their lives? The conversation between Jonah and Milton is deep and philosophical and my highlight of the book. Oh, and I just felt so at ease with his love of reading!
It’s a fairly quick read, and although it’s not exactly a page-turner most of the time, I think the action and plot moves at a steady pace. Zombie fighting will of course happen too, and those action scenes are just alright and nothing special. Like I said, it’s focused on character and community and general survival in a difficult environment.
On major gripe I had with it was the way the author inserted Christian mythology. To be fair, according to his author profile, Kim Paffenroth is a professor of religious studies, which makes perfect sense. But the characters, especially the main character, would often mention God in their assessments of situations or just make random comments about him, as if to preach his merits and convince the reader that they have a reason to believe in him and thus accepting the possibility of a God. They were conveniently going from saying that God either let things happen for a good reason or that he intervened whenever a great thing happened. Everything happens in God’s favor, of course. Not every time, mind you, there were moments of doubt in the characters, but God seemed to be a recurring talking point a bit too often for my tastes.
Other than that, “Dying to live” was overall a very heartwarming reading experience. Who knew? I’ve never been this optimistic about a zombie apocalypse before, but Kim Paffenroth’s uplifting and inspirational community of people shows us what we can always hope to accomplish together, no matter how bad things may look, as long as we have each other.
And even though it didn’t quite make it to a four stars rating, I’d still love to read the second book of this trilogy, just because I want to know what happens to the characters. To be able to touch your reader’s hearts like that, can you hope for anything better as a writer?
New word: Smock = A loose, lightweight overgarment worn to protect the clothing while working.
New information about zombies (specific to this novel): they tend to avoid sunlight. Huh!
Bonus quote, as promised!
Eeewwwwwwwww!
(I do warn you, there are some truly disgusting scenes in here! I’ll show you one who stuck with me at the end of my review.)
Origin of the virus is unknown, by the way. The circumstances leading up to the outbreak and apocalypse are unknown. We simply begin with a man, Jonah, who’s all alone out there among the zombies, trying to survive. He then meets other people and joins their community. Once there, he listens to several people’s very personal stories. There are conflicts happening too, but not before you genuinely get your hopes up.
During the first half of the book, I thought: “Oh, so this is what an average zombie novel looks like!” It’s is fraught with either exposition and needless explanations, like for instance advising us that “a bullet anywhere other than through the brain won’t put a zombie down” (17) or that “the bite would kill me and turn me into zombie in a matter of hours or days” (17), as if the reader needs a crash course in how zombies work. It’s a fairly early zombie novel, though, from the beginning of the zombie renaissance (circa 2003-2015), so I guess we can cut the author some slack for that, but the amount of explanations is jarring, and others are more inexcusable, like “you never used a gun if you didn’t have to, for its noise brought lots of unwanted attention” (5) or “they’d all follow the same goal, which was always the same: find someone to kill and eat”(22).
Geeh, okay.
“They were what we, the temporarily living, would inevitably become, each and every one of us – a rotting, tottering, mindless parody of ourselves. (118)
But then the story grew on me. Or rather, the people Jonah meets touched my heart. They work hard for the people they care about, they support each other, save each other, listen to each other. And yeah, then there’s this weirdly captivating guy called Milton. He’s a “smelly messiah with a weird eczema” (84) who “holds a strange power over the dead” (blurb). He was my favorite character, and I believe I won’t forget him for a while. So humble, wise and compassionate. Another reviewer described him perfectly when he said that Milton has a “tremendous desire to not only rebuild a better civilization but a passion for learning from humanity's greatest weaknesses and strengths”.
The conversations between Jonah and the other members of the community reminded me of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War in the sense that we hear their stories from back when it all started, hear about their journey, their struggles. And you get to take in different perspectives. Their accounts aren’t as comprehensive, of course, but I still enjoyed learning about these people. I started to care about them and the way they reimagine a new world ravaged by the undead.
I don’t even think it’s a matter of guilt and innocence anymore. It’s a matter of just trying to keep beautiful things alive in an ugly world. (177)
You also start to think about what makes a good community in the first place, what’s most valuable and what makes it work. How do we make people trust each other, take responsibility and feel better about their lives? The conversation between Jonah and Milton is deep and philosophical and my highlight of the book. Oh, and I just felt so at ease with his love of reading!
“I needed books on what makes people tick, on what they value, on how they get along with each other. So I read, and I learned.” (85)
“Isn’t that strange – we had all his plays, just sitting around, and I never bothered to read them? And now we have to fight and kill to get some copies of his books and others, books that are blowing around at the smashed-up local bookstore, quickly turning into dust. Maybe that was what was wrong with the way we used to live – so many luxuries sitting around that we didn’t appreciate them.” (102)
It’s a fairly quick read, and although it’s not exactly a page-turner most of the time, I think the action and plot moves at a steady pace. Zombie fighting will of course happen too, and those action scenes are just alright and nothing special. Like I said, it’s focused on character and community and general survival in a difficult environment.
On major gripe I had with it was the way the author inserted Christian mythology. To be fair, according to his author profile, Kim Paffenroth is a professor of religious studies, which makes perfect sense. But the characters, especially the main character, would often mention God in their assessments of situations or just make random comments about him, as if to preach his merits and convince the reader that they have a reason to believe in him and thus accepting the possibility of a God. They were conveniently going from saying that God either let things happen for a good reason or that he intervened whenever a great thing happened. Everything happens in God’s favor, of course. Not every time, mind you, there were moments of doubt in the characters, but God seemed to be a recurring talking point a bit too often for my tastes.
“I think the thing that surprised and interested me the most was how so many people agree that people’s souls have several parts. They differ on what to call them, or how many there are, but they agree that there are parts. Had you always known there were several parts? I found it so amazing!” (86)
Other than that, “Dying to live” was overall a very heartwarming reading experience. Who knew? I’ve never been this optimistic about a zombie apocalypse before, but Kim Paffenroth’s uplifting and inspirational community of people shows us what we can always hope to accomplish together, no matter how bad things may look, as long as we have each other.
And even though it didn’t quite make it to a four stars rating, I’d still love to read the second book of this trilogy, just because I want to know what happens to the characters. To be able to touch your reader’s hearts like that, can you hope for anything better as a writer?
“I think perhaps we got too spoiled in our old world, and I wanted a world where we’d have beauty, but we’d appreciate it better, not take it for granted.” (103)
New word: Smock = A loose, lightweight overgarment worn to protect the clothing while working.
New information about zombies (specific to this novel): they tend to avoid sunlight. Huh!
Bonus quote, as promised!
Eeewwwwwwwww!
June 10, 2008
To my knowledge modern civilization has never been overrun by hordes of the flesh eating undead. However, after reading Kim Paffenroth's Dying to Live: A Novel of Life Among the Undead, I'm beginning to wonder if there might indeed have been a period where just such a horrendous thing happened. Paffenroth's ability to transport the reader deep into the dark, desiccated remains of a world where humanity clings to a perilous thread of existence and zombies, spawned of a mutated virus, wander the streets in search of fresh flesh upon which to feast, is disturbingly brilliant in its realism. Each scene is lovingly crafted with a rich, gruesome detail and sharp emotional resonance that makes one swear that Paffenroth himself once fought for his life in just such an apocalyptic world. Yet, as horrific and gut wrenching as some of those scenes may be, his masterful grip on the English language creates poetry from what others might only be able to pull mindless blood and gore. With distinct well-sculpted characters one instantly identifies with, witty intelligent dialogue and a quicksilver pace that keeps you turning the pages, Dying to Live is by far the best zombie novel I have ever read! READ THE REST OF THIS REVIEW ON FEAR ZONE: http://fearzone.com/blog/dying-to-liv...
May 19, 2009
I went into this book extremely excited because I'd read lots of good things about it and it had been recommended to be several times. Honestly, the book had potential that it didn't live up to because it wasted a lot of time with juvenile writing. I honestly believe that, if the author had stepped away from the first person narrative (first person perspective often kills a good idea, unfortunately), and hacked out a lot of the unnecessary exposition, this could have been a five-star book. The story is more focused on the characters than a lot of other post-zompocalypse books I've read, and this could have been more interesting had the author not trapped himself in the head of the main character.
I found there were too many times where something interesting would be going on around the main character, but it was lost to him musing on past experiences, or even going into too much detail about his opinion of the action. This lost my interest very quickly and I ended up skimming through pages and pages trying to find the meat of the story. Unfortunately, because this author had so many ideas and so much he wanted to get out, he had to resort to clumsy dialogue to get what he wanted out of other characters; this is often a problem with first person perspective. Characters give too much away and speak very unrealistically because that's the only way the main character- and therefore the audience- can learn necessary plot point information.
All in all, I'm not going to write the author off, and I plan to give him a try later down the line. It really seemed to me like this, as a first book effort, had promise, but the author needs to hone his craft and try again, maybe with a less forgiving editor.
I found there were too many times where something interesting would be going on around the main character, but it was lost to him musing on past experiences, or even going into too much detail about his opinion of the action. This lost my interest very quickly and I ended up skimming through pages and pages trying to find the meat of the story. Unfortunately, because this author had so many ideas and so much he wanted to get out, he had to resort to clumsy dialogue to get what he wanted out of other characters; this is often a problem with first person perspective. Characters give too much away and speak very unrealistically because that's the only way the main character- and therefore the audience- can learn necessary plot point information.
All in all, I'm not going to write the author off, and I plan to give him a try later down the line. It really seemed to me like this, as a first book effort, had promise, but the author needs to hone his craft and try again, maybe with a less forgiving editor.
September 20, 2011
I rarely give one-star reviews, but this book just did nothing for me.
dumb. somehow, despite having all of the elements I like in a book (zombies, gore, blood, etc.) this one never really worked for me. I suffered through it because I don't like leaving a book unfinished. But I wish I wasn't like that, because I wasted my time with this one.
It is all rehashed zombie stuff that I have already read and seen done better elsewhere.
Plus, the theological stuff bugged the crap out of me. I didn't realize it was going to be that kind of book. Which, I admit, was my own fault. I should've taken a closer look at the product before buying it. But still, it didn't work. It felt tacked on and stupid, like the rest of the book.
really, if you want to read a zombie book, don't start here. There are LOTS of other options that aren't as preachy or typical as this one. Read Brian Keene's zombie books instead. Or Day-To-Day Armageddon. Anything.
dumb. somehow, despite having all of the elements I like in a book (zombies, gore, blood, etc.) this one never really worked for me. I suffered through it because I don't like leaving a book unfinished. But I wish I wasn't like that, because I wasted my time with this one.
It is all rehashed zombie stuff that I have already read and seen done better elsewhere.
Plus, the theological stuff bugged the crap out of me. I didn't realize it was going to be that kind of book. Which, I admit, was my own fault. I should've taken a closer look at the product before buying it. But still, it didn't work. It felt tacked on and stupid, like the rest of the book.
really, if you want to read a zombie book, don't start here. There are LOTS of other options that aren't as preachy or typical as this one. Read Brian Keene's zombie books instead. Or Day-To-Day Armageddon. Anything.
March 20, 2009
The first thing I noticed when I picked up "Dying To Live" was that Jonathan Maberry (author of Ghost Road Blues) describes the novel as "not just a thinking man's horror novel, it's a zombie book for philosophers." This is interesting because on one level every zombie novel carries the same theme of a group of survivors trying to survive a war against the undead. Apart from varying story lines, there honestly isn't much of a difference between the lot (I like to think of each novel taking place during the same outbreak event). Now, on another level every zombie novel, film, story, etc has a deeper philosophical meaning that ties back to humanity's lust for consumerism (see Romero's Dawn of the Dead) and ultimately the animalistic nature of humans, both living and dead. That said, I was interested to find out what made THIS novel THE book for philosophers...
Unfortunately I was unable to find the answer. Don't get me wrong though, this was a very good novel, but certainly no different than the rest. Granted, there were scenes throughout that definitely beg the question "How can God exist?" One particularly brutal tale involving a pregnant woman who becomes infected comes to mind. However disturbing it still doesn't separate this novel from it's fellow companions.
Now, that was a more direct response to the comment by Maberry, so putting that aside I will say that I generally enjoyed this read; there were some tense sequences involving characters trapped within a dead city and later an inmate-overrun prison, as well as an uplifting hopeful community attempting to rebuild civilization starting within the confines of a fortified museum. I'm attempting to be cautious not to let details slip, but I have to say that the way one major plot point plays out in the epilogue seemed slightly ridiculous and forced, as if the author liked and used the idea without fleshing out the pros and cons to making the story believable (as believable as a zombie novel can be). Coming in at a short 180 pages, more could have been done to elaborate on the cause of said plot point, or how it came to play out in the end.
Being so short in length, I felt deprived of a further, rich story on the events between the finally and epilogue. Sometimes "3 weeks later" just isn't good enough!
Overall, again a good fun read that only suffers from a slight lack of detail!
Unfortunately I was unable to find the answer. Don't get me wrong though, this was a very good novel, but certainly no different than the rest. Granted, there were scenes throughout that definitely beg the question "How can God exist?" One particularly brutal tale involving a pregnant woman who becomes infected comes to mind. However disturbing it still doesn't separate this novel from it's fellow companions.
Now, that was a more direct response to the comment by Maberry, so putting that aside I will say that I generally enjoyed this read; there were some tense sequences involving characters trapped within a dead city and later an inmate-overrun prison, as well as an uplifting hopeful community attempting to rebuild civilization starting within the confines of a fortified museum. I'm attempting to be cautious not to let details slip, but I have to say that the way one major plot point plays out in the epilogue seemed slightly ridiculous and forced, as if the author liked and used the idea without fleshing out the pros and cons to making the story believable (as believable as a zombie novel can be). Coming in at a short 180 pages, more could have been done to elaborate on the cause of said plot point, or how it came to play out in the end.
Being so short in length, I felt deprived of a further, rich story on the events between the finally and epilogue. Sometimes "3 weeks later" just isn't good enough!
Overall, again a good fun read that only suffers from a slight lack of detail!
February 7, 2013
This book just did NOT work for me on so many levels. First, on the plot, almost nothing felt original. The only thing I truly loved was the setting of survival, a small town museum. If I had to sit out the apocalypse somewhere, let me tell you - that would be it. In a heartbeat. Interesting exhibits to wander through, a library full of books, a way to educate your kids... hell, most museums even have a kid zone for play and fun and all that good stuff. And a cafeteria, etc. etc. etc.
But other than that? I felt like I was reading... oh, pick your favorite zombie piece. Walking Dead comes to mind, or The Zombie Hunters... even Milton didn't feel original. Nothing clicked for me. The allegory just felt overblown, the climactic ending didn't feel climactic... I just didn't care about the characters or their histories or anything. Even the idyllic setting felt too idyllic, too... cliche. At least it was a short read, and I was done within 24 hours of starting it.
But other than that? I felt like I was reading... oh, pick your favorite zombie piece. Walking Dead comes to mind, or The Zombie Hunters... even Milton didn't feel original. Nothing clicked for me. The allegory just felt overblown, the climactic ending didn't feel climactic... I just didn't care about the characters or their histories or anything. Even the idyllic setting felt too idyllic, too... cliche. At least it was a short read, and I was done within 24 hours of starting it.
February 12, 2009
It started off with promise but ended up being a huge waste of time for me. I didn't think it was very original. It read like a number of other zombie books that I've read over the past four months.
August 14, 2011
Nach dem mich der erste Teil der Herbst Reihe „Herbst: Beginn“ von David Moody so gut gefallen hat, machte mich „Dying to live“ neugierig. Zombies, Weltuntergang, Seuche – das klang genau nach meinem Horror und Thrillergeschmack. Und ich wurde positiv überrascht.
Jonah ist ein netter Charakter. Er irrt seit Monaten durch eine tote Welt. Familie, Freunde, Arbeitskollegen – keinen gibt’s mehr. Sie sind alle tot, oder irren als Zombies durch die Gegend. Jonah muss sich vor ihnen in Acht nehmen und die Menschenfresser töten, denn nach einer Pandemie, von der niemand weiß, woher sie kommt, sind die meisten Menschen zu Zombies geworden.
Jonah trifft recht schnell auf weitere Überlebende und schließt sich ihnen an. Dort findet er neue Freunde und auch etwas Hoffnung. Doch das Grauen wütet draußen weiter und die Lebensmittel werden knapp. Mutige und wochenlang gut durchtrainierte Mitbewohner trauen sich immer wieder in diese tote Welt dort draußen, um das nötigste zu besorgen. Jonah gehört irgendwann auch dazu und lernt, wie man unter Zombies überlebt. Doch es gibt schlimmeres, als tote Menschen, die einen fressen wollen...
Das Buch beginnt super lesbar und bleibt bis zum Schluss durchgehend auf einem guten Spannungslevel. Es liest sich sehr gut und sehr schnell weg, daher habe ich es binnen kürzester Zeit verschlungen.
Blutig und brutal ist es auch an ein paar Stellen, wenn auch nicht so krass, wie ich es mir gerne gewünscht hätte. Hier kann auch der etwas zartbeseitetere Leser zugreifen, wie ich finde. Habe doch einiges an Splatter vermisst.
Ebenfalls vermisste ich auch die unglaubliche Traurigkeit, Hoffnungslosigkeit, Einsamkeit und die Depressionen, wenn man die Tatsache betrachtet, dass sämtliche Menschen tot oder Zombies sind und man nur darauf wartet, quasi ein zweites Mal zu sterben.
Auffallend war für mich, dass übermäßig viel der Glaube und Gott eine Rolle spielten. Nicht weiter verwunderlich, wenn man weiß, dass der Autor Kim Paffenroth Theologe ist. So betet Jonah oft in schwierigen Situationen und lässt den einen oder anderen Bibelvers los. Nicht weiter schlecht, im Gegenteil: das war mal eine interessante Angelegenheit. So kam eben auch die Frage auf, wem man die Schuld an dieser Apokalypse zu geben hat und Gott wurde dennoch oftmals kritisiert. Es ist also wahrlich nichts übertrieben theologisches, sondern eher eine plausible Reaktion der Hoffnungslosigkeit.
Die Charaktere waren mir alle sympathisch und kamen authentisch rüber. Obwohl ich bei ihnen die Ausweglosigkeit der Situation vermisste, empfand ich sie alle als sehr stark, denn sie kämpften gemeinsam und hielten zusammen.
Einen mega Cliffhanger gibt es am Ende nicht, aber man merkt, dass es kein Schluss für immer ist. Es fehlt etwas. Daher bin ich erfreut, dass es einen 2. Teil bereits schon gibt namens „Dying to live – Die Traurigkeit der Zombies“. Diesmal aus der Sicht der Zombies, wie es in der Kurzbeschreibung klingt. Ich bin gespannt.
Jonah ist ein netter Charakter. Er irrt seit Monaten durch eine tote Welt. Familie, Freunde, Arbeitskollegen – keinen gibt’s mehr. Sie sind alle tot, oder irren als Zombies durch die Gegend. Jonah muss sich vor ihnen in Acht nehmen und die Menschenfresser töten, denn nach einer Pandemie, von der niemand weiß, woher sie kommt, sind die meisten Menschen zu Zombies geworden.
Jonah trifft recht schnell auf weitere Überlebende und schließt sich ihnen an. Dort findet er neue Freunde und auch etwas Hoffnung. Doch das Grauen wütet draußen weiter und die Lebensmittel werden knapp. Mutige und wochenlang gut durchtrainierte Mitbewohner trauen sich immer wieder in diese tote Welt dort draußen, um das nötigste zu besorgen. Jonah gehört irgendwann auch dazu und lernt, wie man unter Zombies überlebt. Doch es gibt schlimmeres, als tote Menschen, die einen fressen wollen...
Das Buch beginnt super lesbar und bleibt bis zum Schluss durchgehend auf einem guten Spannungslevel. Es liest sich sehr gut und sehr schnell weg, daher habe ich es binnen kürzester Zeit verschlungen.
Blutig und brutal ist es auch an ein paar Stellen, wenn auch nicht so krass, wie ich es mir gerne gewünscht hätte. Hier kann auch der etwas zartbeseitetere Leser zugreifen, wie ich finde. Habe doch einiges an Splatter vermisst.
Ebenfalls vermisste ich auch die unglaubliche Traurigkeit, Hoffnungslosigkeit, Einsamkeit und die Depressionen, wenn man die Tatsache betrachtet, dass sämtliche Menschen tot oder Zombies sind und man nur darauf wartet, quasi ein zweites Mal zu sterben.
Auffallend war für mich, dass übermäßig viel der Glaube und Gott eine Rolle spielten. Nicht weiter verwunderlich, wenn man weiß, dass der Autor Kim Paffenroth Theologe ist. So betet Jonah oft in schwierigen Situationen und lässt den einen oder anderen Bibelvers los. Nicht weiter schlecht, im Gegenteil: das war mal eine interessante Angelegenheit. So kam eben auch die Frage auf, wem man die Schuld an dieser Apokalypse zu geben hat und Gott wurde dennoch oftmals kritisiert. Es ist also wahrlich nichts übertrieben theologisches, sondern eher eine plausible Reaktion der Hoffnungslosigkeit.
Die Charaktere waren mir alle sympathisch und kamen authentisch rüber. Obwohl ich bei ihnen die Ausweglosigkeit der Situation vermisste, empfand ich sie alle als sehr stark, denn sie kämpften gemeinsam und hielten zusammen.
Einen mega Cliffhanger gibt es am Ende nicht, aber man merkt, dass es kein Schluss für immer ist. Es fehlt etwas. Daher bin ich erfreut, dass es einen 2. Teil bereits schon gibt namens „Dying to live – Die Traurigkeit der Zombies“. Diesmal aus der Sicht der Zombies, wie es in der Kurzbeschreibung klingt. Ich bin gespannt.
December 28, 2011
You know a book is good when you stay up until 4:30 in the morning just to finish the last few pages. This is what happened to me with Kim Paffenroth’s novel, Dying to Live. It is a zombie novel along the line of Rhiannon Frater’s, As the World Dies in that it brings out many thought provoking topics along the lines of good vs evil, how it affects humanity, and the different aspects of humanity that transforms with the onslaught of a zombie apocalypse. It is thought provoking and enables us to contemplate how each individual reacts and copes with a changing, hostile world, and how people are able to retain their humanity in an otherwise chaotic existence.
The only caution I’d give is that the novel is highly religious favoring Christianity, but this is expected from an author who earned his Ph.D from a seminary. Despite this, I believe that the novel can cross many beliefs and will be relevant to many disciplines, while also being an excellent novel for zombie fans.
The only caution I’d give is that the novel is highly religious favoring Christianity, but this is expected from an author who earned his Ph.D from a seminary. Despite this, I believe that the novel can cross many beliefs and will be relevant to many disciplines, while also being an excellent novel for zombie fans.
dnf
December 27, 2012Sorry. I'm over a third of the way through and this is just boring. How can you make a zombie apocalypse this bland?
January 1, 2011
I like nothing more than a good apocalypse. And this is a zombie apocalypse with a bit if heart and soul. The story is well paced and it was always with reluctance that I had to put the book down. If you are a sucker for a zombie novel like I am, I'm pretty sure you should read this!
Having said all of that, it's not perfect. There are a few strange turns in the story that I think are a little convenient, however, it doesn't detract from the story for me, as you're almost hoping that it will all work out somehow anyway. It's not as gory (until the final few chapters) as I might have imagined, however it is still a good read and great novel that's not just about zombies, but about human nature; the best and the worst of humanity. To quote the character Milton "I had no idea there was still such evil in the world, I thought we'd been through enough."
Having said all of that, it's not perfect. There are a few strange turns in the story that I think are a little convenient, however, it doesn't detract from the story for me, as you're almost hoping that it will all work out somehow anyway. It's not as gory (until the final few chapters) as I might have imagined, however it is still a good read and great novel that's not just about zombies, but about human nature; the best and the worst of humanity. To quote the character Milton "I had no idea there was still such evil in the world, I thought we'd been through enough."
March 9, 2014
borrrring. I hate ragging on authors because I so envy the skill it takes to write well and make money at it, but this is just nothing but fluff. every cliche you can think of is present in this book. nothing creative here at all. good read just for killing time
May 16, 2018
I love zombie movies so I thought I would start reading some zombie books. I decided I would start with Dying to Live. Its a great book I loved it, finish it in 2 days I didn't want to put it down. Can't wait to start reading the second book.
May 1, 2018
Jonah survives alone for months after a zombie apocalypse and then finds a community housed in a museum.
This was ok - nothing caught my interest enough to push it into good, but nothing was awful enough to make it bad. I understand this is billed as "thinking man's horror" but it was pretty superficial. The main character's musings on what makes us human did not have enough depth to deserve this blurb. There were good action scenes and plenty of gore, but nothing to add to the typical zombie book. I won't be reading the sequel.
This was ok - nothing caught my interest enough to push it into good, but nothing was awful enough to make it bad. I understand this is billed as "thinking man's horror" but it was pretty superficial. The main character's musings on what makes us human did not have enough depth to deserve this blurb. There were good action scenes and plenty of gore, but nothing to add to the typical zombie book. I won't be reading the sequel.
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November 17, 2018Nicht mein Ding daher abgebrochen
November 5, 2010
Jonah Caine is stuck in a living hell. The world has collapsed around him. Alone, he travels in the darkness of the world, the living dead his only company. He wanders and hopes for genuine companionship; someone to share in what little is left for humanity.
He stumbles upon a group hiding out in a museum in a medium-small city. The group has staked their claim on their little part of the world and have lived, for a year, in relative safety. The group is led by Jack, who was one of the military personnel that fought against the living dead and helped discover this hideaway, and Milton, who has a special and unique gift, along with a tremendous desire to not only rebuild a better civilization but a passion for learning from humanity's greatest weaknesses and strengths.
This book, much more so than many other works in this genre, really explores the meanings behind both the good and evil embedded in humankind. Much like the novel "Every Sigh, The End" the author here desires to examine the human condition and does not assume that the living dead are the worst beings out there by a long shot. And how much can those who are "good" tolerate? How much do they want to not only to survive, but to live?
Don't let this staid description fool you, Kim does a bang up job keeping the action here moving along at a strong pace, with very few lulls. The story is told from Jonah's perspective, who was formerly a College English Professor, so his thoughts conjure up a great deal of references from a variety of literature sources and western civilizations rather vivid images of hell.
I guess for me, this book was so entertaining because the author seems so intrigued at the meaning behind both the mind numbing destruction wrought by the living dead as well as the much more horrifying and unspeakable terror brought forth by our own human brethren and how God could allow such things to happen.
While I like to read zombie stories to get a jolt of excitement and terror I also love these stories because to me zombies are so incredibly fascinating. Not just for what they are or what they represent, but what they seem to be able to elicit in their human counterparts that are trapped in the same dying and desperate world as they are-what do we become when everything around us is drenched in death and despair?
I feel that Kim Paffenroth did an excellent job of examining the boundaries of humanity, both good and evil, and for that I highly recommend this book.
He stumbles upon a group hiding out in a museum in a medium-small city. The group has staked their claim on their little part of the world and have lived, for a year, in relative safety. The group is led by Jack, who was one of the military personnel that fought against the living dead and helped discover this hideaway, and Milton, who has a special and unique gift, along with a tremendous desire to not only rebuild a better civilization but a passion for learning from humanity's greatest weaknesses and strengths.
This book, much more so than many other works in this genre, really explores the meanings behind both the good and evil embedded in humankind. Much like the novel "Every Sigh, The End" the author here desires to examine the human condition and does not assume that the living dead are the worst beings out there by a long shot. And how much can those who are "good" tolerate? How much do they want to not only to survive, but to live?
Don't let this staid description fool you, Kim does a bang up job keeping the action here moving along at a strong pace, with very few lulls. The story is told from Jonah's perspective, who was formerly a College English Professor, so his thoughts conjure up a great deal of references from a variety of literature sources and western civilizations rather vivid images of hell.
I guess for me, this book was so entertaining because the author seems so intrigued at the meaning behind both the mind numbing destruction wrought by the living dead as well as the much more horrifying and unspeakable terror brought forth by our own human brethren and how God could allow such things to happen.
While I like to read zombie stories to get a jolt of excitement and terror I also love these stories because to me zombies are so incredibly fascinating. Not just for what they are or what they represent, but what they seem to be able to elicit in their human counterparts that are trapped in the same dying and desperate world as they are-what do we become when everything around us is drenched in death and despair?
I feel that Kim Paffenroth did an excellent job of examining the boundaries of humanity, both good and evil, and for that I highly recommend this book.
May 10, 2011
It's no secret that since October I've become an increasingly ardent fan of zombie books. An infatuation brought on by Mrs. DeRaps Reads pointing me towards The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan and spinning out from there. It's a somewhat limited genre, unfortunately, and so after Rot and Ruin, The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy and Cherie Priests Clockwork Century books (Boneshaker and Dreadnought), I was out of ideas. So the hubby did his research and came up with Kim Paffenroths Dying to Live, and gave it to me for Valentines day.
A fairly typical zombie story line, Dying to Live follows Jonah Cain as he struggles to survive in a world where he's wildly outnumbered by the dead, he's lost all his friends and family, and there doesn't seem any point to survival. Much has been said about how this is the thinking mans zombie book, and it is Paffenroths main contribution to the genre (amusing side note- Kim Roth is a professor of religious studies).
Much more grizzly and intense then the YA zombie books I've read to-date as well as Cherie Priests books, Dying to Live really got into the grittier aspects of a world full of zombies. Think 28 Days Later and you'll have a general idea of what I mean. Any post-apocalyptic story is better when they aren't afraid to pull punches, as Suzanne Collins clearly showed, it makes it far more believable then a bunch of good looking people, dressed well, pulling matrix moves and facing off against hordes successfully as if they'd been doing it all their lives.
The philosophical debates and thoughts in the book were particularly interesting, and played really nicely against some of the more horrifying aspects. On some levels I suspect this worked mostly because the mains are somewhere around forty or over, any younger and the characters would lack the world experience to see things the same way.
Hybrid Milton was my especially favorite character, the tie up of his story made me really want a sequel, of which there seems to have been two (from what I can gather from Amazon, Kim Paffenroth only has a blog and not a convenient web page). I would happily drop into this world again, it was tough, no nonsense and an overall enjoyable post-apocalyptic tale, if a bit more gruesome then average (so be warned, faint of heart!).
A fairly typical zombie story line, Dying to Live follows Jonah Cain as he struggles to survive in a world where he's wildly outnumbered by the dead, he's lost all his friends and family, and there doesn't seem any point to survival. Much has been said about how this is the thinking mans zombie book, and it is Paffenroths main contribution to the genre (amusing side note- Kim Roth is a professor of religious studies).
Much more grizzly and intense then the YA zombie books I've read to-date as well as Cherie Priests books, Dying to Live really got into the grittier aspects of a world full of zombies. Think 28 Days Later and you'll have a general idea of what I mean. Any post-apocalyptic story is better when they aren't afraid to pull punches, as Suzanne Collins clearly showed, it makes it far more believable then a bunch of good looking people, dressed well, pulling matrix moves and facing off against hordes successfully as if they'd been doing it all their lives.
The philosophical debates and thoughts in the book were particularly interesting, and played really nicely against some of the more horrifying aspects. On some levels I suspect this worked mostly because the mains are somewhere around forty or over, any younger and the characters would lack the world experience to see things the same way.
Hybrid Milton was my especially favorite character, the tie up of his story made me really want a sequel, of which there seems to have been two (from what I can gather from Amazon, Kim Paffenroth only has a blog and not a convenient web page). I would happily drop into this world again, it was tough, no nonsense and an overall enjoyable post-apocalyptic tale, if a bit more gruesome then average (so be warned, faint of heart!).
June 21, 2009
My first zombie book, and I was thoroughly impressed. Despite being focused on the state of the world after zombie infestation, the author accomplishes so much more than recounting battles with the dead. There are philosophical characters that discuss the meaning of life, religion and human nature in the new state of the world. The small band of survivors include diverse personalities, often flawed, but each with their own stories of survival and ingenuity. This author is not fearful of the taboo, and provides a painfully honest account of what would be expected from people forced to endure in a world crawling with flesh eating dead. Several times I found myself thinking, “WOW, that is messed up!” So be warned that this book is gritty, gory and disturbing, but it’s also engaging, provoking and realistic – well, realistic as possible in a world full of zombies.
August 16, 2009
I shouldn't have spoiled myself re-reading Brian Keene's The Rising, City Of The Dead, and also enjoying Dead Sea. For truly enjoyable all out war against zombies. Brian Keene is the way to go. I perhaps did not "get" the meaning for which this author used zombies. Keene's are cooler.
February 2, 2008
Mr. Paffenroth's book, Dying to Live is apart from other zombie literature a new "taste" for the wicked. The philosophy behind zombies is done really well here. The writing is clean, neat yet whimsical in parts and the story itself deals with ideology of our nation...racism and war, yet leaves you by the last page in wonder. An intelligent reader always will love an intelligent book. This zombie piece goes up one level beyond the cliche' b-movie brisk. The air here has something wretched in it and it's not just zombies...it's society as well.
Eric Enck-
Eric Enck-
December 31, 2011
I couldn't even finish the book...........................this whole series with the idea of thinking and feeling zombies just isn't for me at all.......I see the author was trying to do something different but I hated it.I want my zombies to be all bite and no thought and I want them to be slayed by awesome main characters.I suppose I could understand why some people would like this series but in all it's pretty bad and it starts off really slow.
January 20, 2011
Loved it. The characters are very relatable. Although the bit with the professor is rather odd but it works. Those that enjoy zombie fiction will enjoy this book.
November 14, 2013
Eh it was ok at best
August 24, 2015
Not the best nor the worst of the genre, good writing. A lot of introspection and a lot of gore. Not sure if I'll continue the series or not. 3 stars.
July 26, 2016
As an atheist, I didn't care for all the God and religious talk in the book.
December 6, 2019
Having read some praise for the author before reading the book, I was a bit disappointed with the book itself. Really quite a run of the mill zombie novel. Yes, it was Brutal in places, the description by Frank about what happened to his wife & baby is utterly gruesome. As is the attack on Popcorn in the jail That said the book also unlike some other zombie novels I've read about the "Zombie" prior to the apocalypse They were as human as you & I.
The book starts with Jonah, A Survivor who is searching for his family. He is rescued from a zombie horde by fellow survivors. Who has taken refuge in a museum-turned-fortress? While on a mission to with two other survivors, Tracy a kick-ass, and a child named Popcorn, Who is far from a child! they come across a father and baby struggling to survive near a gruesome hospital, as luck would have it they also discover a helicopter. With help from other survivors who happen to include a helicopter pilot (What's the chances?) On the way back to the museum-turned-fortress? They see a trail of smoke and decide to seek out other survivors. However, they soon realize that there are still more problems left on earth than the Zombie apocalypse.
If you're a zombie fan you'll lap this up. However, if you're not it may well leave you feeling somewhat repulsed.
The book starts with Jonah, A Survivor who is searching for his family. He is rescued from a zombie horde by fellow survivors. Who has taken refuge in a museum-turned-fortress? While on a mission to with two other survivors, Tracy a kick-ass, and a child named Popcorn, Who is far from a child! they come across a father and baby struggling to survive near a gruesome hospital, as luck would have it they also discover a helicopter. With help from other survivors who happen to include a helicopter pilot (What's the chances?) On the way back to the museum-turned-fortress? They see a trail of smoke and decide to seek out other survivors. However, they soon realize that there are still more problems left on earth than the Zombie apocalypse.
If you're a zombie fan you'll lap this up. However, if you're not it may well leave you feeling somewhat repulsed.
October 17, 2019
I felt like this was a kind of a pointless book... I know, that's a little bit unfair to the author, but, like, why write something that's been done a million times before without offering anything new? In my opinion this is a story made up of scenes from other books, movies, tv shows, comics.
It was fine. Lots of action. But very unoriginal.
It was fine. Lots of action. But very unoriginal.
February 25, 2020
Five out of ten.
One man believes his is the lone survivor of a zombie outbreak and struggles to come to terms with what and why it all happens. Except he is not alone - and one day he happens upon another group of survivors and learns that maybe the zombies weren't so bad after all.
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January 15, 2025Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
Wow. So boring. I prefer Zompoc books that start at the start, not months or a year later (which I’m unclear on. The timeline doesn’t add up.)
I felt like it was a Walking Dead ripoff. Also, too much theological talk. It’s zombies not philosophy.
Wow. So boring. I prefer Zompoc books that start at the start, not months or a year later (which I’m unclear on. The timeline doesn’t add up.)
I felt like it was a Walking Dead ripoff. Also, too much theological talk. It’s zombies not philosophy.
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