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Un Monde Parfait (2000)

by Robert Kirkman(Favorite Author)

4.37 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

2756021113 (ISBN13: 9782756021119)

languge

English

genre

Horror

review 1: Rick is a copy. He's a cop who's spent the pat 14 months or so being the Decider, the one who has to make all the tough choices that no one else wants to make. In the interest of drama, all the decisions he's had to make are life or death, not the annoying but necessary calls over minutia that daily life usually involves. Rick has been a walking advertisement for the NRA, well armed and required to be by the events he's found himself in. Just as the man who has a hammer sees ever problem as a nail, the man who has plenty of guns and ammo sees every problem as a target. Rick has done a hell of a lot of shooting in this series, and I don't mean zombies. And Rick firmly believes that he's still a good man, because he really hates to do all this shooting. So, what happens when... more the ragtag group of survivors, lead by the noble gun-slinging sheriff discovers a settled community? For twelve volumes he's been forced to bear this burden of being police officer, judge, and executioner all-in-one. And because everyone isn't dead yet, the survivors don't have a problem with that. No one is questioning whether maybe Rick has some options other than killing everyone who might possibly pose a threat to his son at some point.I enjoyed this volume, but the series as a whole is rather disturbing. It never occurs to Rick or anyone else that maybe he's gone over to the dark side, if for no other reason that because he has no doubts. Everyone is convinced that he's made the right decisions all along. The lack of dissent terrifies me. Rick's group has sacrificed everything to a desire for protection, including the humanity of the children that they're supposed to be protecting.It also annoys me. Where there are only two people there are disagreements about which way the toilet paper should go: is it possible that a group this size would just agree to everything?I don't know. I do know that Kirkman takes the opportunity in this volume to contrast the violent reality of Rick's group to the shallow normalcy of people who aren't constantly vigilant. To my amusement we're given insight into what makes "good" people these days: does the group include women and children? are they looking for drugs, or food? Simplistic, judgmental, and pointless as a profiling basis, since we've already been shown just how bad groups including women and children can be.Interlibrary loan copy.
review 2: As the group head towards Washington D.C., the truth about Eugene the scientist comes out, and they meet another group of seemingly friendly survivors who’re living in a walled-off community just outside the capitol – a peaceful and safe oasis in the midst of all the chaos! But as Rick and co. finally find a semblance of their old lives in the stationary houses, hot showers, clean clothes, regular meals, and no zombies, is everything as cosy as it seems? And can they adapt to a comfortable existence after going through what they have?First of all – Robert Kirkman, you goofed me good! I really thought the Eugene storyline was for real and it was a red herring. Good one, that made me laugh! That said, volume 12 is the first Walking Dead book I found very easy to put down once I started. It’s not a terrible book but so very little happens, I found it difficult to remain excited, and usually I fly through these volumes!Kirkman takes the group into the safe walled community and they settle in. They clean up, they sleep, they get fed – that’s pretty much it. They’ve found their new home! Or have they…? Because what makes this volume work, despite the lack of anything much happening, is the way the reader has been conditioned to think some terrible tragedy is around the corner. Rick and co. have been through so much thus far, you keep expecting the community to turn out to be psychotic torturers beneath their pleasant veneer, or they’re harbouring zombie sex slaves or something awful like that.So all the while you’re reading this, the reader is as paranoid as Rick and the others are, which is thanks to Kirkman expertly manipulating and subverting the expectations of the book quite brilliantly. It also shows – yet again! – how changed Rick and co. are, compared to the normal people of the settlement. They can’t adjust to the normality of their former lives because their mind-sets have been warped for so long – but it almost seems like they don’t want to change. The normal lives of these people seem… boring and flat in comparison to their lives on the road.I also really liked that Kirkman showed the settlement’s survivors as having had their own adventures while we’ve been following Rick and co. You get the impression that they’ve gone through their share of grief and references to a “Davidson” character are uttered in the same way Rick and co. might talk about the Governor.Rick and the others may have been the focus of this story but this other group highlights that their story has been repeated hundreds, if not thousands, maybe millions, of times around the country/the world. It’s another indication of the wider world of the Walking Dead that Kirkman’s slowly revealing.The finale is another clever spin on perspective. While Douglas, the leader of the settlement, can appear a bit sleazy, hitting on Andrea, and there’s suspicion over the idyllic community when Rick notices a boy with a black eye, this new place is seemingly wonderful and filled with good people. In contrast, Rick and the others’ actions towards the end make them look like the villains and suddenly we as readers are reading a completely different story to the one we thought we were - and it’s quite brilliant! I appreciate that Kirkman’s developing as a writer and exploring all the angles to every situation, even creating new ways of telling essentially the same story over and over again.I may not have been as enthralled with this volume as others in the series, but Volume 12 does showcase Kirkman’s artistry in storytelling much more so than others and I have to applaud that. And I am interested in what secrets this community must have and hope that things don’t remain too idyllic for the gang for too long – a respite is fine, but the essence of drama is conflict, so let’s have at it, chaps! less

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Reviews (see all)

Markus

I picked this series back up because the AMC show has finally caught up to me. I couldn't watch Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene's introduction without preparing myself.Ah, the difficulty in balancing book and TV show. It's jarring to remember all the character differences. Hey, yeah, I forgot! I actually like Andrea! And Carl is younger yet less annoying! Whoa, Darryl, Tyreese, Morgan...who's still alive, now?Kooky, ain't it?The character development and pacing are great. There's a sense of palpable hope mixed with suspicion and fear as the group heads towards DC. In both my reading and watching, I'm struck again and again at the lengths people will go to to feel safe in this post-apocalyptic landscape. What's more astonishing though is their ability to find a core group to rely on, to trust in. As screwed up as Kirkman's world is, it's good to have that sliver of humanity to hold om to.

dayiix3

I'm gonna call it now, I'm glad Rick and the group was able to meet Aaron which in turn led them to a possibly safe place that could provide some normalcy and civility back into their lives. But I doubt that will last very long...any place that takes weapons, doesn't have a lookout and seemingly pretends there are no walkers behind their walls will ultimately end up being over run, somehow. At least the group is thinking the same way...

Katie

Smart Rick, very smart.

Ernie

3,5 to be fair.

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