Warm Bodies

“I mean obviously, staying alive is pretty fucking important … but there's got to be something beyond that, right?” - Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

The future is in good hands. I learned this from a zombie novel. At my last job, walking the halls, I would see people staring dully at their computer screens, their faces as dead as those of any movie zombies. One man knew what his ideal life would be: painting and traveling to different fairs to sell his paintings. Even though he was close to retiring he wasn't preparing to live his dream, he wasn't painting at all. Most of my coworkers didn't seem to have any dreams, they seemed to have given up. It was a great relief to read a novel that asked people to embrace life. It was a great relief to realize that at least someone out of the younger generation – Isaac Marion seems to be in his twenties – wants more out of life than to merely get through it.

Isaac Marion, the author of the zombie romance Warm Bodies spoke at a local library last Wednesday. It was primarily a teen event but, happily for me, I wasn't the only adult there without kids. The teens seemed to be most impressed by the zombies. A number of them were in makeup and one was ecstatic that his makeup job had grossed out an adult. I adore the novel for its great writing, its quotes from Gilgamesh (one of which is even a joke!), and its themes, especially the theme that life should be celebrated and not merely survived.

Isaac Marion read four scenes from his new book, the prequel to Warm Bodies, and answered questions, one of which tied to the main theme of the novel. I don't recall the question, but Isaac Marion brought up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which posits that basic needs such as survival must be addressed before higher needs can become an issue. That is, a starving man doesn't worry if his life has meaning or not. I don't believe Isaac Marion completely disagrees with Maslow's theory but he did comment that if we are helping people by sending them food, we should also be addressing their higher-level needs. With the economy getting worse, I've seen people choose goals driven by what their bosses want for the job, not what they might want for themselves. I not only can't help but agree with Isaac Marion, I'm impressed by his insight.

When the Q&A period started I didn't raise my hand because obviously the kids should get first crack at him, but, near the end, when there were few hands raised, I did manage to get called on. I was wondering about his novel's title because I'd read Allen Ginsburg’s “Song” and found the phrase “warm bodies” there. Isaac Marion did not get his title from a Ginsburg poem. It is a play on words, warm bodies as a placeholder, as someone who is doing barely more than breathing, and warming bodies as in the zombies becoming more human. Interestingly the use in the poem has similar connotations. “The warm bodies shine together in the darkness … and the soul comes, joyful to the eye.” Warm Bodies shows a world of connections, a world where love makes us human, a world which restores our souls. While I'd totally love to avoid the zombie apocalypse, it's a world I'd adore to live in.

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