The Walking Dead (novel)
The Walking Dead (Original title: The Walking Dead - Rise of the Governor ) is a novel by the writers Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga. The German translation by Wally Anker was published by Heyne Verlag in 2012. The novel is a spin-off of the comic series The Walking Dead and the first of seven parts, which tells the background story of the character of the "Governor" Philip, later the story of Lilly Caul as the protagonist.
Structure of the book
The novel was published in Germany as a paperback by Heyne Verlag . The authors divided the book into three parts. Each part is preceded by an almost completely black page with a heading and a quote in white letters and four white blobs at the bottom of the page. The twenty-three chapters of this book of roughly the same length are simply numbered.
action
Part 1: The hollow men
Part 1 comprises chapters 1–8. The quote at the beginning of this part reads:
“There is nothing heroic about dying. Anyone can do that. ” Johnny Rotten
Brian Blake sits in a closet with his niece Penny, while his younger brother Philip Blake and his school friends Bobby and Nick clear a house of zombies . During this cleanup, however, a zombie is overlooked. This becomes Bobby's undoing. He falls victim to a zombie child who was sitting unnoticed in a dog house. As the house is increasingly besieged by the undead, Philip decides to leave the accommodation for Atlanta . According to radio reports, there are said to be safe refugee camps in Atlanta. But instead of the hoped-for help, the survivors in Atlanta only find the undead.
Part 2: Atlanta
Part 2 comprises chapters 9-16. The quote at the beginning of this part reads:
“Whoever fights with monsters can see that he does not become a monster. And if you look into an abyss for a long time, the abyss also looks into you. ” Friedrich Nietzsche
Surrounded by the undead and close to death, the group around Philip is rescued by the young April Chamler. She holed up in a house in Atlanta with her sister Tara and her sick father David. The newly formed group settles in the accommodation, clears other floors of the undead and begins to scout the area. A tragic event occurs when the sick David Chamler dies of natural causes and returns as a zombie. With a little need, David can finally be transported to the afterlife. During an exploration tour by Philip and April, a momentous incident occurs: When the two get closer, the dominant and mentally unstable Philip blows the fuses and he goes on April. As a result, Philip and the other newcomers are chased from the safe haven by Tara Chamler at gunpoint.
Part 3: Chaos Theory
Part 3 comprises chapters 17-23. The quote at the beginning of this part reads:
“Nobody chooses evil because it is evil; it is simply mistaken for bliss, the good one longs for. ” Mary Wollstonecraft-Shelley
When they flee again from the undead, the group of four finds shelter in an abandoned mansion on a plantation. However, at night they are surrounded by bandits and a firefight ensues in which Penny is shot. Philip collapses mentally: he almost kills his brother Brian and inhumanly assaults two attackers he is holding hostage. Nick shoots the two hostages to give them relief from Philip's torment. Philip, who is becoming increasingly unstable and has his zombie daughter with him on a leash, decides to leave the mansion. Since their car breaks down, the group has to continue the journey on foot. By chance they find Woodbury - a small settlement with around 60 survivors that is terrorized by three National Guards. In Woodbury, the “waiting room of hell” as the locals call it, Philip completely loses touch with reality. So he feeds human flesh to his dead zombie daughter. One night, Brian and Nick follow Philip into the nearby forest and watch him try to kill a young woman. To prevent this, Nick shoots the surprised Philip. The terrified Brian then kills Nick. Brian then gets lost more and more in an illusory world. Brian Blake goes through a transformation at a gathering in Woodbury where the town's regent of terror shoots a resident. He kills the tyrant of Woodbury and prepares the residents for the fight against the two remaining National Guardsmen. When asked who he is, Brian replies, "I'm Philip Blake" - the governor's hour of birth.
continuation
A reference to the continuation can already be found on the last page of the book. The plot is continued in the novel: The Walking Dead 2
- Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga: The Walking Dead 2 (Original title: The Walking Dead - The Road To Woodsbury ). German by Wally Anker. Heyne Verlag 2013, 408 pages, ISBN 978-3-453-52953-3
literature
- Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga: The Walking Dead (Original title: The Walking Dead - Rise of the Governor, Book 1 ). German by Wally Anker. Heyne Verlag 2012, 448 pp., ISBN 978-3-453-52952-6
Web links
- Robert Kirkman on comicbookdb.com (English)
- Reading sample from paperback edition 2012 (Heyne Verlag)
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga: The Walking Dead, 2012, Heyne-Verlag