The Walking Dead, Volume 15: We Find Ourselves (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
The amount of people getting bored with this series seems to be escalating. Maybe Robert Kirkman saw himself as a marvel writer. He could just keep these characters alive for 20 years and intrigue new generations. I've never read marvel comics though, but I've heard they have a well developed plot line. I can see why people are getting frustrated. They want a story to progress and it seems we've just went back to the same plot as the prison. New characters, old characters, a single place to secure, Rick as leader, and some questioning his leadership. Except, insert wall fortification and scrounging for food. I can see why this plot line could be effective if it's the start of the new community, and sticks that way, but if we find our little gang uprooted in another volume, then this was just a regurgitated plot line. I've read the title of volume 20, so I'm assuming major advances soon and sticking with it. In my review of The Walking Dead Volume 14, I mentioned throwing a Chris Claremont-penned X-Men trade paperback in the trash due to its poor writing. Will Robert Kirkman, author of the Walking Dead series, cause history to repeat itself? Volume 15, "We Find Ourselves", exemplifies the worst traits of Kirkman's writing style and choices and is the nadir of the series (so far). Simply put: Kirkman can't stop having characters spout long, emotional, needless, often irrational, sobbing monologues. The Walking Dead is worse in this regard than any radio or TV soap opera. The Days of Our Lives was never, ever this bad. The protagonist, Rick, is a sobbing wreck in this story and the reader doesn't care. (Don't believe me? Read many of the other Good Reads reviews of this book.)"We Find Ourselves" has page after page of contrived, guilt-ridden dialogue like this: "I'm happy...and that feels so WRONG..." "No, I mean...after everything that's happened, why would I think that - that I could be happy?""What good is keeping him alive...if I've LOST my little boy in the process?""Dad, if I had died...would you have been sad?""I need you to let yourself be scared, and let yourself FEEL, and be happy..."Talking about feelings doesn't make a character. Character is action. A character is what he does. That's drama writing 101. Kirkman needs to watch and learn from some David Mamet films like The Spanish Prisoner, House of Games, Spartan or Things Change. What the reader/film watcher wants to know is: what happens next? What is the protagonist trying to achieve? What obstacles are in his way? What's he going to do about it? The rest is boring and can and should be cut.
What do You think about The Walking Dead, Volume 15: We Find Ourselves (2011)?
The amount of people getting bored with this series seems to be escalating. Maybe Robert Kirkman saw himself as a marvel writer. He could just keep these characters alive for 20 years and intrigue new generations. I've never read marvel comics though, but I've heard they have a well developed plot line. I can see why people are getting frustrated. They want a story to progress and it seems we've just went back to the same plot as the prison. New characters, old characters, a single place to secure, Rick as leader, and some questioning his leadership. Except, insert wall fortification and scrounging for food. I can see why this plot line could be effective if it's the start of the new community, and sticks that way, but if we find our little gang uprooted in another volume, then this was just a regurgitated plot line. I've read the title of volume 20, so I'm assuming major advances soon and sticking with it.
—Janellehw
This was another talking and theory issue, which honestly I prefer to the over-the-top violence issues. It is a little odd the way the series is collected as it kinda breaks up the flow. But it's nice to see the main character is trying to make himself a better person, make some long term goals and start acting instead of reacting. The relationship that developed was odd. It was over the course of the issues and slower than most but it does seem odd that there was never a sign of it there before and that with everything that has happened everyone is so obsessed with sex. Surely survival mode would put at least some people into not thinking about that cause there are more important things to worry about.
—ipod
