More recent times and my interest has moved to thriller, horror and crime. Authors such as Harlen Coben, Richard Laymon and my favourite Robert Goddard are never far from my grasp.
Last year I happened to pickup again my dusty and battered copy of H. G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds. Once again it filled me with the anticipation of old and the many times I had read it before. In the early nineties it was the book that I chose to read for my school English review that I had to write for my coursework. Some twenty odd years later I found and read the same copy and have recently found the original review that was submitted into my coursework folder back in 1993. It is as expected naive and more than a little spoiler filled.
Book Review: The War Of The Worlds
The War Of The Worlds is an unquestionable classic in the science fiction genre. It has often been imitated, but rarely bettered. The War Of The Worlds was written by British writer Herbert George Wells, who also wrote other classics such as The Invisible Man and The Time Machine. In 1953, America took over and made a feature film starring Gene Barry. Although the film was set in California and not London as the book was, it came out well, particularly the special effects which received an Oscar. The seventies saw a musical record version featuring David Essex. Mid-eighties brought a revival for The War Of The Worlds in America as it became a TV series featuring much more gruesome Martians and more consequences. The downside to a reasonably entertaining series was that H. G. Wells was never credited for its creation. The reason I read The War Of The Worlds was that I am a keen fan of science fiction and that I had recently seen the TV series mentioned.
The War Of The Worlds' plot, although simple to understand, has great depth when you get into it. It is told from the point of view of someone who lived through and obviously survived the invasion of Martians from Mars. They came in spaceships like shooting stars. When they reached Earth they took time in building war machines in which the flesh and blood part of the alien sat. From there they had supreme power with their terrifying heat ray. The narrator sets of for safety and to search for Carrie his wife. On his journey he meets a deranged curate who claims he has seen visions of the Martians coming, and a man (who was left unnamed) with the dream of human life starting up again, this time underground. During his journey he also sees an alien in its true form and not hiding in its war machine shell. This extract describes the alien well:
"Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, it was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacle appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air."
After some 170 pages of small text the story finally finishes, but not until there is a strange twist. The death of the Martians does not come from the power of mans technology, but from bacteria causing the Martians to die of influenza.
The War Of The Worlds has few characters which number no more than five. The most important of these is the narrator, who although he tells the whole story, he is never actually named. The only thing you do learn about him is that he is a journalist. The second character is also never named but he is the person who has the dream which is mentioned above.
Although I have counted Carrie as a character featured in the book, she never actually appears in the story as such, she is just mentioned by the narrator. The Parson is probably the deepest character with his insane vision and reactions to everything. He makes a stunning farewell as one of the alien's lunch! The final character is also not in the book for long. His part is solely as the narrator's brother an is again unnamed.
The War Of The Worlds has stunning detail throughout, but you can see that from the extract. Here is another one to give you a better idea, this one describes the alien's war machines:
"A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather."
It says big in the above sentence and this is all that could appear in some books, but H. G. Wells goes that little bit further by adding that it's perhaps the size of a bear. This sort of detail helps the book incredibly, its gives the reader some sort of comparison for these aliens and their machines.
Due to the detail throughout the book, it gets a great deal of atmosphere. This is especially true when he describes the terror of people as they fight with each other to get onto the steamer in chapter seventeen. The final paragraph of the book describes well the panic and confusion caused by the Martians invasion. Read for example this short passage:
"And strangest of all it is to hold my wife's hand again, and to think that I have counted her, and that she has counted me, among the dead."
The War Of The Worlds is a stunning book, throughout it keeps a fast pace. If you are interested in science fiction you will find this book to your liking. Those who are unsure what genre they are a main fan of should have a read too. If you are going to read it though, you must have patience as it is not an easy read. Although written many years ago, it has never dated and probably never will. Overall The War Of The Worlds is an enjoyable read and is strongly recommended. I'll finish with a word from the narrator:
"Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange horror of its appearance. Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread..."
No comments:
Post a Comment