Customer Reviews

Martians Go Home

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is absolutely adorable. It is science fiction with a humorous attitude, but indeed, the Martians have arrived. It's slightly reminiscent of Welle's famous Martian arrival, with the exception that these Martians are real, and they have definitely arrived. They first appear to Luke Devereaux, a struggling writer who has borrowed a lone cabin in the middle of nowhere to try to break his writer's block. An ominous knock on the door. Yet no prior sound of a car so far out in the desert, cautiously Luke opens the door. And so it begins. Yes, they ARE little green men, and they are everywhere, and sanity becomes a matter of degrees for most earthlings. And the Martians stay. And stay. And stay. One must get used to living with these irritating, caustic, sarcastic little green things that can pop in and out anytime and anywhere, and wreak havoc on anyone and anything. The human race is being driven crazy! The Martians have no harmful intent it seems, except to disrupt the lives of everyone on earth. They simply must be dealt with. Written in 1955, this story gets an A+ in my book. I had just randomly grabbed it off my shelf for a quick-read. I was immediately hooked and was finished in two days. This book needs to be on the bestseller list!

This is one that I read many moons ago & still keep on a shelf alongside my many other dog-eared paperback SF classics. If you ever notice a movie version of this story on TV, please don't pre-judge the book-just switch the channel, because the movie is wretched. The book, however, cleverly brings in elements such a mass-media system that dominates the world economy (and places it in a most vulnerable position), a burgeoning quick-fix mental health industry, and a new twist on the paranoid notion of a mass invasion by our neighbors from the Red Planet. If you like classic SF from the 1950's and happen to find this one in a used book store, pick it up and enjoy it.

This is one great little book. I say "little" because it's very short...like little green martians. Anyway.. Buy the book and enjoy.
I bought the paperback way back in 1976 and every few years or so I give it another read. It has never lost anything for me, and I still find myself laughing as if I were reading it for the first time. Just think of it...Martians invade Earth with no intent to take over or destroy us. They don't even arrive in spaceships. They just kwim. We can't even touch them. We end up doing all the harm to ourselves! Great concept for a book. Great departure from the usual MARTIANS ATTACK EARTH type of novel.
It's even more astounding when you realize the book was first published in 1955. Great book. Read it and laugh.

This novel was WAAAY ahead of its time! In 1955, most people still took seriously the idea that weirdly humanoid beings could populate the outer planets. That anyone could write a wittily sarcastic book about little green men who don't carry ray guns or shoot anything out of their eyes but simply drive Earthlings crazy with their obnoxious behavior back then is simply amazing. While mainstream America was hiding under its collective (uh, no pinko connotation intended...honest!) desk listening for incoming ICBMs, Fredric Brown was at his typewriter making fun of his laughably serious countrymen.

Completely devoid of political epithets or any other profanity, this book nonetheless makes some serious points about how ridiculous we Terran primates are. What else amazes me is how hard to find this book is and that it's out of print. I seriously would have expected it to become a classic (by now in its twenty-seventh printing or so) and the gag line "____ you, Mack!" the sort of catch phrase that Da Tumminada's "Hasta la vista, Baby!" has become.

Yes, it is the funnies SF book I've ever read. Read it along with authors like H. Harrison (Bill, the Galactic Hero) or Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide). I wonder why this fine book is out of print. Order it anyway!!!

This has to be one of the most hilarious science fiction novels ever written. Frederic Brown (1906-72), who had spoofed space opera with What Mad Universe in 1949, returned a few years later to write the perfect alien invasion novel, Martians, Go Home. Brown was in rare form with this book. It was the triumph to his prolific writing streak in the 1950's.
Luke Deveraux is a failed writer specializing in science fiction who's decided to shack it up with a friend in the desert so he can work on another book. He's also failed in his marriage and is smarting from the divorce wounds. One morning, after suffering from the latest drunken binge, he awakes to find a little green man at the front door. Thinking this is the result of too much alcohol he makes his way to a nearby diner only to discover there are little green men everywhere. Earth has been invaded.
But this isn't the usual 'People Of Earth" invasion. The martians, and there are millions of them, have come to earth not to conquer, but to amuse themselves. They can teleport anywhere they want and see through objects. But anyone who tries to kick a martian finds their foot going through empty space. The martians have no material substance.
Mass chaos breaks out as humanity has to concern itself with little green men who appear everywhere, making fun of people. The entertainment industry goes into a slump since it's impossible to produce anything when the martians teleport in and start making comments. A psychologist trying to conduct a seminar dealing with the aliens finds himself reduced to a gibbering mass. When a martian appears in his office, it begins revealing secrets about his personal life.
Even primitive tribes suffer. They can't easily hunt wild game when little green men show-up and start scaring off the quarry. And everyone hears the martians make insults in their native tongue.
Sexual activity nearly draws to a standstill. No one wants to make love when a little green man is likely to appear in their bedroom and start laughing.
Although the over-riding issue of Martians Go Home seems to be about privacy and secrets, the novel also discusses solipsism towards the end of the book. Luke Deveraux suffers a shock and becomes one of the few people on the planet who can't see the martians. From here, he begins to wonder if the martians were created by his own imagination. It's an issue which the book never really resolves, down to the authors own postscript where he points out: "I invented Luke. So where does that leave him or the martians? Or any of the rest of you?"
I'd like to answer, but there's this little green man who keeps telling me to type faster.
[...]

The book arrived earilier than expected and in "perfect" condition for not so current book.
And the "sender" followed up with quiry on my satisfaction. That is excellent service.

"Martians, Go Home" chronicles the invasion of Earth by a billion visible, audible, but insubstantial Martians who are rude, lewd and obsessed with human sex. Their sole mission appears to be annoying and infuriating Earthlings ... and they're very good at it! While this book was considered somewhat risque when it was first published in 1955, today it is simply entertaining. Go ahead and buy it; some scenes are sure to put a grin on your face!

Science fiction has a bad reputation because there is just so much junk. However, if you find the good stuff, there's not much better. This book has got it all--it moves fast, it's funny, and, most important, it's about something. The Martians invade and are everywhere. Using their powers of teleportation and their sense of mischief, they make the very notion of privacy at risk.

It's not like this is deep philosophy, but it's more than a quick laugh too. You read it, you have fun, and it makes you think. SF at its best.

A very original variation of the theme of invasion of
earth by allien creatures. Yes, very light science fiction
with a hint of humor. I particularly enjoyed reading
some of the methods humans tried to get rid of the plague.