Customer Reviews

E.T. Book Green Planet

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The outlines of this plot are familiar to anyone living in the free world. Boy befriends stranded alien. Alien phones home. End of story. The plot is familiar, but the movie captured the imaginations of millions because of the flourishes that Spielberg brought to it as a director. The children in the movie seemed so very real compared to the children in so many other movies. And the tear-jerking moments, especially when a body bag is zipped up over ET's ash-grey face, are emotionally gripping.

I'm happy to say that Kotzwinkle is two and a half steps above the type of hack that usually writes this kind of adaptation. He successfully captures the flavor of the movie, and adds a whole other dimension to the story by mining the strengths of a book format. Unhindered by special effects limitations or the need for dialogue, Kotzwinkle brings us into the minds of the characters, most notably E.T. himself. He adds scenes that would have been too slow for the movie, and fleshes out existing scenes that could only be spared a moment of screen time.

If all movie adaptations were done like this, the genre would have a better name. As it is, Kotzwinkle has done it right, and it's no surprise to me that he has a successful writing career outside of this adaptation. If you're a fan of the movie and the characters, this book is definitely a way to extend and deepen your pleasure.

In the book E.T., there is a view you don't get out of the movie. You get to see what E.T. actually thinks and feels about the world around him. In the very begining of this book, E.T. is with his crew on Earth. You actually find out why, and what the extra terrestrials are doing on Earth. E.T. got lost on Earth in the first place because he was attracted to the lights in the windows, he ended up in Elliots yard because the plants told him to go look in the window. E.T. was a botonist from another planet, and he understands what plants are saying. E.T. is very intelligent and sends dreams and thoughts to Elliot, Mary(Elliot's Mother) Gertie, and Micheal. You also get family history of the characters, and you understand why Elliot connects so easily with E.T. I felt this book was very well written, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Overall, E.T. is a very good book, and is worth reading.

Since we were kids, my sister and I have been huge fans of E.T. (we still have the old VHS tape!). While helping our grandmother deliver her trash and recycle her plastics, we wandered into the "Still Good" area (where things like books that were in good condition were left to be taken if interested) and I came across this novelization. I love to read, and the peek at the first few pages I had looked at sounded pretty good.

So, we bought it.

It was worth it, a very suprising book. Letting us into the mind of the alien, revealing a few deleted scenes (that, if I recall, were put back into the movie a few years after I read the book when it was re-released), and giving more detail into the hows and whys of the film.

If you're curious, then I would suggest checking this book out!