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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Arguably The Great science fiction book of all time.,
By A Customer
This review is from: War Of The Worlds (Paperback)
This was one of the first books I read as a child, and it is still one of my favorite bed time stories. Wells wrote his famous chronicle of the Martian invasion of Victorian Britain at the turn of the century, and the world has since gradually chipped at the book's scientific authenticity. The book, however, still stands tall even today as a dramatic vision of the collapse of civilization. Well's vivid description of the destruction, the terror, and the agonies of humankind's slow death at the hands of the Martians chills the blood. It has never been truly matched. Wells also created one of the great books of all time representing themes ( genocide, the possible extinction of humanity, the dominance of science over humanity, the yearning to explore the universe and spread the seeds of life to other worlds) which would haunt the next century. Events like the holocaust, the splitting of the atom and the cold war, and Kennedy's dream to send man to the moon make "War of the Worlds" seem prophetic. Even the book's conclusion appears today like an eerie warning of the dangers in harvesting the potential of biological weapons. While other science fiction has become outdated and forgotten, Well's book, even after more than 100 years, continues to present a contemporary message for society.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What Are Humans Now and What Is Our Future Potential?,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 100 REVIEWER)
This review is from: War Of The Worlds (Paperback)
Science fiction plays two roles for the reader. The more familiar one is to provide a perspective on the future implications of technology and to raise new issues and choices. The less familiar is in providing a context for evaluating what we now see from the wrong perspective. All science fiction inevitably becomes dated in the first dimension. The truly great science fiction retains its strength in the second sense. I have rated The War of the Worlds with five stars solely for that second value. Regardless of its currently creaky scientific perspective, Wells did an astonishing good job of extending upon the knowledge available to him in the late 18th century. Manned flight had not yet occurred, and he was providing plausible concepts of interplanetary travel. The discussions of the impact of a planet's distance from the sun on the timing of the evolution of life, distance on the timing of life's destruction, and on how gravity will affect space travelers are superb. Let me mention that I had the great good fortune to hear this book read in an audio cassette editon by Alexander Spencer, and that reading greatly added to my enjoyment of the book. Mr. Spencer was able to capture the emotional ups and downs of the novel very well, and that makes it much more immediate. If you have not heard this novel read aloud, I strongly urge you to do so. The story line of the novel is exceptionally well developed around the theme of what it really means to be human. The war with the Martians becomes a source of stress that allows us to look behind the social mask of civilization to consider the moral state that people have arrived at. In many ways, he also uses the Martians as a counterpoint for considering what we might become. This is masterfully done. He adds to the metaphor by continuingly referring to various bacteria, insects, and animals as our counterparts, our superiors, and our victims. The comparisons are worthy of Socrates. I was fascinated to see the eloquent plea for realizing our symbiotic relationship to nature. This is turned into a very powerful argument for environmental restraint just at the end of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and demonstrates remarkable prescience. Wells also looks at humans from the perspective of our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. He has the greatest faith for our minds in this regard. Science, for him, is the great hope. The story is well plotted, as well. Those who enjoy a good sack of the city along the lines of Godzilla or King Kong will find the War of the Worlds rewarding. I particularly appreciated Wells' skill in keeping the narrator and his brother near the center of the action. To enjoy this book as an adventure tale the most, you will have to ignore the implausible parts of the story and the unending lists of place names in England. I didn't find that to be too much of a price to pay. After a while the places started to seem familiar. Perhaps looking them up on a map would help. After you have finished reading this story, I think you will find it helpful to speculate how the 21st century human population would probably react to alien visitors to the Earth. I found that my own reaction was to reflect on how much progress we have made in moving away from thinking of humans as the life center of the universe in the last 100 years. But we have a long way to go. Perhaps we can only truly make significant progress when we first find extraterrestrial life superior to our own. Another useful line of thinking is to imagine that we will meet superior extraterrestrial life in the future. What should we be working on now? Think ahead to gain the most!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Book That Began Sci-Fi,
By Yeanold Viskersenn (Bromsgrove, Worcs, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: War Of The Worlds (Paperback)
The Book That Began Sci-FiThis is a book way ahead of its time. It chronicles the invasion of Earth by the inhabitants of neighbouring Mars, from the point of view of the anonymous protagonist. Some of the ideas may seem somewhat inane upon reading the book presently, but bear in mind that it was written over a hundred years ago, where the concept of interaction with extra-terrestrial beings was thoroughly infantile. The book is seemingly written as a documentary with the hard-hitting authenticity of a late-night news bulletin as opposed to a fantastical yarn spattered with conspicuously impracticable fairytale imagery. This therefore creates a tangible sense of realism that causes the reader to wonder how they might have fared were they thrust into the same situation. Wells manages to keep the suspense mounting throughout, exploring the reaction of tense and fearful pre-WW1 humanity to the physical embodiment and culmination of their apprehensions, and the novel concludes in a way rather pleasingly unexpected, and that could almost serve to be the twisted moral of this paranoid parable. If you are looking for a book in which you can examine character developments and interactions, then The War Of The Worlds is at best inappropriate. However, it is a valuable contrivance insofar as instigating speculation as to mankind's position in the universe, and indeed the position of those civilizations and cultures traditionally or habitually thought of as subservient to one's own. The casual reader might have some difficulty with Wells' linguistic manner, and indeed may have only come across some of the vocabulary used through listening to MatronsApron, yet Wells still manages to explain events thoroughly and concisely. To conclude, then, The War Of The Worlds is a literary landmark that unquestionably invented the entire science fiction genre, and should appeal to fans of action, fans of adventure, fans of science fiction, and conspiracy theorists alike. With this book, H.G. Wells has proven to be a social commentator, sublime documentarian, sci-fi pioneer, and a splendid storyteller.
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