Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A short and simple story about a humanoid from Mars who lands on Earth, with a plan to weave himself into human society, and find passage for the rest of his people. Of course, all things cannot go according to plan, and the alien finds himself becoming more and more like the humans he has studied, leading to the questioning of his own motives and values.
When I say simple, I'm mostly referring to the prose style, though there are occasional moments of real eloquence and beauty. Though the prose is typically short and to the point, that does not mean a lack of deeper meaning or theme. Tevis explores both addiction (specially alcohol addiction) and alienation in a sophisticated way. His message is crisp and clear within a lucid and fast moving plot. A lot of plates to juggle all at once, but Tevis does so with a certain amount of grace that I was captivated by. The characterization of Newton is excellent, and leads to an ending of his arc that is both believable and tragic.
In terms of flaws, this future USA feels incredibly dated, to the point that I'm confused as to why Tevis didn't just set the novel in 1963, when it was written. All of the same critiques could've been made about current U.S. Values, and the Cold War. It seemed needless, especially since things have barely advanced in this reality. I also thought that the characters outside of Newton were fine at best, but could've been more thoroughly explored.
This is deeply emotional book, one that moved me greatly. It was excellently paced, outside of a slight sluggishness in the middle, and I found it quite engaging to read. I do have a hard time including this in the science fiction genre, because outside of the surface level veneer this is much more about people than anything else. It's a human story, even though the human is from another planet.
When I say simple, I'm mostly referring to the prose style, though there are occasional moments of real eloquence and beauty. Though the prose is typically short and to the point, that does not mean a lack of deeper meaning or theme. Tevis explores both addiction (specially alcohol addiction) and alienation in a sophisticated way. His message is crisp and clear within a lucid and fast moving plot. A lot of plates to juggle all at once, but Tevis does so with a certain amount of grace that I was captivated by. The characterization of Newton is excellent, and leads to an ending of his arc that is both believable and tragic.
In terms of flaws, this future USA feels incredibly dated, to the point that I'm confused as to why Tevis didn't just set the novel in 1963, when it was written. All of the same critiques could've been made about current U.S. Values, and the Cold War. It seemed needless, especially since things have barely advanced in this reality. I also thought that the characters outside of Newton were fine at best, but could've been more thoroughly explored.
This is deeply emotional book, one that moved me greatly. It was excellently paced, outside of a slight sluggishness in the middle, and I found it quite engaging to read. I do have a hard time including this in the science fiction genre, because outside of the surface level veneer this is much more about people than anything else. It's a human story, even though the human is from another planet.
I enjoyed it for the most part. Not my favorite but still pretty good.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The last few lines of the book really sums up how I feel about the story and the main character, Newton: "I'm afraid that fellow needs help." Like the man who fell to the earth, the alien who has given himself the human name Newton, truly falls like Icarus after working so hard to establish himself as human and I want to help him so bad!! But I know humans are not the ones who can help him...
This is random too, but since the story takes place in the 80s (and it was written in the 60s), a brand new camera costs $6 and some fresh coffee costs 35 cents in this novel and that's considered EXPENSIVE like I wanted to drop-kick the book when I read that, just cause I'm frustrated in our own capitalistic societies/inflation/humans in general, let's be real...
Without getting more political, I do recommend The Man Who Fell to Earth - it really makes you think...
This is random too, but since the story takes place in the 80s (and it was written in the 60s), a brand new camera costs $6 and some fresh coffee costs 35 cents in this novel and that's considered EXPENSIVE like I wanted to drop-kick the book when I read that, just cause I'm frustrated in our own capitalistic societies/inflation/humans in general, let's be real...
Without getting more political, I do recommend The Man Who Fell to Earth - it really makes you think...
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- Ten człowiek chyba potrzebuje pomocy.
- Tak - zgodził się Bryce. - Chyba tak.
5!!/5
- Tak - zgodził się Bryce. - Chyba tak.
5!!/5