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4.64k reviews for:
The War of the Worlds (illustrated version): with biography and text analysis
H.G. Wells
3.6 AVERAGE
4.64k reviews for:
The War of the Worlds (illustrated version): with biography and text analysis
H.G. Wells
3.6 AVERAGE
An ahead-of-its-time and surprisingly self-aware twist on invasion literature, The War of the Worlds is parts exciting and droll. It's not lost on me that white men in Victorian England would irrationally fear invasion and colonization, given the subjugation they were accustomed to imposing on those they declared inferior. Interesting and engaging as a piece of seminal science fiction with thought-provoking commentary on social Darwinism and natural selection -- it just didn't hold me the whole time.
The writing was very small in the edition that I read from so I couldn’t do long sittings of it without my eyes getting tired but the story itself is a classic and I enjoyed it. It was my brothers favourite in his teens also.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While I have seen several movies that were made based on the book ‘The War of the Worlds’, I have never read the original novel the movies are based on. OMG! I’m slapping myself on my forehead. I really really really should have read it long before this! What a terrific story! Author H. G. Wells rules!
I have copied the book blurb:
”A metallic cylinder falls to earth, landing in the sands of Horsell Common, Surrey, generating curiosity and awe. But what’s inside soon induces only terror. The story that unfolds is a breathless first-person account of an inconceivable reality: an extraterrestrial war has been waged on the planet.
In a twist on cautionary turn-of-the-century invasion literature, H. G. Wells posits the Martian attack as an insurmountable apocalyptic event. The first of its kind and a foundational work, The War of the Worlds inspired a radio broadcast, television shows, graphic novels, and countless films; roused the imagination and stirred anxieties; and changed the landscape of science fiction for generations.”
Wells’ prose is incredible! I had forgotten how well he writes. The book holds up despite that it was written more than a century ago. The book is spookily predictive of what people would do in a sudden attack in which bombing and troops suddenly overwhelm a community without much warning. The first-person narrative by an academically-minded middle-class man without any real experience of war or soldiering felt real to me. Wells’ main character is not extraordinary or with special talents. He’s just a guy, with expectations of an ordinary day, who is suddenly in the middle of an apocalypse without any explanation or reason for it for many days. All he really has to defend himself is self-control and common sense - all of which he doesn’t possess all of the time when he is scared out of his mind, starving, without water or weaponry. He must make impossible decisions that cause him moral injury, too. Wells leaves nothing out in this story.
No matter who does the invading, people would react much like Wells imagined imho. I don’t think today’s technology would much change how people would respond emotionally any different than what Wells posits in his well-written book. The invaders are heartless in their killing, and vast numbers of people die because they cannot defend themselves adequately against an enemy with greater weaponry, but some victims survive, seemingly serendipitously. Many people pray to God for deliverance and die anyway, and some go insane with their perception of God’s betrayal of them, letting them die painfully in horror. Many people create wild impossible or insane theories of why this is happening because of an inborn human inability to accept what is happening to them. Those with a lot of money and resources who are taken unawares in their homes or in the street are indistinguishable from poorer people during the invasion, just better dressed. For awhile. Until survivors of the attacks discover the lack of any way to clean oneself or protect oneself from the ruined environment and weather makes itself known.
Wells got everything right in ‘The War of the Worlds’ despite writing a fictional war story written in an era without televisions, drones, and modern communication devices, and in a country at peace at the time without an actual invasive ongoing war in its neighborhoods. Wells’ imagination and intelligence from his writing shows him to possess a brain of enormous predictive creativity and scientific/psychological knowledge and self-awareness.
Electricity in our 21st century would be turned off in a planned invasion, putting us on equal footing with Wells’ characters in their 19th-century setting. We Americans have seen the cars stuck in unmoving traffic jams when authorities recommend evacuation before a hurricane or, in other countries, a military attack, on television and on our computers and cellphones. Wells’ characters struggle to evacuate on roads blocked with carriages, carts and people carrying their precious goods on 19th-century versions of wheeled carryalls and grocery carts. We’ve seen the results of riots on our televisions - individuals are attacked and viciously abused, houses and buildings for miles of city blocks and businesses are robbed and burned down. The communities bombed during any war, including the 19th century, are almost indistinguishable from one wrecked by a hurricane or a flood or a riot - the horrors of which we Americans have seen on television or experienced. Because of drone cameras and courageous journalists with cellphones, we have seen the destruction of war going on in other countries on our televisions and computers too.
I highly recommend this AWESOME realistic novel!
I have copied the book blurb:
”A metallic cylinder falls to earth, landing in the sands of Horsell Common, Surrey, generating curiosity and awe. But what’s inside soon induces only terror. The story that unfolds is a breathless first-person account of an inconceivable reality: an extraterrestrial war has been waged on the planet.
In a twist on cautionary turn-of-the-century invasion literature, H. G. Wells posits the Martian attack as an insurmountable apocalyptic event. The first of its kind and a foundational work, The War of the Worlds inspired a radio broadcast, television shows, graphic novels, and countless films; roused the imagination and stirred anxieties; and changed the landscape of science fiction for generations.”
Wells’ prose is incredible! I had forgotten how well he writes. The book holds up despite that it was written more than a century ago. The book is spookily predictive of what people would do in a sudden attack in which bombing and troops suddenly overwhelm a community without much warning. The first-person narrative by an academically-minded middle-class man without any real experience of war or soldiering felt real to me. Wells’ main character is not extraordinary or with special talents. He’s just a guy, with expectations of an ordinary day, who is suddenly in the middle of an apocalypse without any explanation or reason for it for many days. All he really has to defend himself is self-control and common sense - all of which he doesn’t possess all of the time when he is scared out of his mind, starving, without water or weaponry. He must make impossible decisions that cause him moral injury, too. Wells leaves nothing out in this story.
No matter who does the invading, people would react much like Wells imagined imho. I don’t think today’s technology would much change how people would respond emotionally any different than what Wells posits in his well-written book. The invaders are heartless in their killing, and vast numbers of people die because they cannot defend themselves adequately against an enemy with greater weaponry, but some victims survive, seemingly serendipitously. Many people pray to God for deliverance and die anyway, and some go insane with their perception of God’s betrayal of them, letting them die painfully in horror. Many people create wild impossible or insane theories of why this is happening because of an inborn human inability to accept what is happening to them. Those with a lot of money and resources who are taken unawares in their homes or in the street are indistinguishable from poorer people during the invasion, just better dressed. For awhile. Until survivors of the attacks discover the lack of any way to clean oneself or protect oneself from the ruined environment and weather makes itself known.
Wells got everything right in ‘The War of the Worlds’ despite writing a fictional war story written in an era without televisions, drones, and modern communication devices, and in a country at peace at the time without an actual invasive ongoing war in its neighborhoods. Wells’ imagination and intelligence from his writing shows him to possess a brain of enormous predictive creativity and scientific/psychological knowledge and self-awareness.
Electricity in our 21st century would be turned off in a planned invasion, putting us on equal footing with Wells’ characters in their 19th-century setting. We Americans have seen the cars stuck in unmoving traffic jams when authorities recommend evacuation before a hurricane or, in other countries, a military attack, on television and on our computers and cellphones. Wells’ characters struggle to evacuate on roads blocked with carriages, carts and people carrying their precious goods on 19th-century versions of wheeled carryalls and grocery carts. We’ve seen the results of riots on our televisions - individuals are attacked and viciously abused, houses and buildings for miles of city blocks and businesses are robbed and burned down. The communities bombed during any war, including the 19th century, are almost indistinguishable from one wrecked by a hurricane or a flood or a riot - the horrors of which we Americans have seen on television or experienced. Because of drone cameras and courageous journalists with cellphones, we have seen the destruction of war going on in other countries on our televisions and computers too.
I highly recommend this AWESOME realistic novel!
I am not going to review this venerable novel, because everything that can be said about it, has been. I will only give a brief personal impression of my own.
It is a great story, still as relevant as ever in 2023, and certainly very enjoyable. In fact the (end of
Victorian era) setting, authentic and colourful and true, since that is when it was written, adds extra layers of charm and value to the story, as it also serves as a portal to the past, a probing gaze upon a society long gone. It is captivating and builds a really dark atmosphere, that validates all the fame and praise the book and its author have accrued.
My only "issue" with it, and that is perhaps a detriment, perhaps not, depending upon the individual reader, is that Wells constantly name drops areas locations and landmarks of London and its surrounding areas, and a reader unfamiliar with the geography of the capital of the UK has 2 options, ignore the constant name dropping and just fill in the gaps with his own imagination, possibly missing some nuance along the way, or read with a map at hand.
I chose the latter, using google maps (satellite images) to ground the narrative in my head, and while clunky and completely blowing the pace with constant pauses to look places up, I firmly believe it enhanced my personal experience, since I am somewhat of a map enthusiast. I just love maps.
I am not one to shy away from criticizing a classic work, nor do I have any qualms with giving it a low score. My rating of 4 stars in GR's system reflects this novel's actual impact on me, and carries no extra weight due to its name, historical importance, or author.
Good stuff!
It is a great story, still as relevant as ever in 2023, and certainly very enjoyable. In fact the (end of
Victorian era) setting, authentic and colourful and true, since that is when it was written, adds extra layers of charm and value to the story, as it also serves as a portal to the past, a probing gaze upon a society long gone. It is captivating and builds a really dark atmosphere, that validates all the fame and praise the book and its author have accrued.
My only "issue" with it, and that is perhaps a detriment, perhaps not, depending upon the individual reader, is that Wells constantly name drops areas locations and landmarks of London and its surrounding areas, and a reader unfamiliar with the geography of the capital of the UK has 2 options, ignore the constant name dropping and just fill in the gaps with his own imagination, possibly missing some nuance along the way, or read with a map at hand.
I chose the latter, using google maps (satellite images) to ground the narrative in my head, and while clunky and completely blowing the pace with constant pauses to look places up, I firmly believe it enhanced my personal experience, since I am somewhat of a map enthusiast. I just love maps.
I am not one to shy away from criticizing a classic work, nor do I have any qualms with giving it a low score. My rating of 4 stars in GR's system reflects this novel's actual impact on me, and carries no extra weight due to its name, historical importance, or author.
Good stuff!
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No