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hmbb99's review against another edition
4.0
Invasion of the Body Snatchers takes place in the 1950's, post WWII, during the start of Mccarthyism and the Cold War. It was a time when everyone was questioning their friends and neighbors. Alien invasions and science fiction novels became a popular topic during this time because the threat of invasion was a common fear whether that invasion was from space or your communist neighbor next door. This book takes both of those fears and combines them into one novel. Miles and Becky come to find that their neighbors and friends are slowly being replaced by an unknown alien entity. The way in which these replacements organize and take over is reminiscent of the Nazis in WWII, right down to how they wear buttons to show who is indoctrinated and who still needs replaced.
This is a classic science fiction novel coupled with a political overtone that evokes fear and horror in the reader. What would you do if your friends weren't human anymore? Would you fight to survive or would you assimilate?
This is a classic science fiction novel coupled with a political overtone that evokes fear and horror in the reader. What would you do if your friends weren't human anymore? Would you fight to survive or would you assimilate?
theaurochs's review against another edition
2.0
A rather 'old-school' sci-fi horror. The pacing leaves a lot to be desired, with many pages devoted to detailed descriptions of incredibly mundane details, and overly-explanatory, lecture-like dialogue.
The cental conceit has the potential to be upsetting but at best reaches sort-of-eerie. To my mind, much creepier is the main character sneaking into a bedroom to watch the lady he fancies sleeping! Which brings me to my main gripe, the fact that the novel is suffused with the sexism of the era. It makes the humans of the 50s seem more alien, reading this now, than the aliens (and I'd love to believe that was intentional).
You could certainly draw parallels to gaslighting, with the idea of a whole town conspiring to convince someone that they are mad; but the novel does not dwell so heavily on the psychological ramifications of the events, so neither really will I.
The ending is entirely unsatisying and somewhat beyond belief- that the invasion would be abandoned so readily, damning the spores to countless aeons of sleep before they find another planet; which they may never do- space is big. A fact, along with other scientific points, the author does not seem to have grasped. The whole explanation for the alien invasion, in addition to distinctly reducing the mystery and therefore fear the body-snatchers previously had, is ultimately unconvincing.
That said, I can see why this has been made into several films and why it might have captured the audiences of America at the time. (Give me Wyndham any day!) Plus, at just over 200 pages, it does not overstay its welcome.
The cental conceit has the potential to be upsetting but at best reaches sort-of-eerie. To my mind, much creepier is the main character sneaking into a bedroom to watch the lady he fancies sleeping! Which brings me to my main gripe, the fact that the novel is suffused with the sexism of the era. It makes the humans of the 50s seem more alien, reading this now, than the aliens (and I'd love to believe that was intentional).
You could certainly draw parallels to gaslighting, with the idea of a whole town conspiring to convince someone that they are mad; but the novel does not dwell so heavily on the psychological ramifications of the events, so neither really will I.
The ending is entirely unsatisying and somewhat beyond belief- that the invasion would be abandoned so readily, damning the spores to countless aeons of sleep before they find another planet; which they may never do- space is big. A fact, along with other scientific points, the author does not seem to have grasped. The whole explanation for the alien invasion, in addition to distinctly reducing the mystery and therefore fear the body-snatchers previously had, is ultimately unconvincing.
That said, I can see why this has been made into several films and why it might have captured the audiences of America at the time. (Give me Wyndham any day!) Plus, at just over 200 pages, it does not overstay its welcome.
monnie1976's review against another edition
5.0
Classic horror tale that has aged very well. I enjoyed this one far more than I expected and as a big fan of the Donald Sutherland version of this creepy tale and to a lesser degree the older version, I was happy to see this book was a bit different than the movie versions.
mikimeiko's review against another edition
2.0
Bah.
Non so se dare la colpa all'ingenuità degli anni 50, alla traduzione o allo scrittore, ma non mi capitava di voler prendere a pugni in faccia dei personaggi di libri da parecchio tempo. Una stupidità dilagante.
Non so se dare la colpa all'ingenuità degli anni 50, alla traduzione o allo scrittore, ma non mi capitava di voler prendere a pugni in faccia dei personaggi di libri da parecchio tempo. Una stupidità dilagante.
perilous1's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
I felt like this 1956 neo-classic was something I owed to my sci-fi fascination to make sure I experienced. I don’t regret it—though I did find it surprisingly more psychological than science fiction. The pacing is well measured, and the steady buildup of trepidation toward the finale gives it an almost horror feel. It is told entirely in the past-tense, first-person POV of Dr. Miles Bennell, a 28-year-old divorcee and general practitioner in a rural town somewhere in northern California.
I think this paragraph gives a decent impression of both Miles, and the prose itself:
“I saw my father’s wooden filing cabinet, his framed diplomas stacked on top of it, just as they’d been brought from his office. In that cabinet lay records of the colds, cut fingers, cancers, broken bones, mumps, diphtheria, births and deaths of a large part of Mill Valley for over two generations. Half the patients listed in those files were dead now, the wounds and tissue my father had treated only dust.”
The author doesn’t try too hard with any scientific explanations. Which is good, because it would likely have detracted from the what-it-means-to-be-human focus. What does attempt to be explained gets a bit boggy, and the effect isn’t entirely satisfactory. (This might be a bit disappointing for anyone hoping for much by way of plausibility.) What we have here is a story wedged somewhere between eerie and campy.
One of the biggest disappointments is Becky Driscoll, former high school sweetheart and new love interest to Mile Bennell. Becky is about as one-dimensional and prop-like as they come. Which I suppose shouldn’t be a huge surprise in terms of standard female portrayal in the mid-1950s. I’m already forgetting her personality, because there wasn’t much there to begin with. The only word I can come up with to describe her is a screamingly bland “nice,” and the only words that Miles uses to describe her all seem to involve the physical attributes he finds most appealing.
Still, the tension became incredibly absorbing at the point where Miles is trying to find help and convince people of the strangeness he’s observed. The confusion and self-doubt are palpable, and the disbelief so understandable yet frustrating. It made me wonder how I might try to accomplish the same thing with any more floundering success than the story’s protagonists… and how much I’d be forced to question my own sanity.
Not exactly spellbinding in terms of characterization, but definitely worth a read.
I felt like this 1956 neo-classic was something I owed to my sci-fi fascination to make sure I experienced. I don’t regret it—though I did find it surprisingly more psychological than science fiction. The pacing is well measured, and the steady buildup of trepidation toward the finale gives it an almost horror feel. It is told entirely in the past-tense, first-person POV of Dr. Miles Bennell, a 28-year-old divorcee and general practitioner in a rural town somewhere in northern California.
I think this paragraph gives a decent impression of both Miles, and the prose itself:
“I saw my father’s wooden filing cabinet, his framed diplomas stacked on top of it, just as they’d been brought from his office. In that cabinet lay records of the colds, cut fingers, cancers, broken bones, mumps, diphtheria, births and deaths of a large part of Mill Valley for over two generations. Half the patients listed in those files were dead now, the wounds and tissue my father had treated only dust.”
The author doesn’t try too hard with any scientific explanations. Which is good, because it would likely have detracted from the what-it-means-to-be-human focus. What does attempt to be explained gets a bit boggy, and the effect isn’t entirely satisfactory. (This might be a bit disappointing for anyone hoping for much by way of plausibility.) What we have here is a story wedged somewhere between eerie and campy.
One of the biggest disappointments is Becky Driscoll, former high school sweetheart and new love interest to Mile Bennell. Becky is about as one-dimensional and prop-like as they come. Which I suppose shouldn’t be a huge surprise in terms of standard female portrayal in the mid-1950s. I’m already forgetting her personality, because there wasn’t much there to begin with. The only word I can come up with to describe her is a screamingly bland “nice,” and the only words that Miles uses to describe her all seem to involve the physical attributes he finds most appealing.
Still, the tension became incredibly absorbing at the point where Miles is trying to find help and convince people of the strangeness he’s observed. The confusion and self-doubt are palpable, and the disbelief so understandable yet frustrating. It made me wonder how I might try to accomplish the same thing with any more floundering success than the story’s protagonists… and how much I’d be forced to question my own sanity.
Not exactly spellbinding in terms of characterization, but definitely worth a read.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Felt rather meh about this novel, felt to short to properly sink my teeth into and didn't really care for the characters or the dynamic, and the aliens wasn't very interesting. I'm not sure if it being written in the 50's is part of the issue or not. Haven't read nearly enough sci-fi classics to know. Need to try something else
madmissmedic's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25