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A review by twilliamson
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
3.0
Jack Finney's novel has inspired multiple film versions, and I've seen a few of them. I'm perhaps most fond of the '56 film starring Kevin McCarthy, which I believe is closest to the novel. It is, in fact, because of my interest in the film that I finally decided to read the novel.
It's not a bad book, either. It is, of course, a product of its time, and Finney's protagonist is a bit too misogynist for my tastes, but not unreadably so. Becky is a bit too bland a figure, and Miles more than a bit reminiscent of those pulp gumshoes of the past, even if he's not a gumshoe at all.
What is remarkable is just how relevant the book still is. There is a lot to unpack in here: a contemplation of what extraterrestrial life might look like, a question of what about humankind actually makes us human, an allegorical statement about either communism or even consumer capitalism (depending on your reading), and even a grim warning of human nature's tendency to consume the planet with little regard to existing, non-human life. Indeed, what stands out to me is just how easily one could make humans out to be just as parasitic as the mysterious pods that make their appearance in the novel.
It isn't the best sci-fi I've read, but it certainly isn't the worst, and I do think the ideas in the novel are definitely worth reading. I'm still likely to prefer the film version to the novel, but I really do think that the difference between Finney's vision of the story and the '56 film aren't too different from each other to be read much the same way. Nevertheless, it's a credit to the novel that the idea is so resonant, even beyond its initial publication.
It's not a bad book, either. It is, of course, a product of its time, and Finney's protagonist is a bit too misogynist for my tastes, but not unreadably so. Becky is a bit too bland a figure, and Miles more than a bit reminiscent of those pulp gumshoes of the past, even if he's not a gumshoe at all.
What is remarkable is just how relevant the book still is. There is a lot to unpack in here: a contemplation of what extraterrestrial life might look like, a question of what about humankind actually makes us human, an allegorical statement about either communism or even consumer capitalism (depending on your reading), and even a grim warning of human nature's tendency to consume the planet with little regard to existing, non-human life. Indeed, what stands out to me is just how easily one could make humans out to be just as parasitic as the mysterious pods that make their appearance in the novel.
It isn't the best sci-fi I've read, but it certainly isn't the worst, and I do think the ideas in the novel are definitely worth reading. I'm still likely to prefer the film version to the novel, but I really do think that the difference between Finney's vision of the story and the '56 film aren't too different from each other to be read much the same way. Nevertheless, it's a credit to the novel that the idea is so resonant, even beyond its initial publication.