The Body Snatchers (S.F. Masterworks)

I'm very familiar with the classic film versions of this, but this is my first reading of the novel and my first - but probably not my last - Jack Finley story.The book differs in tone from the noirish, paranoid and claustrophobic original film and its later versions; those elements are there, but they are so much more subtle in the written text. The book is also less coherent than the film versions – the idea is good (as one expects in a genre that put ideas first) but Finley doesn`t really do a great job of explaining the science of his creations or resolving his tale in a satisfactory way.As the basis for the cinematic realisations this is nevertheless an interesting and engaging read, but it shows it`s age a little and the more developed screen versions make much better use of the concept.A worthwhile read if you know the films; as a book in itself – if you are unfamiliar with the screen versions – it's not bad, but perhaps a bit dated; the social context it had on publication is probably quite remote for modern readers who are likely to find it lacks the “edginess” of contemporary sci-fi.

What a wonderful sci-fi work though the idea of alien pods first comes from The War of the Worlds. Like Wells, the author transforms the mundane into horror: the author picks up the same trope to question the accepted knowledge of the familiar.The narrator's friend Becky comes into his office about a weird tale of her cousin complaining her uncle is NOT her uncle. Then his friend Jack has found a lifeless human body in the basement, and the body has no fingerprints. Some time later, Miles, the narrator, with his friends, find four fleshy hulls in the basement. What could such discovery mean? The plot is well thought out and certainly very engaging.The story ends in a way that is logical inside the fantasy tale. If the War of the Worlds ends with a biologically sound explanation, the ending in the Body Snatchers certainly has it own logic in the psychological aspect: the intangible spirit of resistance. Here the author quotes the famous lines from Winston Churchill's speech for such an explanation.This reprint edition is very good to look at: nice fond size and well spaced out lines. It seems to me the reading of the story in introduction is more like a misreading, for the first-person narration has its limitation on credulity, there are more than one pair of eyes to validate the incidents. Especially the scene near the end that takes place in Bennell's office is useful to refute the points raised in the introductory essay.Whether the story is about communist infiltration, arrivals of new immigrants, paranoid subjectivity, the author has created a remarkable story without leaving too much authorial presence in the narrative. Quite an accomplishment.

Everyone has probably at one time in their life watched one of the film versions of this book so the plot is well known. Being one of those people I was quite excited to read this. It's a fast paced; within the first few paragraphs we are into the stories of people being not quite who they are. After that I found the book to just chunter along until the last quarter where it picked up again. Undoubtedly a classic that has inspired, but it left me a little underwhelmed.

Was a bit apprehensive purchasing this book and thought it had a lot to live up to after seeing the movie version many times. Fortunately I had nothing to worry about as this original story was gripping from start to finish,you could almost sense the dread as the story progressed. In many ways far superior to the filmed version,

Whilst, if you've seen the film versions, there is a lot to recognise, the interesting thing is the ending, which I won't spoil for you, but adds a new element that I'd not known about.There's a bit of a clunky, sappy 50's, man and his little lady vibe, but actually when the going gets rough, the little lady shrugs off the screamer stereotype to wade in.Great evocation of paranoia whilst at the same time celebrating what's good about being human and it never goes over the top in its depiction of events.It truly is a classic.