| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| Author: | H. G. Wells |
"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own... That as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied... With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter... Yet across the gulf of space... intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely,drew their plans against us."
Its enough to draw one in and read on. Despite our present knowledge that there is no life on mars, the thought of alien beings invading our planet is a scary thought. The fact that H.G. Wells wrote this novel in 1898, makes him the father of modern science fiction.
This version that i have has an Afterword by Isaac Asimov which I read prior to reading the novel, which is highly illogical since it is, after all an Afterword. But I love Asimov's insights on how this work of fiction is a reflection of the world that was before the 19th Century. On how the "cold and unsympathetic" the Europeans had been when they took over "the new world" and the Asian and African countries and making it their own. Exterminating the native people or making them as slaves. Very much like how the Martians in Wells' book treated us humans.
I'm just wondering about Spielberg's visual interpretation of it all. I've seen stills of the 30's films and I have seen the stuff they did for TV in the late 80's and I really didn't like them much. I would suggest you read it first before seeing Spielberg's latest interpretation.
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