It never was a war, any more than there’s war between man and ants
I read The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells sometime during my teens, before the movie War of the Worlds with Brad Pitt came out. I was a complete fan of Jeff Wayne’s adaptation of the audio-play and wanted to know where he got his material from. I reread it during my holiday because I got curious again, since I had forgotten most of what had happened during the book.
Book Review: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Rating:
Title & Author: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Genre: [genre]
Release Date: 1898
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Unknown
Synopsis
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; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied. 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.
Then, late one night, in the middle of the English countryside, they landed.
I gave The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells four out of five stars because I had only one problem with it and that was character development. It literally felt like someone was retelling a memory of something. Which is the way the book was mend and in a way I also think it is nice way for telling this peticulair story, but it is not my favorite way of getting a story handed to me.
The main character is the storyteller and does not get a name. We get to know he has a brother, because some parts are written about him, as if the brother later told him the story. There is not much character development because of this, like I said earlier.
I think the story is well thought through, there were not really any loopholes I could find. Also I really liked listening to Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds music while reading it, because it just kept me in the mood to go on with the story.
The Movie
First I want to make clear I am talking here about the 2005 movie with Tom Cruise. Now that we have that out of the way, here is what I think of the movie compared to the book.
I think the movie was more of a (very) loose adaptation of the book. It literally only has the title and (elements of) the enemy (a bit) the same. There were so many thing wrong is you want to say they based the movie on the book.
The movie is based in America, where as the book plays in England. The movie has a main character that has a family (two kids), where as the maincharacter/storyteller of the book only has a wife and a brother.
I am sad to say I did not enjoy the movie, I do not like Tom Cruise as an actor and Steven Spielberg has lost is moijo years ago.
Let me know what you thought of this book and/or movie!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!