The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells

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Book # 790

Reviewer: Sweetp


When I was growing up I used to love listening to Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the War of the Worlds. In my mind, I can instantly recall the sound of Richard Burton’s deep voice narrating – “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.” Some twenty years later, I watched the story immortalised on the big screen by Tom Cruise and Spielberg, but it was only recently that I actually read the novel.

H.G. Wells published this book in 1898, long before moon landings, satellites, and humans living aboard space stations. His alien invaders, complete with destruction rays and gruesome feeding machines, would be just as horrifying if this story was set a hundred years later, and in that aspect this novel has lost none of its appeal, or impact. As a window into the beginnings of the science-fiction genre there is possibly nothing better.

Where this novel really shines though, is in the exploration of human nature – how different people cope in the face of disaster, and the lengths they will go to, to survive. The idea of the hunter becoming the hunted will appeal to all those who enjoy post-apocalyptic reads or themes of oppression, colonization and war. The story is narrated by a man who is witnessing the invasion first hand – his intelligent but often panicked version of events, gives an authentic, urgent immediacy to the novel as the horrifying events unfold.

At times the language feels a little stilted in a quaint Victorian way, but the book is also very short, and nothing is dragged out longer than it needs to be. Even being intimately familiar with the plot, I still found this to be an enjoyable and quick read.

I rated this 4/5 stars, a classic that should be on everyone’s “I’ve read this” list.

Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides

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Book # 33

Reviewer: Sweetp

I first heard about this book around the time it won a Pulitizer in 2003, and remember thinking I would like to read it. Skip forward some years and I stumbled across a copy at the library with some excitement. Now I should explain that “somehow’ I was under the misguided  assumption that this was some sort of sci-fi or futuristic novel where there is no longer male and female gender. I have absolutely no idea where I got this idea from, since the book is definitely not of that nature; though from reading other reviews of this novel, it appears others have assumed it was about seafaring or shipping (the cover picture) so at least I am not alone in my confusion.

From pretty much the first page I realized that this novel wasn’t going to be anything along the lines I had assumed but soon found myself swept away on the story of Desdemona and Lefty. Having already established there was an incestuous relationship, I was intrigued to know how this would be handled and I quite enjoyed the exploration of the struggles of the couple having escaped death in Greece and their hopes in starting a new life in America. It was about halfway that I began to get a bit twitchy. This is supposed to be a novel about Cal – the grandchild of Desdemona and Lefty – a hermaphrodite who is raised as a girl but later lives his life as a man. Cal is there in the background for the first half/two-thirds of the book as an ominpresent narrator who, I have to say, can be a little intrusive. I can forgive the “risky” narration (where Cal tells of events he wasn’t alive to see ) but found some of the third person/first person shifts a little choppy. FINALLY towards the end of the novel we see the events that lead to the discovery of Cal’s condition – the exploration of the teenage years was really well done – very real in the insecurities and fears of that age about growing up, sexuality, finding oneself. This is about when I began to really enjoy the book and finished it quickly after getting to this point.

In essence this is an epic novel.It spans almost a century and covers events in Greece and Turkey, the struggles of immigrant families in the US, the depression, the history of Detroit, black activism, the Vietnam War etc etc but what I guess my main gripe with the book is that while Desdemona’s life is catalogued pretty much from childhood through to old age, Cal’s life from 17 to 41 is entirely missing ! I want to know why he never sought out the Object again, how he came to terms with his new body, and of course WHY HE CHOSE TO LIVE AS A MAN. I really feel like this was a weak point of this book- up to the point where there is medical intervention Calliope is a girl, exploring her feelings for other girls, but with a body that is slowly altering to that of a male. Then she writes a note to her parents saying she wants to be a boy and runs away! I would have liked to have seen some more emotional connect – some sort of revelation for Cal that would explain everything he had been feeling confused about and the ‘answer’ presenting itself (not an epiphany per se but more than just a decision seemingly out of the blue). I also thought the ending was weak and wish there was more about Cal and Julie and how a couple might overcome the issues and have a functioning relationship.

I really struggled with some of the book and at times it felt a bit like a literary slog, however it has given me plenty to think about and though I wavered between 3 and 4 stars, I think there were moments of brilliance in the writing and some brave choices in subject and writing style so 4 stars it is.

Febuary Update

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8   books reviewed in January
28  books reviewed in total
973 books to go

The second month of the year has zoomed by, even with the extra day. We have chipped away another eight books from our literary Mt. Everest, made up of as broad a range of books that you could hope from such a small number.

The month opened with a new reviewer to this blog, t from as long as i’m singing. With an opening confession of a man-crush, his review was in keeping with the humour of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He also reviewed A Clockwork Orange, a novel of a dystopian future and the malcontents who occupy it. Bronwyn reviewed the children’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Quite appropriate as Bronwyn runs the 1001 Kids’ Books Reviews blog, an excellent resource for parents and lovers of children’s books. Enduring Love is a tale of one incident that sparks an obsession that taints the lives of those involved.

We also globe-trotted a bit with our reviews in February. Set during the 1857 Indian Mutiny, The Siege of Krishnapur is the story of British residents in Krishnapur. The Poisonwood Bible is also told from the perspective of Western residents, this time in 1960’s Belgian Congo. White Teeth is set in North London but has a cast of characters from Jamaica and Sri Lanka.

Another new reviewer, Readlearnwrite reviewed The Trial,  an example of Franz Kafka’s ideas around futility and fate.

A number of our books this month have been adapted to film. Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is a cult classic. Recent adaptions of A Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and Alice in Wonderland have exposed a yonger generation to these wonderfully quirky tales. Enduring Love, staring Daniel Craig was one that flew under the radar a bit but will be interesting to see how the celluloid version held up to it’s source material.

There is always the question of whether the book or the movie is better, but it is interesting to see how someone else’s vision is similar (or inferior) to what you pictured when you read it. If you are the type of reader who likes to compare, the following is a list of some of the books from the 1001 list that has a film counterpart.  All links are to IMDB and where there are more than one film version, the link is to the most recent.

#1 Never Let Me Go
#26 Everything is Illuminated
# 42  Atonement
#48 Choke
#89 The Hours
# 93 Memoirs of a Geisha
#95 Enduring Love
#143 The Virgin Suicides
#213The Black Dahlia
#227 Watchmen
#240 Less Than Zero
#241 Contact
#243 Perfume
#312 The Shining
# 320 Interview with the Vampire
#408 In Cold Blood
#428 The Graduate
#436 One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
#437 A Clockwork Orange
#448 Solaris
#450 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
#456 To Kill a Mockingbird
#508 Lord of the Flies
#521 The Old Man and the Sea
#564 Animal Farm
# 570 The Razor’s Edge
# 599 The Big Sleep
#608 Of Mice and Men
#619 Gone with the Wind
#635 The Postman Always Rings Twice
# 652 The Thin Man
#672 Les Enfants Terribles
#699 The Great Gatsby a new version staring Leonardo de Caprio and directed by Baz Luhrman is due out later this year.
#747 Tarzan of the Apes
#752 Ethan Frome
#780 Heart of Darkness (in Apocalypse Now form)
#790 War of the Worlds
#795 Quo Vadis
#794 Dracula
#797 The Time Machine
# 840 Anna Karenina
# 867 Crime and Punishment
#868 Alice in Wonderland
# 876 Great Expectations
#902 Wuthering Heights
#904 Jane Eyre
#911 The Pit and the Pendulum
#913 A Christmas Carol
#931 Frankenstein
#936 Emma

These are only a few from quite an extensive list. If we have left off one that you feel should be mentioned because of how good (or bad) the adaptation is, please let us and our readers know.

And finally, we now have an email that you can contact us at – 1001booksbeforeyoudie@gmail.com. Flick us a review or even a “dibs” on a book on the list that you would like to review in the future.

Happy reading all.