INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

Rating:
Summary: A Well-Crafted Ode to Paranoia
Review: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is one of those novels that have become part of popular culture. This is due more to the fact that three movie adaptations have been filmed (by Don Siegel in 1956, Philip Kaufman in 1978, and Abel Ferrara in 1993), than it has to do with the overall quality of the novel itself. Surprisingly, given the B-movie theme, INVASION remains quite an entertaining read.

The plot is far too well-known to bother repeating here. Suffice to say, people in a small town are being replaced with exact duplicates. Or are they? We all know the answer by now, but I won't ruin the surprise for those four people who don't know the ending.

I think the reason this works so well is that the story never stops moving. It propels the characters along, not pausing for more than a cursory examination of their backgrounds. Which makes it ideal fodder for a movie. It reminds me of Stephen King's self-review of his novel THE RUNNING MAN. It may not be perfect, or subtle, but it MOVES.

Granted, it is not perfect. Its examination of male/female relations seen slightly dated. The lead character makes conclusions that seem reasonable when you know the ending, but implausible when you don't.

But the sense of paranoia is very real. The slow death of the town is eerie and palpable (I wouldn't be surprised if King has reread INVASION several times before penning his own ode to the death of a small town, SALEM'S LOT). And the ending actually is surprising, for people only familiar with the movies. All three movies have different endings, but the original is one that couldn't be explained to satisfaction on film. It would seem too abrupt. On the page, however, it is quite surprising. Even logical, which is a rare commodity for stories these days.

INVASION is by no means a masterpiece of literature. But it is a fine example of pure storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: A Well-Crafted Ode to Paranoia
Review: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is one of those novels that have become part of popular culture. This is due more to the fact that three movie adaptations have been filmed (by Don Siegel in 1956, Philip Kaufman in 1978, and Abel Ferrara in 1993), than it has to do with the overall quality of the novel itself. Surprisingly, given the B-movie theme, INVASION remains quite an entertaining read.

The plot is far too well-known to bother repeating here. Suffice to say, people in a small town are being replaced with exact duplicates. Or are they? We all know the answer by now, but I won't ruin the surprise for those four people who don't know the ending.

I think the reason this works so well is that the story never stops moving. It propels the characters along, not pausing for more than a cursory examination of their backgrounds. Which makes it ideal fodder for a movie. It reminds me of Stephen King's self-review of his novel THE RUNNING MAN. It may not be perfect, or subtle, but it MOVES.

Granted, it is not perfect. Its examination of male/female relations seen slightly dated. The lead character makes conclusions that seem reasonable when you know the ending, but implausible when you don't.

But the sense of paranoia is very real. The slow death of the town is eerie and palpable (I wouldn't be surprised if King has reread INVASION several times before penning his own ode to the death of a small town, SALEM'S LOT). And the ending actually is surprising, for people only familiar with the movies. All three movies have different endings, but the original is one that couldn't be explained to satisfaction on film. It would seem too abrupt. On the page, however, it is quite surprising. Even logical, which is a rare commodity for stories these days.

INVASION is by no means a masterpiece of literature. But it is a fine example of pure storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: Invasion of Our Nightmares
Review: Miles is beckoned to his friend's house after several cases of people reporting their friends' family and loved ones are not themselves. As it turns out what was originally thought to be a possible case of mass hysteria turns out to be an invasion of a sleepy town by pod-like aliens who then take over the populace's appearances and identities.

Admittedly other reviewers summed this book up better than I, which I attribute partly to my not wanting to give any plot away (for those Amazonians that have not had the pleasure of reading this book yet), and partly because as one reviewer pointed out the alien invasion plot was hardly original even at the time of this title's publication. Writers of Finney's era seemed to thrive on metaphorically writing about the "red" threat of communism.

Finney may not have been the first or last to write on the theme but he did an exceptional job re-visiting other author's alien plots and using his unique style and imagination to write perhaps the seminal novel on the subject. From the opening pages I was scared. Reading each paragraph with a mounting sense of dread as Finney did an excellent job pacing his novel.

Certain scenes jumped out in this relatively thin tome(compared to some horror novels Body Snatchers is almost a novella with an economy of words to do the job of scaring readers) placed within the story for maximum effect. When Miles, and Jack discovered the "blank" slate of a body in Jack's basement I thought "oh sh*t" presumably as Finney intended I should.

As stated this isn't longest horror novel ever and there was no need for it to have been. Finney uses the perfect amount of words to tell his open ended tale of alien takeover elegently and with such an influx of paranoia in the text I reflected upone completion "they sure don't write them like that anymore but I wish they did."

In summation a classic in the genre in the purest sense of the phrase.

Rating:
Summary: This book created a nation waiting fior the postman!
Review: This book was serialized in "Collier's" magazine in the 1950s, and for the six weeks or so that it ran many people could talk of nothing else. It was amazing. It was almost as big as the O.J. trial was in the '90s. I haven't read it in over 40 years, but thank goodness it introduced me to Jack Finney. You'll eat it up!

Rating:
Summary: CLONING COURTESY OF OUTER SPACE...
Review: This is a wonderfully inventive story that has spawned three films. Well written, the book tells the tale of a small town through the eyes of its young doctor, Miles Bennell. It seems the town is undergoing a drastic change which is as subtle as it is deadly. It seems that all the townspeople are not what they seem. They look the same. They sound the same. Their memories are intact. Still, they are just not the same.

Those who have noticed this, suddenly end up retracting their concerns days later. Something is not right in the town of Mills Valley, and Dr, Bennell knows it. Those large seed pods that are suddenly showing up every where are at the root of it. Their unearthly presence is connected to the profound changes that the people of Mills Valley are undergoing, and Dr. Bennell will stop at nothing to save his beloved town and the world from the invasion of the body snatchers.

This is a great story by a wonderfully inventive writer. Jack Finney is a masterful story teller. He expertly weaves a tale that will keep the reader riveted to the pages of this book. It is no wonder that three films based upon this book have been made, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and Body Snatchers (1994). All three are worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: This a book where aliens invade Earth.
Review: This thrilling sci-fi book is full of suspense. The entire plot is eerie and once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down. There are pods and blanks and things that will boggle your mind. This book may even give you nightmares. You should really read this book. It's a page turner and great summer reading.

Rating:
Summary: King of the pulp fiction, Sci-fi thrillers...
Review: Three motion pictures and almost 50 years ago, Jack Finney's POD PEOPLE made the scene in run-of-the-Mill Valley,California.THE BODY SNATCHERS...following its "eerialization" in COLLIERs magazine in 1954...has remained king of pulp fiction, science fiction thrillers. Jack Finney's writing style (or lack thereof) employs every technical cliche known to the Hack Writers Union. Except pace...here Mr. Finney's is Podlitzer Prize winner ultra-non-plus. By page 5, Miss Becky Driscoll is regailing Dr. Miles Bennell regarding her friend Wilma's delusion: "Uncle Ira ISN'T Uncle Ira!" From this cautious "leap" off the 10 meter board comes a dizzying plunge into terror that becomes classic exploration of ARCHETYPAL fear.

The Pod People are BOGYEMEN; "things that want to eat you up". Jack Finney has taken everyman's nightmare from the Id and coiled it into fearsome FLOWER POWER invasion from outer space where interplanetary parasites anti-incarnate themselves as deadly, non-human replicants. What are PODs...why are they...what is the essence of their Alien Will-to-Power? are themes that Jack Finney masterfully conjectures in a parable that asks ultimate questions: What constitutes humanity? What does it mean to be human? And is a truly HUMAN LIFE worth living and fighting for?

INVASION of the BODY SNATCHERS writing craft is light weight to the max. That its plot, again and again, stikes chords of sheer
terror is undeniable. In this Post-Modern age of genetic engineering; mass abortion; euthanasia; own-it or clone-it consumerism; is chlorophyll-less Pod Plant power more disturbing than "bloodless" DINK Yuppieism? Like our ENRON ubermenschen, I take the "Fifth". Jack Finney's terror tale doesn't. The POD PEOPLE are among us. As the third movie( BODY SNATCHERS)version declares in paranoid banshee wail:THE INVASION CONTINUES......