The Man Who Fell to Earth

Rating:
Summary: Heard it by chance
Review: I heard what was most likely an abridged version of this book on tape during a ten hour drive from western New York to Indiana. I must admit I wasn't interested at first, but I was quickly drawn into the story. This excellent story made that trip the fastest ten hours of my life. I can't wait to read the unabridged book.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant and Imaginative, Ending exactly what we deserve!
Review: I obviously rebut the other reviewer. The characters are complex and sensitively rendered. The plot is engaging, since the protagonist is not merely trying to save himself (per the simplified movie plot) but in order to do so, must save humanity from itself first. The plot is also maddening, as the opposition to the protagonist is not the force of evil, but the much more powerful force of sheer stupidity and narrow-mindedness. You'll cry (too) at the end

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: I read this book about a month ago, and still it lingers with me. I am not going to go into deatil about the book, becuase I am sure enough, you know the plot line already. Yes, there is only 200 pages, but It is not a easy read. If easy read means, the the words were bigger and huge science words were not involved , then yes..it was an easy read...but don;t judge a book by it's cover. The plot is orginal and complelling.

This book is not for everyone, but I do recomind it for all people. It IS in fact the best book I have EVER read in my life, and I have read a lot of books. This touched something in my heart, and even though it is the revised version of the book, it still has the style and emotion it orignally had.

This book, it without a doubt worth your time. I still remember reading the last few pages of this book and thinking about life. It will open your eyes and open your mind.

Rating:
Summary: read the book before you see the movie
Review: i, like some other people who have written reviews for this novel, had seen the movie many times before ever picking up a copy of the book. it is one of my favourite movies, partly due to the fact that my idol, david bowie, is the star of the film.

now, that i have read the book, however, i see the movie in a different light. first of all, i now find the movie somewhat more dissapointing. it doesn't stay true to tevis's wonderful novel. hopefully, whoever wrote the screenplay has either improved his skills or has found another line of work.

now, to the book...if ever you have felt lonely or out of place in your surroundings, which everyone in the world has, then you must read this book. it is a story of thomas jerome newton, an alien from the planet anthea, and his mission to build a space ferry so that he can transport the few remaining 'people' of his race to earth, for their planet is suffering from something like post-apocalyptic decay. In addition, newton plans to implement his race's knowledge of government workings into the governments of earth in order to save earthlings and their wonderful, water-abundant planet from certain destruction.

however, the government (cia, fbi) interfere with newtons plans, for they suspect that he is not of this planet, and arrest him, poke and prod him, experiment on him, then finally set him free but with nothing to return to...he is trapped on planet earth alone, with no real companions.

if you've seen the movie already, you know that it is rather difficult to explain. it indeed has many holes in the script, but the book indeed fills in these gaps.

Rating:
Summary: Tevis presents an interesting view of the world
Review: If it's science fiction you want then this definitely isn't for you. It's more of a spiritual journey where anyone who has ever been a stranger in a new land can relate to the trials of an individual who struggles to fit in. It shows how cruel we can be when we don't understand (or don't want to understand) how insignificant we really are. Although T.C. Newton succumbs to the pressures from both within and without, the accomplishment is in the journey itself. Very moving and extremely well written. For lack of a better word, and at risk of being cliche, a very "dark" and haunting display of imagery.

Rating:
Summary: Flawed, But Enjoyable
Review: My overall impression of the story is favorable, with one major complaint: this book was obviously written by an older, alcoholic male with not much hope. This seems to resonate with several of the other reviewers on this site. Note the "horrid little earth" sentiment, and similar statements. This is what bothered me.

It is an accepted philosophical belief that true salvation must come from within (as stated in Peter Graves' excellent speech from "It Conquered the World"). In the end, the Antheans only real plan is to make themselves hideously rich and powerful, and to attempt to influence mankind. There is no mention of a mind-changing ray, or anything like that. As intelligent beings, they must have expected that the plan would take a great deal of time and effort from all parties.

Why, then, does the plan fail as soon as it hits its first real obstacle? Obviously the Antheans are not as advanced or resilient as they would have us believe. So on the one hand the Antheans are an advanced, hyper-intelligent species; on the other they are crybabies who cannot handle defeat.

Newton's inherent "give up" mentality becomes rather draining, and is amplified by the addition of a second major depressing character, Dr. Bryce. The only lucid, meaningful conversations occur when both characters are drunk. At the end, when Bryce confronts Newton in the bar, Bryce comes off as a human apologist. I feel the story would have been much better served by a more vigorous argument. After all, Newton met far more harmless or likeable people than harmful ones. And the Antheans are by no means perfect; Newton spends a great deal of time telling Bryce how they ruined their planet, apparently within their recent past. Bryce has an opportunity to convince the alien of the worth of the human race, but makes no attempt to do so. The implicit assumption of Tevis' characterization is that no good can be done, so why try? Let's all just shoot ourselves now.

We're not even certain why Newton falls into his quagmire of depression. Are Antheans genetically predisposed towards manic-depressive disorder? Certainly towards the end of the novel he is treated in a shockingly awful manner; but prior to that he is simply a very rich man whose every whim is catered to by innumerable servants. He meets a woman. It is even mentioned that the Antheans have liquor (and a tremendous inaccuracy on the part of Tevis to create a creature that is affected by liquor but not narcotics). Why, then, does Newton so quickly lose all of his impetus?

It is also peculiar and somewhat grating that Tevis chooses to continuously deride America. It's not as if we are the only nation that went weapons crazy, we simply emerged the victor. All nations have bloody and rather embarassing histories. Certainly Tevis was an American and his bias can be understood, but a more even approach might have helped to balance the overall tone.

In the end it's a decent morality play, if an obvious one. The alien is all light and goodness, and mankind is sloth and ignorance. This story has been told a million ways - the ancient black man, the wizened Indian, the wide-eyed child. On the bright side, the nuclear annhialation Tevis predicted has yet to occur. And although the book is depressing, I like the open ending. The reader is able to believe that Bryce and Newton eventually stop downing entire fifths of gin and begin kicking some interstellar [behind].

Rating:
Summary: Man who fell to our horrid little earth and regretted it
Review: Okay, I put off reading this book for quite a while. I have been a huge fan of the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth, and didn't want to read the book and be dissapointed with either. And now that i have read the book i am happy to say that i was not dissappointed by it, but sad to say that it showed me how butchered the story was when put to movie form. Still a very good movie and still one of my favorites. The movie is actually better at conveying the way the "alien" becomes more and more human.

That being said, this book is a sad one. Not gushy sad, but reality sad. I felt extremely sorry for the charracters, mostly because they all seemed to be unaware of how horrid human beings can be. There really weren't any bad guys however, everyone in the story was just very misguided. That made it very real for me. I think everyone should read this just so they can re think how they are going about things. Its a great story with great charracters and ends with an unforgettable lesson.

Now for what i've read in some other reviews on here. I totally agree that the revised addition is not the one to read. Find an older copy if you want to get the full effect of the book. The differences aren't huge, but i think they do make a difference. Second, i read somewhere on here that the revised addtion was the only one ever offered in the UK. That is not true. It might be hard to get one thats not, but when the movie came out there was a UK addition with a "bowie" cover that was a little different than the US version, but the inside was the same and unrevised. I don't know if that matters, but it might give someone something to look out for.

In closing. Great book. Great lesson. Makes you think. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Man who fell to our horrid little earth and regretted it
Review: Okay, I put off reading this book for quite a while. I have been a huge fan of the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth, and didn't want to read the book and be dissapointed with either. And now that i have read the book i am happy to say that i was not dissappointed by it, but sad to say that it showed me how butchered the story was when put to movie form. Still a very good movie and still one of my favorites. The movie is actually better at conveying the way the "alien" becomes more and more human.

That being said, this book is a sad one. Not gushy sad, but reality sad. I felt extremely sorry for the charracters, mostly because they all seemed to be unaware of how horrid human beings can be. There really weren't any bad guys however, everyone in the story was just very misguided. That made it very real for me. I think everyone should read this just so they can re think how they are going about things. Its a great story with great charracters and ends with an unforgettable lesson.

Now for what i've read in some other reviews on here. I totally agree that the revised addition is not the one to read. Find an older copy if you want to get the full effect of the book. The differences aren't huge, but i think they do make a difference. Second, i read somewhere on here that the revised addtion was the only one ever offered in the UK. That is not true. It might be hard to get one thats not, but when the movie came out there was a UK addition with a "bowie" cover that was a little different than the US version, but the inside was the same and unrevised. I don't know if that matters, but it might give someone something to look out for.

In closing. Great book. Great lesson. Makes you think. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: If I were on a desert island...
Review: Okay, this isn't the ONLY book I'd take, but definitely in the top 10. I read it long ago, initially because I was intrigued by the title. Upon completing it, I was speechless. There's so much substance in this book, and the message it presents couldn't be any more clear. The title is so appropriate, almost a joke on the author's part.

It should truly be considered a science fiction classic, so it's hard for me to understand just why it's been out of print for so long... and even when it's back in print, why an overpriced trade edition? It's a shame when the shelves are cluttered with layer upon layer of alternate-history/nanotech/ cyberpunk/shoot-em-up crud, but books like this are dismissed. It's no wonder that the field is so often dismissed with a scoff. Read this book and see that science fiction can have a worthwhile message.

Rating:
Summary: amazingly prescient -- or is it?
Review: The copyright page discloses that this book was first published in 1963, and yet on page 180 there is a reference to the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. The copyright page makes no references to any revisions having been made to the original version, but obviously there have been some. I'd like to know if these revisions were made by Tevis himself, and when were they done, and why? And has anything else been added to the text since its original publication? Why does Del Rey not disclose that this is a revised edition, and not the original?