3.5 Stars

Well that was a surprisingly tense read. I haven't seen any of the movie adaptations so didn't know what to expect. I think the ending was a bit anticlimactic given that Jack had done a brilliant job of creating a growing sense of dread and unease. It all just ended a bit too easily in my opinion. Still a really good book that definitely has a place in a high school library for those who want a less flashy sci-fi mystery. ( )

I quite enjoyed this read. It’s a novel of its time and there are a few gender and race moments that are problematic, but honestly not as many as I feared. After thinking about it for a while, I think I may enjoy this ending better than the movies.

( )

This was pretty fun, I really liked the concept. So, so creepy. ( )

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of my favorite classic science fiction films. I have seen the original 1956 version dozens of times over the years, as well as the 1978 remake. But until now I had never read Jack Finney's novel on which the movies were based.

Although the characters were familiar, and many of the scenes in the book were recognizable. I enjoyed Finney's tale, which holds up quite well after 60 years, and still found the story suspenseful.

A popular opinion of the book and film is that they reflect the anti-Communist hysteria of the McCarthy era. In his preface to this 60th anniversary edition, Dean Koontz considers this a superficial assessment. He sees it more in terms of a loss of humanity brought about by the rapid technological advances of the last few decades.

"In the twenty-first century, so many powerful forces have reshaped society so rapidly, compared to the more measured pace of change in previous centuries, that it's no surprise when we feel besieged and in danger of losing our humanity."

Early in the book, the protagonist, Dr Miles Bennell, also bemoans this loss of humanity when he reflects on the replacement of live telephone operators with automation.

"In my father's day a night operator, whose name he'd have known, could have told him who'd called...But now we have dial phones, marvelously efficient, saving you a full second or more every time you call, inhumanly perfect, and utterly brainless; and none of them will ever remember where the doctor is at night, when a child is sick and needs him. Sometimes I thing we're refining all humanity our of our lives."

A worthwhile read, and if you have seen the movie(s) an unexpected ending.
( )

This was a timely and relevant read for me as most of my friends seem to have been replaced by pod people. ( )