The War Of The Worlds (1897)

By H G Wells

240pp, Fiction

Notes

2020-01-29

It's good.

I heard Amor Towles on a podcast saying (from memory) that “the canon” is not necessarily good at selecting the best stuff but time is good at shedding mediocrity – which sounds about right. It’s rare to read something over 70 yrs old that’s not atleast interesting.

It’s interesting to read the original source having seen so many adaptations, the BBC adaptaion at xmas, Steven Spielberg’s early-aughts rendition, Jeff Wayne’s prog rendition, Independence Day etc. etc. etc. An unexpected point of interest in reading the original was the logistical information about London at the turn of the century, how trains worked and so on. Also there’s quite a few instances of people ‘ejaculating’ when they have something urgent to say which, I’m sorry to say, never fails to amuse me.