As you may know, I spend most of my Wednesday nights at a local pub called the Old Spot. A small group of us get together to show off our awesome knowledge of all things trivial. Several weeks ago, H.G. Wells' classic, War of the Worlds was part of one of the questions. It took me several moments to realize (GASP), I had never read it! How could that have been?
I loaded it onto my Nook and began reading. What struck me most- right from the start - was how curious the characters were. They learned that dreadful monsters from a planet that is not our own landed in a ditch. Instead of running for the hills, they went to that ditch to check out what was happening. Expectations that the military could destroy whatever terrible force the martians used overcame the people's sanity, causing them to become lunch for these atrocious creatures. Soon, they learned that our most deadly weapons were no match for the Martians. Fortunately, bacteria is practically non-destructible and killed off these demons - but only after they killed most of the population of England.
Wells' world was so different from ours. We are surrounded by aliens, monsters, spaceships, "black clouds" - at least on TV. How frightened Wells' readers must have been! I wonder whether a novel such as this would have the same following in today's entertainment world. I understand a movie was created a few years back, but that it was all about a dysfunctional family - a radical change from Wells' main character whose fight to survive was due to his hope to find his missing wife.
Could a movie about human relationships during a national disaster survive?
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