https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49786222-the-war-of-the-world-s
The War of the World's is a sci-fi novel, in which the Martians from Planet Mars, plan to cause total destruction to humanity, without any moral limitation:
Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
Martians far beyond in evolution compared to mankind, start their invasion plans near a Professor's home in Britain. Then they start expanding their territorial control. Whereas, the humans oblivious to the ensuing danger, carry on with their routines.
The story revolves principally around the professor (narrator), and his brother. The unnamed professor takes us on a journey, in a first-person narrative. He has also narrated his brother’s plight who is in London. He leads us, as he and his brother have seen the grandiose plans of the Martians.
To enjoy the thrill, one should read the way the author has described the Martians as they landed on Surrey/Britain:
Giants in armour... Hundred feet high. Three legs and a body like ‘luminium, with a mighty great head in a hood… vast spider-like machines, capable of the speed of an express train, and able to shoot out a beam of intense heat.
Then they begin the onslaught …incineration of humans, alive, spreading panic! Peace negotiation tactics fail with the monsters. To suppress the mounting tension, the mighty British army struggles with ideas and plans. Initial success is short-lived as Martians strategize to resume the war aggressively. Martians' aim is to disintegrate vantage infrastructures, thereby erode into the will-power of humans, to take absolute control. Slowly the army realizes that they are nothing in front of the aliens who hit their targets at lightning speed. Millions of people could not face a few but powerful Martians!
Martians deploy mighty weapons …’tripods’, ‘heat-ray’ and ‘poisonous smoke'. They begin to wipe out humans. The narrator gets estranged from his wife.
An exodus of the population begins, with an abhorrent dominating attitude, in order to survive. The situation becomes chaotic in a matter of days. The civilization, culture, manners etc., deteriorate as the cities start crumbling! Driven by hunger, people ransack houses. Food is scarcely available but at exorbitant prices. People forget their concern for others. They become extremely selfish and try to flee through every possible mode, including the boats, eventually clogging the roads. The police themselves start killing the pathetic people, instead of protecting them.
The narrator gets trapped, faces agonizing ordeals, feels insecure but gets a friend as a solace. Seeing the way a Martian kills people, he realizes that the aliens have come with a different plan other than causing destruction. Eventually, for his own survival, the narrator ruthlessly silences his talkative friend by knocking him unconscious, but the friend gets killed by the Martian. When he emerges from the cellar, driven by starvation, he even eats immature potatoes, rat-gnawed crust, scattered bones of dead cats and rabbits. He thinks of eating, even a barking dog, to escape the attention of Martians. He analyses the meaningless life he had been living! He fervently starts praying to God, fearing Martians are still hunting him.
Finally, how were the Martians vanquished? What happened to the narrator's wife? The curious readers can find the answers in the book!
Wells has beautifully brought out the conflict between mankind and Martians. He has fortified a loosely held science fiction of his predecessors laying a firm foundation for a brilliant genre altogether! He takes us through a picturesque description about the imaginary Martians and makes us believe as if they are real! The story is so deep-rooted, that we begin to believe that Martians came with invasion plans! I get wonderstruck whether the narrator had encountered the Martians really, escaped from them and thereafter recounted the events! He takes us for pleasure trips, alongside his emotional and physical journey. He has fantastically constructed a wrecked Britain setting, devastated by Martians within a couple of weeks. He has vividly portrayed the change in human psychology under calamity and consequent collapse of human beliefs. The description of how people react to such an extraordinary situation, with their own behavioural preconceived notions, anxieties, and hatred is splendid!
Wells, regarded as the father of Science-Fiction, has ushered a concept, which has changed the thinking of mankind. What a creative imagination by him in 1898 itself, forecasting some future events and innovations ... like lasers (Heat Ray) and robots (movement of Martians without wheels)!
The story will continue to invigorate us even for centuries ahead! The freshness, conceptual depth and power in the storyline can be felt, when we see how it has influenced many authors to base their stories on the aliens. It has also impacted some scientists, and even the directors… for example Steven Spielberg (2005 film). The success of the story lies in its original concept about an alien invasion, which is still a popular theme! It indeed makes this book stand out amidst the crowd.
The uniqueness is that there are no names for the character throughout the story, as if they are unimportant! There is no concept of a protagonist!!
As I kept reading, I found the storyline aroused a non-stop curiosity to finish it at the earliest. The style and imaginative narration of Wells kept me hooked.
On the negative side, I was disappointed because the climax is not clearly narrated. Another disappointment was too much prose, compared to the modern-day practice of balanced narratives and dialogues. Still, I have given the book 5 stars, simply because the pioneering story was written in 1898!
To make this review, I read it again and tried to live inside Wells' mind. I got different perspectives.
This book is one of my best reads so far. It's definitely going to be in my personal library forever.
I recommend reading it, at least once in your lifetime if you are fond of fiction! Wells was indeed a great thinker ahead of his time. He will continue to inspire us as a visionary storyteller.
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