Most helpful customer reviews
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Narrator Killed the Audio Book, Aug 27 2003
Let me make one thing perfectly clear. This is a review of the AUDIO version narrated by Lloyd James. As far as the book is concerned - it's rather hokey. It's early Heinlein and it's along the lines of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You can even say that Heinlein was still trying to "find his voice" as he sounds like a Dashell Hammet imitator throughout. I very much hope to READ the book one of these days. I listen to audio books when I work boring jobs and need to listen to something besides music.In that vein - this is one of the worst audio books I've encountered solely based on the narrator. The main character in this book is a gumshoe. He's the kind of guy you found in noir detective fiction of Mickey Spillane or Raymond Chandler - sexist, urbane and thinks nothing of calling women skirts or babes while punching out assorted thugs. So if you want any enjoyment out of this book whatsoever you would think that a Humphrey Bogart imitator would suffice. Or any actor that played Sam Spade or Mike Hammer (even Eliot Gould). Instead you got a guy that sounds like he is in a huff over not getting called back for a role in cats and is taking it out on you because you had the misfortune of choosing to listen to this book. If you go to the restaurant where he's waiting tables and order white wine with steak he'd give you less attitude. He reads everything as if he's embarrassed for the author, the reader and himself for needing to take this job. Even worse, his throat is full of phlegm. Maybe they make them read the entire book at once - but couldn't someone have let him clear his throat? One doesn't require great actors to read these books. In fact none of the authors that read their own works are acting. But a competetant professional would be nice - and someone that sounds remotely like the voice a reader might have in his head reading the book. If this guy had narrated Brett Easton Ellis book full of yuppies doing bad things it would have worked. While this isn't Anne HEche reading The Green Mile in awfulness levels, it is pretty wretched. THis is a pity because it sounds like it's a good book. But the narration kills all enjoyment. Until they replace Lloyd James as narrator, stick to reading Heinlein. There are plenty of better audio books for your jogging, driving or data entry time.
|
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
How does it feel to be a puppet master?, Jun 5 2009
"Were they truly intelligent? By themselves, that is? I don't know and I don't know how we can ever find out..."
While the idea of alien parasites infiltrating humanity is pretty much standard sci-fi now (from Jack Finney to "Stargate SG-1"), Robert Heinlein was pretty early on the concept. And "The Puppet Masters" remains a chilling story to this day -- he wove together some brilliantly vivid writing, some climatic twists, and an intelligent look at how the threat of alien slugs would change our society almost overnight.
Sam (an agent for a top-top-top-secret government organization) accompanies the Old Man and his new partner Mary to a site where a UFO supposedly crashed in rural Iowa. Unfortunately, they soon encounter bizarre gloppy alien creatures that attach themselves to a host's back -- and it turns out that one of them sneaked along with the Old Man's team, back to Washington.
With Iowa completely possessed and the government threatened by alien manipulation, all of humanity suddenly is in danger -- countries start bickering, people become hysterical, and almost everybody is practically naked. As the United States tries to keep the aliens contained, Sam and Mary must find a weakness in the puppet-masters that won't kill the host as well. And the answer may lie long ago in Mary's half-forgotten past...
"The Puppet Masters" is a true classic -- it spawned "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "The Faculty" and even a "Star Trek" episode. Not only is a chilling look at a quiet alien invasion via "body-snatching" slugs, it's also a pretty intelligent look at the societal changes that might come from alien parasites -- clothes aren't worn, pets become lethal, and an atmosphere of distrust where anyone may become a possessed killer.
The biggest problem with Heinlein's writing is the sexist attitudes towards "females," which is smugly condescending at best. Otherwise he comes up with a pretty solid "future" Earth that is just a little more advanced than we are and a few wars down the road (World War III is mentioned), but not too different in the ways that count (if you can overlook now-anachronistic stuff like a communist Russia).
And Heinlein unrolls a slow-moving sci-fi tale that's heavy on the social/political stuff, some horrific moments (S "All planets are ours") and a rapid romance between Sam and Mary. His style has a delightfully, deceptively casual flair and some snappy dialogue ("Cosmetics?" "Your own ugly face will do"), but he also does a brilliant job with the more atmospheric, intense moments of the book -- such as a blissed-out, hag-ridden Sam drifting around Washington.
Sam makes a good sharp-tongued, quick-witted hero who still has time to feel sorry about killing a poor innocent cat, although Mary is somewhat two-dimensional until the end of the book (when we find out more about her). The Old Man is perhaps the most compelling character: an incredibly smart and ruthless chief of a government agency, who cares deeply about his estranged son but is still willing to put almost everything on the line to save humanity.
Aliens taking over human bodies is something of a cliche now, but "Puppet Masters" is a suitably chilling look at the trope's origins. If you can get past the antiquated attitudes towards women, it's a brilliant little book.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
Are you sure he is a friend?, Jul 14 2004
Robert A. Heinlein was one of my favorite authors when I was a teenager. Time had passed by, but still I love some of his books. "The Puppet Masters" is one of them.This book was published in 1951 with the Cold War raging and that cultural background influence the story. As I pointed out in other reviews, books and films of the period allude the frightful issue of: "They are LIKE us but they are NOT us. They are DANGEROUS to us", as in the films "The Thing from another World" (1951), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) or "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (1958). The story focuses on an alien invasion that expands all around the world with unimaginable speed. Sam and Mary are agents of an ultra secret Security Agency under the control of the Old Man who have a direct link to the President. Both agents go to investigate and after discovering what's up, a fast paced adventure starts.
Alien parasites take control of human beings by the expedient of attaching themselves to the back of the host. The first frightful issue to overcome is how to distinguish friend from foes. Then, the Government has to implement some defense against them, that include a "bare backs" politic. Finally our heroes try to find the source and origin of the invasion. At this time of his career, Heinlein was more centered in the action than in political or social speculation, as he develop in later books, with uneven achievement.
I recommend this book to all sci-fi lovers and those who enjoy adrenalin charged adventures.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
|
|
|
Most recent customer reviews
|
