Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Paperback)

Of course, this is a story borne out of a culture of the 1950s seemingly obsessed (at least Hollywood was) with the idea of aliens coming to earth and, in most scenarios, arriving with hostile intentions. "Aliens attack" books and movies were a dime a dozen in those days, and most of them became variations on the same theme. The stories were new, but the ideas were well-established, going back at least as far as H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. Finney's premise was different than most, and it drew strength not only from its originality but from the political atmosphere of the time. America became quite paranoid in the decade after World War II; the Red Scare had many people observing their neighbors and associates and sometimes wondering if they might actually be Communists. America was preoccupied for some time with the dangers of an invisible, insidious threat within the nation's very midst. Invasion of the Body Snatchers played upon and drew from this type of internal self-doubt and paranoia, and I believe that is its true secret of success.

Finney's "aliens" didn't blast down from the heavens and immediately begin attacking human beings; instead, they arrived silently and secretly - in the very midst of what was unassuming, small-town America, in the form of giant pods. Reports of these pod landings were reported but largely ignored, allowing the spores of alien life to begin their work in secret. The material inside the pods could completely replicate any life form, and thus was born the first "changed" human being. This "new" person looked and acted completely like the original and went about living that person's normal, every day life. The number of changed individuals quickly grew as each day passed. A few people began to sense that one or more of their friends or loved ones was somehow different, but it was all but impossible to prove such a thing to themselves, let alone others. Dr. Miles Bennell, the story's narrator, spoke to several such patients and dismissed their claims as some sort of psychological delusions - at first. His eyes were opened to the truth only when a friend chanced upon a developing replacement body in his home, and by this time virtually the whole town had been changed. Bennell and three other "survivors" were alone, trapped among friends who were no longer themselves, and their growing paranoia soon metastasized into true fright.

What could be more unsettling than the fear that your neighbor, your co-worker, even your own spouse, parent, or child was no longer the person you had known all your life? Anyone and everyone was a potential threat, a secret agent conspiring with others to assimilate you, to rob you of everything you value most in life. External threats and the fears they invoke can be dealt with, set aside for short periods of time; nuclear attack is a horrifying nightmare, but it does not prevent you from leading your normal life in the present. The enemy within is always the most insidious threat, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the very embodiment of this most terrifying of fears.

Or maybe not. The point is, you've seen the movie, maybe even the *movies*--the original 1956 film (with Kevin McCarthy) was remade in both 1978 (with Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy) and (less successfully) 1993. Now it's time to read the book.

Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel, first published in 1954, is a fast-paced thriller that will keep you up reading late into the night. The prose is light; the plot is unbeatable. And you never know: just because you've seen the movies doesn't mean you know how the book's gonna end.

P.S. Another must read is Finney's haunting novel Time and Again, a book that will have you believing that time travel is wholly possible.

Those who have noticed this, suddenly end up retracting their concerns days later. Something is not right in the town of Mills Valley, and Dr, Bennell knows it. Those large seed pods that are suddenly showing up every where are at the root of it. Their unearthly presence is connected to the profound changes that the people of Mills Valley are undergoing, and Dr. Bennell will stop at nothing to save his beloved town and the world from the invasion of the body snatchers.

This is a great story by a wonderfully inventive writer. Jack Finney is a masterful story teller. He expertly weaves a tale that will keep the reader riveted to the pages of this book. It is no wonder that three films based upon this book have been made, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and Body Snatchers (1994). All three are worth watching.