The Man Who Fell to Earth
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4.1 • 129 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The “beautiful” novel that inspired the Showtime series, from a Nebula Award finalist (The New York Times).
The Man Who Fell to Earth tells the story of Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien disguised as a human who comes to Earth on a mission to save his people. Devastated by nuclear war, his home planet, Anthea, is no longer habitable. Newton lands in Kentucky and starts patenting Anthean technology—amassing the fortune he needs to build a spaceship that will bring the last three hundred Anthean survivors to Earth.
But instead of the help he seeks, he finds only self-destruction, sinking into alcoholism and abandoning his spaceship, in this poignant story about the human condition—which has inspired both a film starring David Bowie and the new series starring Chiwetel Ejiofor—by the acclaimed author of Mockingbird.
“Beautiful science fiction . . . The story of an extraterrestrial visitor from another planet is designed mainly to say something about life on this one.” —The New York Times
“An utterly realistic novel about an alien human on Earth . . . Realistic enough to become a metaphor for something inside us all, some existential loneliness.” —Norman Spinrad, author of The Iron Dream
“Those who know The Man Who Fell to Earth only from the film version are missing something. This is one of the finest science fiction novels of its period.” —J. R. Dunn, author of This Side of Judgment
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Walter Tevis’ 1963 science-fiction novel is a haunting, utterly believable story that breaks away from the genre’s conventions. Instead of traveling to faraway galaxies, the book explores the inner life of Thomas Newton, a manlike extraterrestrial sent to Earth in an attempt to find a home for the last of his people, most of whom were wiped out by nuclear war. Although Newton is an alien, his challenges are heartbreakingly human: isolation, exhaustion, and vices that numb the mind. Tevis’ writing is elegant and mesmerizing, making this the kind of book you’ll read quickly but will think about for a long time.
Customer Reviews
Thought provoking
This book reminds me of others from the same era, that were required reading in our high school: Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, 1984.... The authors did a fair job of predicting some technological advances, mind-numbing practices, and human blind spots. The sad reality is that many of their inherent warnings were not heeded. The only thing we seem to have forestalled is our mass annihilation by weaponry.
The current trends in politics and mass psychology (thought control by ‘political correctness’ and the overwhelming output of the entertainment culture) allow for little in the way of critical thinking, once a prized filter for all educated people. Our world, our societies are crumbling from within.
This novel stops short of Orwell’s dystopian predictions-notably the “Big Brother” technology that we all tote around and now welcome into our homes- but it does address well the challenges of managing one’s uniqueness and vision, while trying to function in a society that is drastically different from the one you were raised in.
The main characters are fleshed out sufficiently to tell the story, although the female lacks depth. The ambiguity that afflicts them as they create their lives is recognizable, and relatable. The consumption of alcohol by them is excessive and seems, as a device, too easy a way for the author to avoid delving more deeply into the characters. The book was a letdown in that regard. It is not that you won’t care about them, but they seem unknowable. They are people met in passing, not people you get to know and care deeply about.
Still, reading the book brought to mind the richness of education in the 1960’s, the questions we were asking, and the mysteries that the future held for those of us not yet jaded. All things seemed possible, and even probable!
The ending!
I thought the ending left something to be desired. We could use more aliens in our mist!