Greener Than You Think is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Ward Moore is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Ward Moore then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read a lot of books that could be classed as apocalyptic fiction, and I've never seen anything like this before. I'm not sure it's 100% unique, but it's certainly unusual. It's not an amazing book, but it's worth a look if you're a fan of the genre.
The book is written as if it's the personal account of events as described by a single character, Albert Weener. Weener starts the story as a salesman who makes a deal with an eccentric scientist to sell her new formula that will help farmers grow crops in difficult conditions. Her intention is to use the chemical to stop starvation and the intention is to enable a certain class of plants to gain nourishment from otherwise useless soil, rocks etc. Unfortunately, Weener is too lazy to visit the nearby farming communities and sells the chemical as a lawn treatment. Of course, the formula works and the grass grows at an astonishing rate. In fact, it works too well and nobody can stop it.
The rest of the book concerns the struggle to halt the grass as it gains more and more momentum. This idea is interesting, and almost the opposite of a few classic apocalyptic tales like 'The Death of Grass' by John Christopher. Unfortunately, the book was ruined for me by the lead character, Weener. It's deliberate, but he comes over as really selfish, short sighted and arrogant. It's hard to stick with him through the story when a lot of things he does are so annoying.
In short, a nice twist on the disaster theme. It gets a bit annoying in the last third of the book, but stick with it for a reasonable ending.
The book is written as if it's the personal account of events as described by a single character, Albert Weener. Weener starts the story as a salesman who makes a deal with an eccentric scientist to sell her new formula that will help farmers grow crops in difficult conditions. Her intention is to use the chemical to stop starvation and the intention is to enable a certain class of plants to gain nourishment from otherwise useless soil, rocks etc. Unfortunately, Weener is too lazy to visit the nearby farming communities and sells the chemical as a lawn treatment. Of course, the formula works and the grass grows at an astonishing rate. In fact, it works too well and nobody can stop it.
The rest of the book concerns the struggle to halt the grass as it gains more and more momentum. This idea is interesting, and almost the opposite of a few classic apocalyptic tales like 'The Death of Grass' by John Christopher. Unfortunately, the book was ruined for me by the lead character, Weener. It's deliberate, but he comes over as really selfish, short sighted and arrogant. It's hard to stick with him through the story when a lot of things he does are so annoying.
In short, a nice twist on the disaster theme. It gets a bit annoying in the last third of the book, but stick with it for a reasonable ending.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
8 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Greener Than You Think
21 Nov 2003
By Christopher Campbell
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I encountered this book by chance at a used book store in 1980.
I read it then and wrote on the inside cover "Undoubtedly my favorite book of all!" All these years later, now being 2003,
I thought to myself "I wonder if it's still in print?"
Well, I see I can get it used and I want to buy one and send it along to director Tim Burton and tell him to make this into a movie!
I laugh aloud at the events in the story. Moore's subtle use of language brings new meaning to the word stealth. His characters come to life effortlessly and satisfyingly. Our hapless everyman protagonist, Albert Weener, hasn't a clue as to how the world around him perceives him and moves forward to the beat of his own drummer. All the while, the world's very existence is threatened by a product of his own doing. As I reread this book twenty years later I still want to say it's my favorite.
Read it....it's a real gem!
I read it then and wrote on the inside cover "Undoubtedly my favorite book of all!" All these years later, now being 2003,
I thought to myself "I wonder if it's still in print?"
Well, I see I can get it used and I want to buy one and send it along to director Tim Burton and tell him to make this into a movie!
I laugh aloud at the events in the story. Moore's subtle use of language brings new meaning to the word stealth. His characters come to life effortlessly and satisfyingly. Our hapless everyman protagonist, Albert Weener, hasn't a clue as to how the world around him perceives him and moves forward to the beat of his own drummer. All the while, the world's very existence is threatened by a product of his own doing. As I reread this book twenty years later I still want to say it's my favorite.
Read it....it's a real gem!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The grass begins to grow uncontrollably...
16 Jan 2005
By T. bailey
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
"--Little did Mrs. Dinkman know that when a somewhat less than scrupulous salesman sprayed her dying suburban Los Angeles lawn with a dose of the Metamorphizer she was witnessing the beginning of the end of the world. That salesman was Albert Weener, a two-bit huckster looking for instant riches, who had cajoled the remarkable new plant nutrient away from its recalcitrant inventor, botanist Josephine Spencer Francis. The only problem was, Miss Francis did not yet know how to neutralize her magic chemical--"
"Written in 1947, a science fiction novel about the grass we tread upon. When an unscrupulous salesman sprays a dying suburban Los Angeles lawn with an untested chemical spray, it is the beginning of the end of the world. The grass begins to grow uncontrollably and riotously, ten feet height, thick, tough, impenetrable, gradually engulfing Los Angeles, then California...After reading this novel, you will never view your lawn in the same way."
"The story is told with a satirical lilt, with a defini te bias for farce characterizations and situations; brightening what would otherwise be a harrowing tale."
"Written in 1947, a science fiction novel about the grass we tread upon. When an unscrupulous salesman sprays a dying suburban Los Angeles lawn with an untested chemical spray, it is the beginning of the end of the world. The grass begins to grow uncontrollably and riotously, ten feet height, thick, tough, impenetrable, gradually engulfing Los Angeles, then California...After reading this novel, you will never view your lawn in the same way."
"The story is told with a satirical lilt, with a defini te bias for farce characterizations and situations; brightening what would otherwise be a harrowing tale."
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Science Fiction Miracle Grow
7 Jun 2002
By Joe Thorburn
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Written soon after World War II, this book encapsulates many of that decade's turmoil and at the same time manages to project into the future to address some interesting contemporary ideas into a compact and delightful science fiction satire. Ward Moore's style of writing is clever and comical without veering from the main character's oddball mindset and vernacular. The mutant grass is a metaphor for good against evil, mankind against nature or nature against mankind, World War III, and precedes the writings of the environmental historians and of environmental ethics in philosophy. The book also touches on such issues as environmental determinism, evolution, and survival of the fittest, and too, looks at various biblical themes, among them, Adam and Eve (Eve being Miss Francis) and Noah's Ark. When you read it you will probably find your own list of cleverly placed themes and analogies.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
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