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Jack Finney

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Film Ink S.) Paperback – 17 May 1999

by Jack Finney (Author)

4.5 547 ratings

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The local doctor in the sleepy town of Mill Valley in northern California hears a patient's strange complaint that her uncle isn't really her uncle anymore. Dr Miles Bennell discovers that aliens are silently taking over bodies and minds and the world as he knows it.

Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Prion Books Ltd
Publication date

17 May 1999
ISBN-10

1853753408
ISBN-13

978-1853753404
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Jack Finney
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prion Books Ltd; New edition (17 May 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1853753408
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1853753404

Best Sellers Rank: 4,374,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3,767 in Classic Horror
- 7,120 in Alien Invasion
- 13,459 in Horror Fantasy

Customer reviews:
4.5 547 ratings

About the author

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Jack Finney

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Jack Finney (October 2, 1911 – November 14, 1995) was an American author. His best-known works are science fiction and thrillers, including The Body Snatchers and Time and Again. The former was the basis for the 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers and its remakes.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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luikriako

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2017

Verified Purchase

Interesting story but did not grip me like the films did .

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jeremiah harbottle

please read the front part of this c.d collection carefully......

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 September 2010

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first of all, i am not reviewing this novel in book form, i am reviewing the audio c.d collection. secondly, this has no bearing on the novel itself as i consider "invasion of the body snatchers" to be an undisputed masterpiece of science fiction and of modern literature.
the point is, this c.d collection clearly states on the front cover that this recording is unabridged: this is simply incorrect and misleading. on c.d number 3 on track 11 or 12, some of the text from the novel was removed completely and replaced with several words that bear no relation to the novel at all, i have taken the trouble to verify this. i felt and still feel disappointed and also rather cheated and short-changed by this development.
please be aware of the above.

2 people found this helpful

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thomas mc govern

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2015

Happy with order.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 August 2014

Verified Purchase

great book great service

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2010

This was written when sci-fi was basking in the light of it's golden age. While post war America took consumerism and the desire to conform to new heights & communism was the next big threat the sci-fi writers were lifting the rock of society and reporting what they saw, albeit in allegorical tales, but their gaze was both piercing & unflinching.
Jack Finney was in no way the greatest artist amongst them nor was he as inventive as many of his contemporaries but with his classic 'invasion of the body snatchers' he wrote not merely of the political situation of his day, (the mid 1950's), but about those deeply embedded fears and nightmares that haunt us all. Invasion, isolation, transformation & change and above all else death.
The simple premise is of a small town doctor who notices things are not quite as they should be and has his suspicions confirmed by a series of odd complaints by patients and friends. Before long the reason for his unease is revealed and he and his friends are pulled into a nightmarish world of changelings and alien invasion.
The writing see's our hero as the all American hero, square of jaw and irresistible to the ladies. At least that's how it seems at first but as things begin to spiral out of control so Miles loses both confidence and ability to act as his long held beliefs are stripped away from him. His failure in marriage, his trust in science and the notion that just beneath the surface of every red blooded American male there's a hero just waiting for an opportunity to burst forth and perform the impossible.
With these foundations removed he ends up needing to, shock & horror, rely upon a woman to support him in his efforts to survive. Maybe no big deal today but nearly 60 years ago this would have been pretty revolutionary stuff. So too the apparently 'convenient' ending hints even more strongly at how little control men have over the environment around them. A laughable notion for a society that pioneered the disposable, energy greedy & natural resource guzzling product but hindsight is 20:20 and just how much of a miracle would be needed to reverse the inevitable makes Finney's ending seem almost plausible.
The story is not without it's problems. Miles Bennell may have been more equality minded than most of his peers but he's still a bit of a smug git. So too his gal Becky is a simpering bimbo to start with but she eventually rises to the occasion.
Finney also rambles somewhat in places and clearly loves his own theories many of which were a bit crackpot, (look out for his theory on the weight of sunlight on a field), and he has a tendency to repeat certain words and phrases a little too often.
But these are minor quibbles in comparison to a great story that belts along, some excellent yet simple ideas, (you can't fall asleep or 'it'll get you'), and most of all a timeless message that just seems to adapt itself to every generation.
Testimony to this are the 3 films that have been made over several decades but that are still all so gripping and diverse. All 3 are well worth watching and while all of their age they stay true to the books tension and rapid story arc.
You don't have to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy this. It's a classic that remains both entertaining and relevant long after it was originally published.

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Simon Omnes

“The human mind searches for cause and effect, always.” - Jack Finney

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 June 2021

During the 1950s, many sci-fi and horror stories were released to the public. In pulp fiction publication, movies, radio dramas, television shows, the genre was a popular topic for audience members and readers. And among these releases, if some of them were forgettable or done on the run, others stood the test of time for multiple reasons. For their story, themes, timelessness, and their memorable scenes. Qualities present in Jack Finney’s classic The Body Snatchers, also titled as The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which most might have known it thanks to the movie adaptations of that novel.

In 1953, in the small Californian town of Santa Mira, a strange plague of paranoia is spreading; hysteric people claiming that their relatives/friends are not the same anymore. That somebody or something has taken their place and replaced them with a cold, emotionless copy of themselves. A hysteria that all these people drop days later, claiming that they were mistaken. A situation that doctor Miles Bennell notices from his patients since a week, and from Becky Driscoll, an ex-girlfriend who has returned to Santa Mira. Like him, she is divorced and like his patients, she tells him one of her cousins claims her dad is not her dad anymore. And then comes another panic from his friends the Belicecs, a couple who find a naked body in their closet, growing into the appearance of Jack Belicec. A frightening situation Miles also finds out in Becky’s house, where she lives with her dad, as a body who looks like her is growing in her basement. Right away, Miles gets Becky out of there so that she can stay at his place. But as these two rekindle their relationship, the nightmare evolves. And as the days go by, more shocking revelations appear. Confirming that an evil force has seized Santa Mira, and may destroy other communities if nobody stops it.

In its themes, The Body Snatchers has been perceived into multiple interpretations. Some saw it as a denunciation of McCarthyism or against Communism. But it can be seen as a denunciation against the culture of conformity and emotional frigidity within suburbs. Especially in the 1950s as a certain philosophy of normality and good appearances was vehiculated back then. Most of it due by the conservative mentalities partly influenced by politicians like McCarthy. Which does explain why some readers and viewers of the movie treated it as an anti-McCarthy piece. Though I wonder if this reaction wasn’t due also to World War 2; as the fear of another international conflict terrified politicians and authorities so much they saw or imagined monsters everywhere. Therefore, they fed images of conformity and normality in the medias (movies, publicities, television, radio, and news) to educate enough the public in not thinking deviant thoughts. So in a way, the novel is a reflection of what some in the 1950s felt. That the American dream the medias and the government were selling was false and muzzled up their personalities.

But of course, Jack Finney’s novel is a great sci-fi horror story. Presenting through tense description and the exclusive point of view of Miles Bennell his perspective of the events at Santa Mira. Which is important to remember as some felt the ending did not present everything that happened outside of his perspective. For though I won’t reveal the ending, it is clear that other people were aware of what was going on and fought on their own. As to whether or not a group of people or an organization did something that we haven’t seen and caused the ending we got, this is up to readers to make up their minds. Because although the end is definitive, and different from the two movie daptations of 1956 and 1978, what happens outside of Miles’s point-of-view is worth thinking of. Another way to analyze and reread this story.

In its prose, the novel is concise. At 190 pages, the twenty chapters are easy to read and they offer a great range of dialogues and dramas. As to whether or not the scientific realism of the events is plausible or not, that depends on the perspectives of some readers. But either way, the charisma of that story makes up any possible implausibility in the story. Charisma also present in the location of Santa Mira, who is depicted as the ideal american town. And among the tragic events we see, that encounter Miles and Becky have with their local librarian (a woman I always see performed by actress Eleanor Audley) is heartbreaking and sad. A reminder that what has happened in their town has hurt those they love.

In its publication, the book has been offered in various paperback editions. Even recent ones with very modern and computer made montages. But personally, I find the original 1950 and 1960s covers much more interesting as they make us dive into the era’s mentality. So if you have the chance to find one of these 1960s editions from Dell, don’t hesitate, the printing quality is excellent.

As for the movie adaptations, though of course they differ from each other and from the novel, I see them as great interpretations of the original story Jack Finney gave us. And personally, I would not be surprised that this novel is still remembered and read worldwide thanks to the 1956 movie and its success as it motivated people to read the novel and to discover the 1978 remake.

So whether or not you are a fan of the movies or not, reading The Body Snatchers is a must as it presents a great sci-fi adventure, alongside a great time capsule of the 1950s and its culture back then of idyllic suburbs and the fear of anti-conformity.

A classic of that era and of Sci-Fi literature. A classic of the 1950s.

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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Film Ink S.) Paperback – 17 May 1999

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