Book Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Jack Finney)

When we think of the possibility of alien invasions, our first thought is usually what H.G. Wells originally conceived: a full-blown war. But what if they're already here? In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a classic premise is explored in a taut and thrilling manner: what if extraterrestrial spores land on Earth and systematically start swapping human bodies with their own eerie duplicates? It's a scary and unique idea that spawned several film adaptations and influenced other stories.

The original book is a short, simple, breezy read, and it's closer to the 1956 film than any of the others (although certain parts of the book would carry over to the 1978 and 1993 versions implicitly). As such, it's structured as a mystery thriller--a doctor keeps hearing about townspeople not acting the same, and once he uncovers the truth, sheer paranoia sets in when he realizes he can't trust anyone. It's up to him and his girlfriend to escape the compromised town and signal the authorities. Unless the invasion has spread further than they realize...

The story's rather slow to start, but builds up to quite a thrilling climax full of tension. The text does a superb job of underscoring some key themes that keeps this story grounded as good sci-fi: the idea that life will do anything and everything to sustain itself, even crossing the gulf of space and assimilating other life forms to prolong its own species. Without ideas like this, it would have been just a schlocky creature thriller of some kind.

However, the story does require a huge suspension of disbelief when the end actually happens. Even though the reasons for the ending are made clear, it's pretty nutty. There's also one or two loose ends that aren't really tied up.

This book was written in a very plain, straightforward language. Since it's in first-person POV, the character voice narrates the story, and it does an okay job at it. The main character has enough personality to make the text readable. But there's little going on with the character, with little relevant backstory or traits to latch on to, so it comes off as a little bland, in both prose and character.

Sci-fi fans ought to give this story a shot--as a book, it's not a bad read at all and it's worth it for fans to see where it all came from. But the movies (especially the '59 and '78 versions) breathe a lot more life into the characters and plot to cement this as an essential sci-fi tale.

3/5