| Plot Summary of Invasion of the Body Snatchers |
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"Classic science fiction. You probably know the story from the famous movie, but the book is quite different than the movie. Ends differently too. Dated relationships between men and women, (men strong, protecting; women weak, whiney, shrieking), but hey, it was first published in 1955. And so the story goes: On a quiet fall evening in the small, peaceful town of Mill Valley, California, Dr. Miles Bennell discovered an insidious, horrifying plot. Silently, subtly, almost imperceptibly, alien life-forms were taking over the bodies and minds of his neighbors, his friends, his family, the woman he loved -- the world as he knew it.
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Kathleen, Resident Scholar
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"Dr. Miles Bennell, 28, a general practitioner in the small Marin County town of Mill Valley, California, has several patients come in and complain that their loved ones "aren't themselves." He refers them to Dr. Manfred Kaufman, a psychiatrist in San Rafael, and the complaints gradually go away. But then a writer friend, Jack Belicec, shows Miles a body he found hidden away in his house, with unformed facial features and no fingerprints. Gradually it dawns on Miles, Jack and his wife, and Becky Driscoll -- a school friend of Miles who like himself is recently divorced -- that aliens have been taking over the town by growing duplicates of everyone from seed pods. How to escape or stop the menace? This classic science fiction thriller, originally published in 1955 as simply The Bodysnatchers, is better written than most of its genre and time, though it has a more optimistic ending than the 1956 movie which gave it the more familiar title."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Invasion of the Body Snatchers |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story?
Yes
Horror plotlets
- the bodysnatchers are coming!
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- doctor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an entire race
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
Terrain
- Mountains
Earth setting:
- 20th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- some scientific explanation
- a moderate amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- descript of kissing
How much dialogue?
- significantly more descript than dialog
- little dialog
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