The Body Snatchers Book Review

I came into this review having already seen the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the film based on this book. So when I started reading Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers, I had high expectations. Let’s get into the review.

Written by Jack Finney and serialized in 1954, The Body Snatchers follows a doctor living in a small town. Some of his patients come to him explaining that their family members aren’t who they used to be. They look the same and act the same, but they aren’t them. The doctor decides to investigate and eventually discovers that a mysterious alien seed has landed on Earth. The seeds duplicate their victims perfectly and dispose of the real people. And it looks like the seeds are spreading.

Like I said, I had high expectations. I don’t know why, but I expected the movie to be similar to the book. Some aspects of it turned out to be completely different. But I don’t say this as a criticism of the book by comparing it to the 1978 movie. Rather, I realized that the movie actually improved on so many aspects of the book that I was genuinely surprised. For one, my main criticism of the book was the ending.

I won’t exactly spoil it, but unlike the movie, which landed on a very somber note, the ending of the book was incredibly abrupt. The suddenness immediately threw me off since it came out of nowhere. Everything resolved so quickly that it was as if the problem had never been there to begin with. I finished the book, going, “Wait, what?” This kept me from getting to know the characters very well at the same time.

Apparently, when the book first appeared, people expressed similar stances. Anthony Boucher called the book “unreadable,” while famous critic and SF writer Damon Knight also stated that the book was “incoherent.” Personally, I thought the book had a strong start, though the concept was a little muddled. I knew more about it going in, thanks to seeing the movie previously. Mostly, the ending bothered me because the problem suddenly resolved itself. That ended up being what I took away from the book the most.

Welp, another book down on my TBR list. As the term wraps up, I’m about to head back home to the States. See you all later this week for another blog post (now that I have more time to write). Happy reading!

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