The Man Who Fell to Earth | 
Here are a few questions on The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. These are just to get us started. Please feel free to discuss anything about this book. There was a lot going in it and I would love to hear your thoughts. #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC
@Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @CSeydel @Roary47 @LeeRHarry
pick35/150 I've never seen the movie, and now I'm sure I don't want to. This book has an overwhelming sense of melancholy, not just from the MC, but everyone he encounters also seems to have lost hope and are barely hanging on. I thought the ending (non-ending?) was a bit abrupt and ambiguous, but it fit the story perfectly. 3 ⭐⭐⭐💫 #LitsySciFiBookClub
This was a low pick for me. I really liked the exploration of ideas and the plot was interesting and well paced, but it was a pretty gloomy story overall.
#LitsySciFiBookClub @TheSpineView
#192025 #1963 @Librarybelle
#gottacatchemall @PuddleJumper (prompt 61, Ponyta: Fantasy, paranormal, or sci-fi)
This is the MC's drink of choice: straight gin with *loads* of angostura bitters! 🍸
What to call it? The Thomas Jerome Newton? An Anthean Martini?
I cannot drink it in the volumes that Newton does, and it won't be a regular feature on the drinks trolley, but it does taste medicinal, so perhaps if I need a bracing pick-me-up?
#BooksAndBooze
pickBreughel's "The Fall of Icarus", explicitly referenced at the novel's start, sets the tone of grand failure. This is a pessimistic examination of humanity's probable (though not certain) inability to save itself from destruction. While Tevis had nuclear apocalypse in mind, there are parallels with the structural inability of vested interests to deal with the present climate crisis.
Re-read upgrade from 4 to 5⭐
#LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC ?
"After two miles of walking he came to a town."
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
#TenuousLiteraryConnection 1: The epigraph for TMWFTE is a verse by Hart Crane, who was friends with poet Samuel Loveman, who was also a friend of H. P. Lovecraft, whose story "The Statement of Randolph Carter" I've just read, in which the doomed character Harley Warren is based on Loveman. (Yes, this is exceedingly tenuous!)
#LSFBC #BooksAndBowie
I'm starting The Man Who Fell to Earth for the March #LitsySciFiBookClub choice, and at 170 pages it hopefully won't take long. This is a re-read for me and I remember enjoying it, although I note the reviews of other #LSFBC members are mixed, so let's see if I enjoy it as much the second time around. Undoubtedly, my judgement will be positively affected by the Bowie connection 😁
bailed#ReadAway2024 #LitsySciFiBookClub #HailTheBail I‘m learning to go with my first opinion about many things. When we read one of Ursula K. LeGuin‘s books for the #ClassicLSFBC (and I guess you can figure out that it wasn‘t my cup of tea because I can‘t remember the title) it was a reread for me. The first time I didn‘t like it but I wanted to give it another chance because it‘s been a while since high school. I still didn‘t like it. When (cont)⬇️
so-soAn alien comes to Earth to save humanity. But will he change us, or will we change him?
I freely admit that this was well written, with some really fun technological innovations, & thoughts about isolation surrounded by people. But, for me, I usually want my sci fi to leave me with a feeling of hope. I finished this & just felt sad. So, definitely a your mileage may vary situation.🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Repost for @TheSpineView
The winner for our March selection is The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. I found a copy at my library and it is also available as an ebook. Since my library is small, I am hoping you guys don't have any problem getting your hands on a copy. The page count is only 209 so it should be a quick read. Enjoy!
The winner for our March selection is The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. I found a copy at my library and it is also available as an ebook. Since my library is small, I am hoping you guys don't have any problem getting your hands on a copy. The page count is only 209 so it should be a quick read. Enjoy!
@Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @CSeydel
so-soI came into this without prior expectations. I haven‘t seen the movie nor read Tevis before. I was surprised to discover a sci-fi novel which seemed to include very few sci-fi elements. There‘s an alien from the planet Anthea with mysterious goals, but he seemed to represent a generic outsider to me. However, I was a little unclear what the allegorical takeaway was in the end. ⬇️
My daughter got me The Man Who Fell to Earth 40th Anniversary Blu-ray for Christmas, which has lots of inserts to drool over 🤤
Watching the film for the millionth time, but in HD instead of VHS, is amazing. I'm inspired to reread Tevis's novel some time later this year 👽
pickI loved this so much!! So unexpected and beautifully written. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
pickThe author of the book Queen's Gambit also wrote SF, including this tragic 1963 novel about an alien on a lonely mission on Earth. He lands in Kentucky and struggles to fulfill his duty despite the pain of unaccustomed gravity and the constant effort of hiding his true nature. I've never seen the 70s movie with David Bowie based on this book, but it was easy to imagine him in the role. A haunting, gin-soaked story of alienation.
pickI haven't even seen the film but I still pictured him as David Bowie (and was thus amused by his voracious reading, and the fact that he finds human music painful to listen to). I wasn't expecting his story to be as sad as it is (though goodness knows we've a poor enough track record re our treatment of purported saviours) as Mr Newton becomes increasingly and hopelessly human. Not the wisest choice in my current state of mind but it is very good.
pickBeautifully sad and well written, a tale of human nature and our desire to control, conquer and ruin everything we touch.
Very poignant given the times we are living in, such a thought provoking story, a must read for a Sci-fi fans 👽
#sciencefiction #sfmasterworks #bookreview #lovetoread
#aspacemancametravelling #winterwonderland
Read the book many years ago and who can forget the film 💜
This is the only book that I have on my #JulyTBR lol. I have two book clubs that I will be getting books for to read. So #LetsGoCrazy and see where rest of the month takes me. #ReadingResolutions #PrinceOfJuly
pickIt had this weird vibe to it... I didn't hate it but i didn't love it... It was this mellow in between 'yeah it was cool' kind of level.
Catching up on yesterday's #septembowie:
Have you read this underrated classic sci fi novel? Whether or not you've seen Nicolas Roeg's 1976 film adaptation, I highly recommend it. Tevis's spare, unsentimental prose make the title character's exile and alienation painfully vivid, and tragic. #spaceoddity
@Marchpane @Cinfhen
My favorite Meetup to host: Coffee and a Good Book ☕️📚
Told the husband about my #epicslump and he handed me this. 🤞
pickEstrangement & boredom. Literal alienation. I kinda love this story--no sex, no violence just an individual attempting to carve out a life in a strange world that's exhausting both emotionally & physically
"He felt like a man who had been surrounded by reasonably amiable, silly, and fairly intelligent animals..."
I'd seen this list last year when the article was published, but love the idea of David Bowie taking 400 books with him on a movie shoot! 😂
Has anyone attempted a Bowie's Favorite Books challenge?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/david-bowie-the-man-who-loved-book...
Verhaal voorafgaand aan de musical Lazarus morgenavond. Wat een prachtig boek!
Totally weird and totally worth it. #DavidBowie #Lazarus #London #theatre
The Bowie Book Club in Goodreads will be starting November 1st.
Join us reading The Man Who Fell to Earth!
pickThis book was amazing! Great book for people who want to try Sci-Fi but are intimidated by it! The story is very relevant to society today even though it was written over 35 years ago. The writing is fluid and easy to devour and I promise you; you will want to devour this book!
"Non era un uomo, eppure era molto simile a un uomo"
Today's super find at the used book store. Possibly the first time in my life I actually WANTED the movie tie-in. If you've never read any Walter Tevis, I highly recommend this or The Queen's Gambit.
2. Was he an alcoholic? I never thought of him that way, interesting! In any case, I found him relatable in his need for solitude coupled with his need for companionship.
3. I never saw Newton as a Christ figure. Icarus fits in that his ambitions were too high and were ultimately his downfall. 1mo
2. Tevis was actively alcoholic when he wrote the book, and alcoholism was a feature of many of his stories. I thought it an interesting inversion of culture shock, as historically alcoholism is a factor in the collapse of a colonised culture. Saying that, Newton does lose... 4w
3. There's an early scene in which Newton sees a picture of Christ crucified and sees him as Anthean, so the comparison is there, but I think as a contrast between Christ's arrival being the salvation of the fallen universe and Newton's failure to save anything. The fate of Icarus is the overarching metaphor: the fall of Anthean civilisation... 4w
(My apologies for hogging bandwidth.) 4w