The War of the Worlds

by H.G. Wells | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 0330243322 Global Overview for this book
Registered by sqdancer on 2/26/2006
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
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9 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by sqdancer on Sunday, February 26, 2006
Pre-numbered label used for registration.

Journal Entry 2 by sqdancer on Tuesday, May 9, 2006
I saw this on lauraloo29's wish list, so I'm going to sneak it into her mailbox. :-)

Hope you enjoy it!


Journal Entry 3 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Tuesday, May 9, 2006
What a lovely surprise! I love finding presents in my mailbox. :) Thank you.

Journal Entry 4 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I'm just not able to get into this book. Its been 3 days and I've only managed to read 40 pages. :( Will search for a new home for it.

Journal Entry 5 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I'm planning on sending this out as a bookray.

Rules: Not many. Please journal the book's arrival and departure. And please keep it moving by keeping it no longer than 4 weeks. The last person is free to release the book as they wish.


1. criminologeek - Hong Kong (Intl)
2. whiskeyjane - US (US) - asked to be skipped
3. peacejunkie84 - US (Intl) - not answering PMs
4. Danielle23 - UK (UK)
5.

Beginning its journey on May 23rd. Happy travelling!

Journal Entry 6 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Saturday, June 20, 2009
This book was sent airmail to Hong Kong on May 23rd. It should have arrived within the week. Received a PM from criminologeek today. Hopefully it will turn up in September.

I am sorry that I have totally forgotten about the book as I was very busy the end of last month.

I have just realized about the book after reading your message. The book has not arrived when I left Hong Kong this month. It must have arrived, but I am not able to check because I will only be back to Hong Kong in September. I hope you wouldn't mind about that. I apologize that I have overlooked the arrival of the book. Should have it sent to where I am now to be on the safe side.

Will go look for it as soon as I get back to the city.


Journal Entry 7 by criminologeek on Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Book received. I am very sorry for prolonging the bookray. I will try to read it up and mail it to the next person as soon as possible. Thank you, lauraloo29, for sharing.

With sincere apology,
criminologeek

Journal Entry 8 by criminologeek on Monday, October 5, 2009
I don't really like the movie, so does the book! It was a really quick read while I was doing my laundry. : P Guess I am just not a big fan of stories about aliens or Martians..
Sorry for the delay. I will mail the book to the next person as soon as I got the address.

*** whiskeyjane asked to be skipped in the list so I will mail the book to peacejunkie84 soon.

Journal Entry 9 by criminologeek on Thursday, December 24, 2009
Book sent.
Thanks for sharing.

Journal Entry 10 by Danielle23 from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Saturday, January 16, 2010
The book has arrived safely and I will get to it as soon as possible, thank you xx

Journal Entry 11 by Danielle23 from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Sunday, January 24, 2010
I loved this book and it was so different to the film. I could see the ways it had been updated for the screen and yet could still see the echoes from the original threading through it.

The descriptions of the Martians were really chilling and the pure industrious nature of them highlighted the vulnerability of the human race. How pleased am I now for the common cold, lol.

Thank you so much for sharing this book and I will try to start it off on another ring if there is any interest xx

Bookring; normal rules apply.

ayntastic US (Intl)
silvia-pco POR (EU)
Simson-Shilitoe GER (EU)
abigailann UK (UK)
-
mysticalzoe USA (USA) (depending on shipping)

Journal Entry 12 by Danielle23 at Sunderland, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Monday, February 8, 2010

Released 14 yrs ago (2/8/2010 UTC) at Sunderland, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

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Starting this small continued ray of mine. I hope you all enjoy the book. We're starting with ayntastic, happy travels little book xx

Journal Entry 13 by ayntastic from Portland, Oregon USA on Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Received as part of a Ray from Danielle23 - thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading this one.

Journal Entry 14 by ayntastic from Portland, Oregon USA on Friday, March 12, 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Wells is so insightful - his observations on the human reaction to trauma remain so applicable today over 100 years later. I am a huge sci fi fan and this classic really did set the bar for every science fiction writer that followed.

Journal Entry 15 by ayntastic at -- BookRing, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Friday, March 12, 2010

Released 14 yrs ago (3/11/2010 UTC) at -- BookRing, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

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Sent this book out Wednesday the 10th. Postal worker estimated that the book will take around 12 business days to arrive in Portugal. Happy reading Silvia-PCO!

Journal Entry 16 by silvia-pco from Murtosa, Aveiro Portugal on Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Looks like it got here faster then expected ;) I'm reading another book at the moment but I'll get started with this one as soon as I finish it. Thanks for sending it my way and for the lovely postcard!

April 21st - I'm almost done with the book; I have already asked for Simson-Shilitoe's address and I'll pop it on the mail probably on Monday or Tuesday.

Journal Entry 17 by silvia-pco from Murtosa, Aveiro Portugal on Tuesday, April 27, 2010
I just finished this book - I'm sorry that I had to keep it for more than a month.

This was one of the rare cases where I saw the movie before reading the book - and also one of the very, very rare situations where I liked the movie better.

The book is obviously very different from the movie, and I guess I found the second one more exciting; it did a better job at keeping me hooked on the story. The book was a pleasant read nonetheless, and it was interesting to compare both versions of the story. The original was just not what I was expecting it to be.

I already have Simson-Shilitoe's adress, and I plan to pop this on the mail tomorrow or on Thursday. Thanks for sharing!

Journal Entry 18 by silvia-pco from Murtosa, Aveiro Portugal on Sunday, May 16, 2010
Sorry for taking a little while longer that I said I would to send it out. There has been a postal strike that lasted a few days here in Portugal and I didn't want to risk it and mail it out during those days. It's on this way now, I hope it arrives safely :)

Journal Entry 19 by Simson-Shilitoe from Neewiller-près-Lauterbourg, Alsace France on Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The book has arrived safely today together with 3 other rays.

At the moment I am reading "Lord of the flies" by William Golding, a bookring from "EmgeeNl". I hope to start with "The War of the Worlds" in two weeks so that the book will travel as soon as possible to the next participant.

Thank you "silvia-pco" for posting.

Thank you "Danielle23" for sharing.

Journal Entry 20 by Simson-Shilitoe at Lauterbourg, Alsace France on Monday, May 31, 2010
Famous for the mistaken panic that ensued from Orson Welles’s 1938 radio dramatization, "The War of the Worlds" remains one of the most influential of all science fiction works.

In the novel, the conflict between mankind and the Martians is portrayed as a struggle of natural selection. It is a survival of the fittest, with the Martians whose longer period of successful evolution on the older Mars, has led to them developing a superior intelligence, able to create weapons far in advance of humans on the younger planet Earth, who have not had the opportunity to develop sufficient intelligence to construct similar weapons.

The novel also suggests a potential future for human evolution and perhaps a warning against overvaluing intelligence against more human qualities.

At the time of the novel's publication the British Empire was in its most aggressive phase of expansion, having conquered and colonised dozens of territories.

While Invasion Literature had provided an imaginative foundation for the idea of the heart of the British Empire being conquered by foreign forces, it was not until "The War of the Worlds", that the reading public of the time was presented with an adversary so completely superior to themselves and the Empire they were part of. A significant motivating force behind the success of The British Empire was its use of sophisticated technology; the Martians, also attempting to establish an empire on Earth, have technology superior to their British adversaries. In writing "The War of the Worlds", Wells turned the confident position of a reader in the British Empire on its head, putting an imperial power in the position of being the victim of imperial aggression and thus perhaps encouraging the reader to consider the nature of imperialism itself.

The novel also dramatises the ideas of race presented in Social Darwinism, an ideology of some prominence at the time it was written. The Martians exercise over humans their 'rights' as a superior race, more advanced in evolution.


The novel and the used language was easy to understand because I read the story in German language last year. And it was an advantage of listening to a radio play (spoken by Richard Burton) some years ago, watching some motion pictures about the novel, especially a movie created in 1953, which was shown many times on TV and which is very close to the original story.


At wikipedia I found an article about a TV-Series similar to "War of the Worlds":
The "Tripods" is a series of novels written by Samuel Youd (under the pseudonym "John Christopher") beginning in the late 1960s. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV-series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s (it was aired between September 1984 and December 1985).

The story of "The Tripods" is post-apocalyptic. Humanity has been conquered and enslaved by "the tripods", unseen alien entities who travel about in gigantic three-legged walking machines (the unsophisticated humans believe the walking machines themselves to be their living overlords). Human society is largely pastoral, with few habitations larger than villages, and what little industry exists is conducted under the watchful presence of the tripods. Lifestyle is reminiscent of the Middle Ages, but artifacts from later ages are still used, giving individuals and homes an anachronistic appearance.

Humans are controlled from the age of 14 by implants called "caps", which suppress curiosity and creativity and leave the recipient placid and docile, incapable of dissent. The caps cause them to adore the tripods as their saviours. Some people, whose minds are broken (instead of successfully being controlled) under the pressure of the cap's hypnotic power become vagrants, who wander the countryside shouting nonsense.



Posting to "abigailann" as soon I get an address.

Journal Entry 21 by Simson-Shilitoe at Germersheim, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany on Monday, June 7, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (6/7/2010 UTC) at Germersheim, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany

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Posted to "abigailann" in the afternoon after finishing todays business at the revenue office. Happy journey to England and happy reading!

Thank you "abigailann" for your patience because of the problems with personal mails. Your e-mail last friday arrived successfully.

Journal Entry 22 by abigailann at Abingdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, June 14, 2010

Apologies for taking so long to journal the arrival of this book. Received in the mail a few days ago, will put on my TBR pile and get round to it ASAP.

Oh, and thanks for the surprise as well :)

Journal Entry 23 by abigailann at Abingdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, June 21, 2010

Started reading and am PMing next reader

Journal Entry 24 by abigailann at Abingdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, June 21, 2010

Surprised myself at how quickly I read this- must be a good sign. I finally understand now about all the panic when the radio-version was first broadcast. H.G.Wells writes in a realistic and gripping manner which makes you want to read on and on. Even knowing what would happen from TV productions, I found the book hard to put down. A true classic!

Will post on as soon as I can get to teh post office

Journal Entry 25 by rem_EOL-341852 at Gardiner, Maine USA on Saturday, June 26, 2010
I received this yesterday in the mail. I have another bookring I am reading and will gt to this one when I am finished. Thanks for sending.

07-06-10 ~ Starting this today!

07-11-10~ This book was okay. It dragged in so many parts that getting through it was mundane. I did see a lot of the movie i the book, and some parts were entertaining. I just couldn't imagine being in a carriage and trying to run from the tripods. Overall it was alright. Thanks for sharing, and it seems I may have to ship it back to Danielle.

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