War of the WORLDS???

**Warning- Spoilers below!**
I try not to, but just couldn't avoid it with this one....

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
4 stars
R-0

Okay, let me start by saying that, regardless of what else I say, this is a great book. If nothing else, one must acknowledge and respect its place in the history and evolution of literature. Wells was a brilliant, forward-thinking pioneer.

But really--
First of all, can it really be called War of the Worlds if the only fighting was in England and it lasted MAYBE a month?? Come on.

I LOVE the arrogance that the Martians naturally would have targeted England. It's fabulous. Personally, if I were going to invade the world, I'd spread my 10 ships out across Europe (keeping in mind the time period). But no, clearly the way to go is to send them all to England.

I also love that the very advanced, intelligent "just brains" aliens aren't smart enough to consider bacteria! It's like the aliens on Signs that are killed by water. WHY in the name of all that is... well, whatever for the aliens... would they invade a planet COVERED IN IT?!?!? Seriously.

Now, I have read this before, and I was interested in the movie, but haven't seen it yet. Now that I've reread the book, I don't see how they made a movie of it. I mean, not a whole lot really happens. The whole thing is over within a month and the narrator spent like half the time hiding in a crumbling house. Not exactly action-packed.

And what happened to the brother???? I mean, you have to assume he lived, since the narrator is telling us what happened to him.... but he's seriously never heard from again. Very weird.

But, like I said, you can't NOT respect it. At least I can't.

It's a classic for a reason.