The Man Who Fell to Earth (novel)

The Man Who Fell to Earth (novel)

"The Man Who Fell to Earth" (ISBN 9780440352815) is a 1963 science fiction novel by Walter Tevis about an extraterrestrial who lands on Earth seeking a way to ferry his people to Earth from his home planet, which is suffering from a severe drought. The novel served as the basis for the 1976 cult film by Nicolas Roeg as well as a 1987 television adaptation. In the works for 2009 is another motion picture adaptation,cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486859/ |title="The Man Who Fell to Earth" (2009) |work=Internet Movie Database |accessdate=2008-07-10] as is a Broadway musical production.cite web |url=http://www.themanwhofelltoearth.com/Html/TMWSplash.html |title="The Man Who Fell To Earth: The Musical" official website]

Plot summary

Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth seeking to construct a spaceship to ferry others from his home planet, Anthea, to Earth. Anthea is experiencing a terrible drought after many nuclear wars, and the population has dwindled to nearly 300. Like all Antheans, he is super-intelligent, but he has been selected to complete this mission for his strength, due to the harsh climate and gravity of Earth compared to the cold, small Anthea.

Newton first lands in the state of Kentucky but quickly becomes familiarized with the environment and aspires to become an entrepreneur. Newton uses advanced technology from his home planet to patent many inventions on Earth, and rises as the head of a technology-based conglomerate to incredible wealth. This wealth is needed to construct his own space vehicle program in order to ferry the rest of the Anthean population.

Along the way he meets Betty Jo, a simple Kentucky woman. She falls in love with him. He does not share these feelings, but takes her, and his curious fuel-technician Nathan Bryce, as his few friends while he runs his company in the shadows. Betty Jo introduces Newton to many customs of Earth culture, amongst them church-going, fashion, and alcohol. However, his appetite for alcohol soon invokes much emotional instability, as he is forced to deal with intense human emotions with which Antheans are unfamiliar.

His secret identity as an alien is discovered by Nathan Bryce, but Newton, aware that he has been discovered, is relieved to reveal his identity to someone for the first time. The Antheans he will ferry to Earth will flourish and hopefully make use of their superintelligence to influence Earth to peace, prosperity, and safety from the apocalypse.

However, the CIA arrests Newton, having followed him since his appearance on Earth and having recorded this private conversation with Bryce. They submit him to rigorous tests and analysis, but ultimately find that, despite much conclusive evidence of his alien identity, it would be pointless to release the results because the public would not believe the truth. Such claims would also reflect poorly on the Democratic Party, responsible for the capture. The CIA releases Newton, but no sooner than he tries to exit his building, the FBI, uninformed by the CIA that Newton is exempt from further tests, commences their own brief examinations. Their final examination is ultimately an X-ray test of Newton's eyes. Newton, whose eyes are sensitive to X-rays, tries to stop them to no avail and is blinded.

The story of Newton's blinding reaches the press in a frenzy, and, ironically, the story is used by the Republican Party to depict the Democrats as being corrupt, and leads to their seizure of power, which is to inevitably lead to apocalypse.

Newton, in a final confrontation with Bryce, is bitterly unable to continue his spaceship project due to planetary alignments having changed during captivity and the troubles of his blindness. He creates a recording of alien messages which he hopes to be broadcast via radio to his home.

References

*cite book | title=The Man Who Fell to Earth | last=Tevis | first=Walter | authorlink=Walter Tevis | publisher=Del Rey Books | location=New York | year=1963 | edition=2005 ed.

External links

* [http://www.ket.org/bookclub/books/2002_jan/transcript401.htm Transcript of "book club" discussion on Kentucky Educational Television]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Man Who Fell to Earth — may refer to: The Man Who Fell to Earth (novel), the 1963 science fiction novel by Walter Tevis The Man Who Fell to Earth (film), the 1976 film based on the novel, starring David Bowie and directed by Nicolas Roeg The Man Who Fell to Earth (TV… …   Wikipedia

  • The Man Who Fell to Earth (film) — Infobox Film | name = The Man Who Fell to Earth caption = Promotional film poster director = Nicolas Roeg producer = Michael Deeley Barry Spikings writer = Walter Tevis (novel) Paul Mayersberg starring = David Bowie Rip Torn Candy Clark music =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Man Who Fell to Earth (TV) — In 1987 The Man Who Fell to Earth was made into a pilot for an attempted television series based on the 1976 film and the 1963 science fiction novel by Walter Tevis. There are some distinct changes from the novel. Most notably, the names of the… …   Wikipedia

  • The Zygon Who Fell to Earth — Bigfinishbox title=The Zygon Who Fell to Earth series=Doctor Who number=New EDAs 2.6 featuring=Eighth Doctor Lucie Miller writer=Paul Magrs director=Barnaby Edwards producer= executive producer=Nicholas Briggs production code=BFPDWCDMG014 set… …   Wikipedia

  • The Man in the High Castle —   …   Wikipedia

  • The Phoenix (1982 TV series) — The Phoenix is a 1982 television series starring Judson Scott which was on ABC for about one month in 1982. [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/7705/judson/phoenix.html] The plot revolved around an ancient extraterrestrial named Bennu of… …   Wikipedia

  • The Color of Money — This article is about the book and the film. For the British game show, see The Colour of Money (game show). The Color of Money Theatrical poster Directed by …   Wikipedia

  • Mockingbird (Tevis novel) — Not to be confused with Mockingbird, the fantasy novel by Sean Stewart. Mockingbird   …   Wikipedia

  • The Godfather Part II — Original film poster Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • The Phantom — For other uses, see The Phantom (disambiguation). The Phantom Promotional art for DC Comics The Phantom #1 (May 1988), by Joe Orlando and Dave Gibbons Publication info …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”