The Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (Audiobook Review)

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Title: The Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Author: Jack Finney
Narrator: Kristoffer Tabori
Copyright: 2007, Blackstone Audio
Duration: 6 hours, 39 minutes
Genres: science fiction, horror, classic fiction
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Blackstone Audio.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: On a quiet fall evening in the small, peaceful town of Mill Valley, California, Dr. Miles Bennell discovers an insidious, horrifying plot. Silently, subtly, almost imperceptibly, alien life-forms are taking over the bodies and minds of his neighbors, his friends, his family, the woman he loves, and the world as he knows it.
This classic 1955 thriller of the triumph of the human spirit over an invisible enemy inspired the acclaimed 1956 film, directed by Don Siegel and named one of Time magazine's 100 Best Films. Blackstone's edition is read by Don Siegel's son, actor-director Kristoffer Tabori, an Emmy and Audie Award winner, and concludes with the narrator's insider reminiscences of his father's work on the film.
©1955, 1983 Jack Finney; (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I doubt there is a science fiction or horror fan in the world that doesn’t know and love this classic story. I like stories of alien invasions, extra-terrestrials with overwhelming numbers and overpowering technology, humanity desperately fighting to the last man, but this…this is something altogether different. Jack Finney’s aliens are quiet and subtle, coming in the dead of night while we sleep, overcoming us one by one with no one the wiser. And according to Finney, these aliens aren’t taking over the earth because they hate us, or because they need our natural resources: they are doing it simply because we were there. This makes them seem somehow colder and more terrifying.
At the same time, I wonder if Jack Finney isn’t warning us of a different kind of terror in The Invasion of the Body snatchers. The main character, Miles, is a man approaching middle age, a man whose marriage has recently collapsed. Suddenly, his whole world has begun to change and look different. People he has known all his life are acting funny, so that it seems he hardly knows them at all. Even the familiar places of his home town look foreign, or perhaps alien, to him. Maybe this is what happens to us when we reach middle age and begin to reflect back on our lives. That’s almost as scary as alien invaders.
I enjoyed Kristoffer Tabori’s narration of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He has a rich, warm voice that is very pleasant to listen to, and he actually reminded me a little of George Guidall. Tabori also was the voice of the narrator, Miles, in the 1976 audio dramatization of the novel.
At the end of this audiobook is a brief afterword by the narrator, Kristoffer Tabori. It was Tabori’s father, Don Siegel, who directed the original film adaptation for this novel in 1956. Tabori spends a few minutes talking about his father, the creation of the film, and some of his memories of the time.

FILM ADAPTATION: The Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been adapted to film twice. The first was released in 1956, and was directed by Don Siegel, the father of Kristoffer Tabori who narrated the audiobook. This original film starred Kevin McCarthy and Dana Winter. I’ve never seen this one since I like more modern films with better special effects.
The second film, and the one that scared the pants off me when I was a kid, was released in 1978. This sci-fi, horror classic starred Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, and Jeff Goldblum. I have to admit that this film changed Finney’s original story around quite a bit, but the changes made the story seem more real somehow, and ultimately more terrifying.

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If you like this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney (Unabridged Audiobook) from Blackstone Audio.

Interested in the film?
Get "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" starring Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy (collector's edition DVD) from Amazon.com.

This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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