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Recommended Books: The War of the Worlds
 

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

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The War of the Worlds

H.G. Wells
New York, New York: Bantam Books, 1898

Linus Pauling, Ph.D.Recommended by:
Linus Pauling, Ph.D.

I read everything I could get my hands on. Early science fiction, and of course Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. The War of the Worlds, for example. I think that was the one in which these flying machines came over at the tremendous height of 400 feet above the ground, and dropped bombs or threatened to drop bombs. I can remember one of his stories where there were large speakers at the street corners, advertising and saying things like, "Buy Glaxo cold medicine and control your cold." He anticipated many developments, just as did the other writers of science fiction. I also remember some stories about a boy who had an extraordinary memory. He was called in to help solve problems such as discovering a criminal by recalling a scene and pointing out some features that weren't in his conscious memory before. The boy was called Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus Todd, and I suppose I identified somewhat with him, being the hero in providing the solution to a problem.

About the Book

The first novel to depict the invasion of earth by creatures from another planet.




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