Reads like most of the dime a dozen sci-fi from around the era. I find it curious that anything so predictable would become known as 'The Thing' film phenomenon later on, films which are not worth celebrating either. Mind-numbingly boring.
Reads like most of the dime a dozen sci-fi from around the era. I find it curious that anything so predictable would become known as 'The Thing' film phenomenon later on, films which are not worth celebrating either. Mind-numbingly boring.
Most readers are probably familiar with the deservingly much vaunted John Carpenter The Thing that is based on this story and/or the more recent prequel. Some readers are undoubtedly also familiar with the earlier, 'Thing From Another World', which the novella more closely resembles. Though there are still no mutant carrot monsters here. As some other reviewers noted, there dialogue is pretty densely packed in here, more closely resembling the 1951 film in that way. Though it tends to be even more expository in nature, and without as much of the casual humor. The novella is, on the whole, more than a bit over-written, with a lot of not particularly deftly arranged adverb usage. However, both this and the dialogue itself feel at least somewhat a function of the time this was written. It has the general feel of those early science fiction B movies, but as if it was …
Most readers are probably familiar with the deservingly much vaunted John Carpenter The Thing that is based on this story and/or the more recent prequel. Some readers are undoubtedly also familiar with the earlier, 'Thing From Another World', which the novella more closely resembles. Though there are still no mutant carrot monsters here. As some other reviewers noted, there dialogue is pretty densely packed in here, more closely resembling the 1951 film in that way. Though it tends to be even more expository in nature, and without as much of the casual humor. The novella is, on the whole, more than a bit over-written, with a lot of not particularly deftly arranged adverb usage. However, both this and the dialogue itself feel at least somewhat a function of the time this was written. It has the general feel of those early science fiction B movies, but as if it was written by a pulp detective noir author instead of one accustomed to working in science fiction. This does give us some great, Robert E. Howard-esque, physical descriptions of characters with the role of MacReady feeling less Kurt Russell and more Conan. And, clearly, there is some clever in print wordplay with names more reminiscent of tongue in cheak victorian social commentary than scifi of this era. Film fans likely thought of him as McCreedy, based on sound alone, rather than the much more interesting Mac-Ready...because he most certainly is ready for just about any situation. I'd likely have given this an even 2.5 stars, if we were allowed to give fractions of stars. I think its worth a read if you don't have anything else pressing on your plate and can pick it up cheap or free. But I wouldn't prioritize it.
