On 18 March 2021 we met on Zoom (inna lockdown stylee once again) to discuss Nigel’s “Loving The Alien” themed choices….
Loving The Alien
READ: The Man Who Fell To Earth (1963) by Walter Tevis
LISTEN: Loving The Alien playlist
WATCH: Aliens (1986) dir by James Cameron
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1963) by Walter Tevis
Nigel explained how he was a teenage Bowie freak who had last read The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis as a teen in late 1970s London suburbia following the 1976 Nic Roeg film adaptation.
Nigel has seen the Nic Roeg film numerous times over the years and recalls this far more clearly than the source novel.
Generally we felt the film unfairly overshadows the film. The book is possibly now the better cultural experience.
In 2020 Nigel read another Walter Tevis novel, The Queens Gambit (1983), which was recently turned into a very successful Netflix series. Nigel had not seen the adaptation. Reading The Queens Gambit prompted Nigel to look at other Tevis novels. Three of Walter Tevis's six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money and, of course, The Man Who Fell to Earth. This realisation inspired this choice.
Not only did The Man Who Fell to Earth inspire the Roeg film it also inspired Bowie’s Lazarus 2015 musical.
Despite being a mere 209 pages and almost 60 years old the novel still packs a powerful punch and has stood the test of time. Thomas Jerome Newton, the eponymous man, is not a man but an alien from a far off planet hoping to rescue his own dying species. He is able to pass himself off as human and, using his advanced technological knowledge, creates a very profitable corporation. His mission, which always felt like a long shot, becomes ever more futile.
As with most great Science Fiction, the story is a way of holding up a mirror up to own world. Hamish questioned whether it really is a sci fi novel given that it is all on Earth.
Themes we discerned…
The Cold War. The novel is a product of its era. Newton explains that it was atomic weapons which all but destroyed his planet and that Earth is heading for the same fate
Melancholy. Every character seems lost. Newton is of course literally lost far from home but Bryce and Betty Jo are also lost souls. Newton, the fragile alien, is in the grip of an existential crisis, sick of pop culture and suspicious of authority. It’s only Farnsworth who seems remotely satisfied but he’s only a bit part character who we never really get to know.
Our treatment of people/organisms who are different to us (immigrants, animals, different cultures etc). Usually with mistrust, aggression, suspicion and even abuse - and a distinct lack of any empathy
Our desire to fit in. Thomas Jerome Newton quickly starts to “go native” and soon feels his mission is futile. Indeed he’s relieved when he can abandon his mission. Roland felt Newton quickly becomes human and alcohol is just a symptom of humanity’s general malaise
Alcoholism. Newton and Betty Jo are reliant on alcohol to get through the day. The novel is permeated with booze. Write about what you know is the age old advice to authors, so it’s surely no coincidence that Walter Tevis had a serious alcohol problem? Keith wondered if this aspect was wholly successful. Robin felt people (and aliens) who are displaced are more prone to becoming alcoholics.
The Man Who Fell To Earth is a top notch philosophical, provocative and contemplative sci-fi. An excellent story arc maintains the readers interest. Well written with surprising literary flourishes.
Nick 8.5 / Tristan 7.5 / Nigel 8 / Keith 8 / Roland 7.5 / Robin 7.5 / Hamish 8.5
Loving The Alien playlist
The strong links between the book and David Bowie made a Bowie playlist all but inevitable. Bowie’s preoccupation with Aliens sealed the deal. Obviously Bowie didn’t really believe in Aliens but felt they were a useful metaphor for exploring issues of otherness and difference. Just like Walter Tevis. Plus Aliens and space are cool and fun, of course.
The playlist is a selection of some of Bowie’s alien or spaced themed tunes which also serves as the briefest of whistle stops through his wonderful and varied musical career.
We open with Bowie’s first hit, the Apollo 11 inspired tune, which still sounds as timeless and perfect as it ever did, before jumping forward to Lazarus, one of the last songs he released. Lazarus was, according to Bowie's producer Tony Visconti, a self-epitaph and a commentary on his impending death. Listening to it still brings a lump to my throat…. Look up here, I'm in heaven, I’ve got scars that can't be seen
Tempting though it is to go through the playlists song by song we mainly agreed that this is a splendid selection of songs by one of the all time musical greats.
That said, Hamish shocked HBG by suggesting that there were three average songs. Robin felt Bowie was the easy option but still found time to laud the playlist and specifically the drum sound on Moonage Dream. Roland lambasted Bowie as “a very uneven artist” with “a lot of dross including Lazarus”. The playlist was a journey of rediscovery for Tristan having been an obsessive listener for four years and then wandered off to listen to other things. The variability was all part of the charm.
RIP Mr Bowie
Nick - / Tristan 7 / Nigel 10 / Keith - / Roland 5 / Robin 9 / Hamish 7
Aliens (1986) dir by James Cameron
Nigel explained how he’d managed never to see this film despite enjoying the original 1979 Alien film on multiple occasions. It was, of course, an obvious fit with our Loving The Alien theme. HBG is also very keen on a good old fashioned blockbuster of any vintage.
The banter amongst the Marines has not aged too well but, that aside, Aliens stands up really well given its age.
The cast are the usual mishmash of marines and technicians with solitary company man the slimy Burke obviously a wrong un from the off.
Plotwise Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley must surely have been able to relate to John McClane’s quip in Die Hard 2 “How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?”
Once we’re back on the planet it really is same shit/different day however the tension never lets up and it’s incredible how the film maintains such a pitch of unremitting intensity for so long. The running time flies by but the viewer is totally drained by the conclusion.
Hamish was less enthused and Keith even less so. However Tristan felt this is a masterpiece and he loves it.
Nick 12 / Tristan 9 / Nigel 8 / Keith - / Roland 3 / Robin - / Hamish 5
HBG endorse it: 12 February 2021 - 18 March 2021
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020) (dir by Julien Temple) (BBC iPlayer)
Beats (2019) dir by Brian Welsh
Informer (BBC series on Netflix)
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (Book)
Can’t Get You Out of My Head (Adam Curtis series on iPlayer)
Zero Zero Zero (Sky Atlantic)
Unforgotten (Netflix / ITV)
Ride Upon The Storm (Walter All4)
Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan (Novel)
Beautiful Boy (BBC iPlayer)
Waves (Now TV)
The Forty Year Old Version (Netflix)
News of the World (Netflix)
The White Tiger (Netflix)
The Terror (BBC iPlayer)
Raging Bull (Film)
Call My Agent (Netflix)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Novel)
Next time out we will discuss Robin’s choices….
How to save the planet
READ: Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (2018) by Isabel Tree
Blackfish
LISTEN: How to save the planet playlist
WATCH: Blackfish (2013) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
