Reflections On "The Man Who Fell To Earth" by Walter Tevis

 

 A little more than a year ago, I watched a documentary on KET about the life of Walter Tevis who had suddenly risen once again to a high profile in the media because of the success of a television miniseries based on his book "The Queen's Gambit" which is about a young female character who becomes a chess champion.  I have to admit I have still not read that book despite its having been on my large To Be Read Shelf for over a year.  But I did read his science fiction classic, "The Man Who Fell to Earth" and loved it to the degree that it prompted me to order most of his published works and add them to my long list of books I "will get around to someday". But let's talk about the actual subject of this blog post, "The Man Who Fell To Earth".  Tevis's work on that book is as good as any science fiction I have ever read.  It is one of those rare works of science fiction which also falls solidly within the larger and more important body of what we know as "Great Literature".  It is a masterpiece and deserves every accolade it has ever received. It is masterful science fiction which is solidly based in the minds of both its characters and the author and not in ray gun shoot 'em up scenes which are cheap copies of some bad John Wayne western as much of ordinary science fiction is today.  

 

The main character in the book is Thomas Jerome Newton from the planet Anthea who has been sent to earth to determine if it is possible for the occupants of his doomed planet to emigrate to earth in order to save their lives and their much more advanced culture.  His spaceship is destroyed on landing and it is determined that he will not be able to return to his home planet.  He is humanoid in appearance with some odd features which he is able to disguise well enough to "pass" as human for quite some time.  He becomes a very wealthy individual because he is able to patent many ideas which his culture has produced that are much more scientifically advanced than anything on earth.  But his obvious intelligence and scientific acumen are soon recognized the government as being impossible for an ordinary human to have achieved and "the jig is up" to use common vernacular.  But in the end, he is allowed to remain on earth, still disguised as a human, living in quiet semi-poverty with a Social Security check and a small apartment.  This is a book which no aficionado of science fiction can claim expert status in the field without having read.  The book was made into a movie starring David Bowie in 1976 for which Bowie recieved rave reviews playing the truly unique alien.  It was also made into a 2022 Showtime miniseries which "The Guardian" panned as "a misbegotten and poorly paced attempt to update the 1976 cult sci-fi classic".  I have to admit that I have never seen either production of the work, but I will go so far as to say that I won't bother with the Showtime effort based on "The Guardian's" review.  When the time comes that is available somewhere again on television, I will definitely watch the 1976 work with David Bowie.