The novel The War Of The Worlds, compared to the musical version, by Jeff Wayne.

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Hannah Voice     Year 10 alpha

The novel The War Of The Worlds, compared to the musical version, by Jeff Wayne

Having read the science fiction novel The War Of The Worlds, by H G Wells, which describes the enchanting yet gruesome story of the Martians invading, attacking and destroying earth, we have decided to compare the musical version, by Jeff Wayne, to the first five chapters of the book.

H G Wells’ novel is a fantastic representation of what science fiction should be. However, I do not consider that the music does justice to the breathtaking words of Wells.

The opening line of the script is “No one would have believed, in the last of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own”, and this is a wonderful line to unlock the tale. It tells us all that we need to know to launch the fascinating insight into people’s lives and possible futures; it is direct and does not present us with insignificant information before giving us the principal facts.

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The narration by Richard Burton, is a credit to the music. His voice is calm, steady and direct. He has a deep tone, which generates a commanding manner. He makes you feel that you want to listen to him, rather than feeling that you have to listen to him. Yet there is something evil about his voice; but as we know from reading the novel, he is only the storyteller, but his voice undoubtedly gives us the sense that something bad is about to happen.

Wells then goes on to provide facts about why it hadn’t even crossed people’s minds ...

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