The Eve of the War…
I’ve been wanting to do a reading of WotW for awhile now, for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I love the story. I consider it to be Well’s best work, still resonating today in highlighting the foibles of our human existence against a vasty and implacable cosmos.
Not to mention some pretty sick catharsis. The Martians just kind of stroll in and start blasting like an unconcerned Danny DeVito meme, much to the chagrin of people who Thought They Knew It All. WotW is a piercing commentary on the nature of colonialism, of imperialism, and what lies behind the properly educated and civilized human mask when the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. It’s also a snapshot of the haughty Victorian sense of place, and, less we think we’re oh-so-much-better now, I dare you to look at any batch of international (or local, for that matter) news you like, and see if things have really changed all that much, especially if you’re in a marginalized community.
Besides which, once you get to the descriptions of the fleshy bits of the Martians themselves, it’s hard not to see some parallels between them and certain, ahem, space-faring elites that regularly make the news cycle and own various media companies and might just be blood suckers, to boot. Maybe.
So, lot’s of fun, in other words! I’ll be rolling all this out a chapter at a time, hopefully once a week, and if all goes well we’ll have a nice big audio con-glom at the end of things. Until then, Share and Enjoy! Return to the wilds of 1897, fire up the Archéophone, put yer feet up, and sip that hot cocoa. Below lurks a trailer for Episode One1:
As ever, best with headphones.
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