759 books
—
120 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as Want to Read:
The Man Who Fell to Earth
by
T.J. Newton is an extraterrestrial who goes to Earth on a desperate mission of mercy. But instead of aid, Newton discovers loneliness and despair that ultimately ends in tragedy.
Get A Copy
Paperback, 209 pages
Published
September 28th 1999
by Del Rey
(first published February 1963)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Man Who Fell to Earth,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Man Who Fell to Earth
This story is more psychological than science fiction. The main character, Thomas Jerome Newton, is an extraterrestrial from a planet called Anthea. He came to Earth in hopes of designing, manufacturing, and launching several spaceships to return to his home planet. His home planet has become a desert wasteland ravaged by nuclear war. He was chosen by his people to venture to Earth and undertake the rescue mission.
Newton uses the advanced technology from his home planet to earn millions and fin ...more
“The man was very odd. Tall, thin, with white hair and a fine, delicate bone structure. He had smooth skin and a boyish face – but the eyes were very strange, as though they were weak, over-sensitive, yet with a look that was old and wise and tired.”
In short, he looks a lot like this:
Ground control to Major Thomas?
The eponymous Man Who Fell to Earth is one Thomas Jerome Newton, a rather commonplace name, not alienesque like Xarx or something along that line. Of course, his real name is very unli ...more
In short, he looks a lot like this:
Ground control to Major Thomas?
The eponymous Man Who Fell to Earth is one Thomas Jerome Newton, a rather commonplace name, not alienesque like Xarx or something along that line. Of course, his real name is very unli ...more
The Man Who Fell to Earth is my second Walter Tevis novel and unfortunately I didn’t like it anywhere near as much as I did The Queen’s Gambit.
Superficially it’s a sci-fi novel: the protagonist is Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien from the planet Anthea (Venus?), who comes to Earth to make enough money to build a rocketship to send back home and bring his people over to water-rich Earth. Alright, fine, that’s the premise and, very loosely, the plot. What it is in actuality? About a sad and lonely ...more
Superficially it’s a sci-fi novel: the protagonist is Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien from the planet Anthea (Venus?), who comes to Earth to make enough money to build a rocketship to send back home and bring his people over to water-rich Earth. Alright, fine, that’s the premise and, very loosely, the plot. What it is in actuality? About a sad and lonely ...more
I had nearly forgotten why people start reading in the first place: the joy of an honest story. I'm so used to the writer as the essential protagonist, the writing as his conflict, and whether or not I want to throw away his book as his comedic or tragic end. But this just unfolds cleanly, without seeming consciously written at all. Never an "ohhh that was beautiful" and very rarely a distracting wince. I got deeply engaged without any self-discipline at all.
It's lightening-quick and so satisfy ...more
It's lightening-quick and so satisfy ...more
Brilliant. This a deceptively simple story, told in simple, uncomplicated prose, but with unexpected depth and relevance. It might come off as slightly trite now, as with most mid-20th century fiction set in "the near future" (the late 1980s, of all things!), but I'm sure in 1963 it was truly a sign of the times. What I'm sure hasn't lost its charge over the years is the tint of sadness, of individualized despair, that permeates the book and ultimately embitters the characters. No one escapes th
...more
How you could read this and NOT cast David Bowie in the movie I have no idea
no ray guns are fired or space battles waged in this poignant novel. there is a spaceship yes, but it is incapacitated after it deposits its passenger on earth. the passenger is an alien from a dying planet named anthea and he's looking for an escape - a place for the remnants of his people. his name on earth will be t.j. newton (sometimes called tommy) and this novel is his story, of how our world affects him, physically and emotionally, as he tries to achieve his mission.
there's not much more ...more
there's not much more ...more
I enjoyed this philosophical look inwards. Tevis does a good job of examining how much we can be influenced by those around us and the company we keep.
It's not really sci-fi if that makes sense. Tevis needed a character not from this world to show how easily any one or thing can fall into cycles of addiction, greed, self loathing, and malaise. Even when one has an important mission or goal.
The ending was very well done, perfectly conveying that despite how bleak things have become even of it is ...more
It's not really sci-fi if that makes sense. Tevis needed a character not from this world to show how easily any one or thing can fall into cycles of addiction, greed, self loathing, and malaise. Even when one has an important mission or goal.
The ending was very well done, perfectly conveying that despite how bleak things have become even of it is ...more
This novel follows an extraterrestrial, arriving on Earth to see if he can find a way to bring his drought suffering people into the planet so that they might live.
This is one of my favourite science-fiction classics, and is truly worth the read, as an exploration, not only of science, but of the human nature and politics. We get a deep understanding of the main character, as he suffers for being an alien in a planet that will hurt him if they discover who he is, and the pressure of thinking of ...more
This is one of my favourite science-fiction classics, and is truly worth the read, as an exploration, not only of science, but of the human nature and politics. We get a deep understanding of the main character, as he suffers for being an alien in a planet that will hurt him if they discover who he is, and the pressure of thinking of ...more
SF Masterworks (2010- series) #81: A story with multiple points of view of an alien invasion, by one alien, Thomas Jerome Newton. What does he want, why does he need to amass huge sums of money? What happened when Newton met alcohol? And what happens to alien surrounded by billions of children, the human race? A deceptively simple, action-less and short story that uses science fiction to tell a very human story, that of alcoholism, loneliness and mankind's knowing walk to global self-destruction
...more
Only came to this book through a winding road of Valis by PKD in his description of David Bowie in the novel. PKD was influenced by Bowie in the movie "The man who fell to earth". I watched, thought it was interesting, and THEN finally read the novel, which, I'm sure most people will agree, was a lot better than the movie. That being said, I did like the book quite a bit, being an outsider type of novel with a lot to say about those earthling aliens. Fun read and well done, well worth being a cl
...more
I was afraid of you then. I am afraid of you now. I have been afraid of all manner of things every moment I have spent on this planet, on this monstrous, beautiful, terrifying planet with all its strange creatures and its abundant water, and all of its human people. I am afraid now. I will be afraid to die here.
3.5 to 4.0 stars. I really struggled between giving this 3 or 4 stars and settled closer to 4 for one primary reason: the ending of the story was deeply emotional and I believe will stay with me for some time. Apart from the excellent ending, the rest of the story was well-written, moved along at a good pace and kept me interested.
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky, we know Major Thom’s a drunkard, strung out in heaven’s high, hitting an all-time low . . .
3.8⭐
Very original for it's day and still. A well written and very different take on first contact. Bottom line, don't mess around with the humans...they're nasty. ...more
Very original for it's day and still. A well written and very different take on first contact. Bottom line, don't mess around with the humans...they're nasty. ...more
I last read The Man Who Fell to Earth (1963) in the late 1970s as a Bowie obsessed teenager. Subsequent multiple viewings of the wonderful Nic Roeg directed film version, which stars Mr Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton, left the differences between film and book quite muddled in my mind. It turns out there are a few fairly superficial differences in the plots, but nothing significant.
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a mere 209 pages and, despite being almost 60 years old, still packs a punch and stands ...more
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a mere 209 pages and, despite being almost 60 years old, still packs a punch and stands ...more
Jun 14, 2020
Rachel (Kalanadi)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
sf-masterworks-project
This is sad, and every single character has a drinking problem (the book should come doused in the scent of gin), but it was also really good.
Bizarre, trippy mid-60s book that was made into a bizarre, trippy mid-70s movie. I'm reluctant to even call this a work of science fiction; it's more a work of psychological fiction told via a sci-fi setting. In some ways, it also reminds me of Cold War spy fiction, like the TV show "The Americans" - focusing not so much on action as what happens to foreigners/aliens who spend years learning how to pass as humans/Americans, but then can't quite pull it off, or reconcile their mission with their
...more
The literary equivilant of a flower growing through a block of cement. The characterization is clumsy, obvious and in the case of the gin soaked country woman straight out of "Lady For A Day" borders on self parody. The social commentary is sometimes bizarre such as when our alien friend ruminates on the pros and cons of The Welfare State and sometimes obvious with it's JESUS WAS TEH ALIEN subtext. And lordy if you don't think that a book as slight as 160 pages can be overwritten within an inch
...more
"Where will you go....with the money?"
"Maybe to the Pacific, to Tahiti. We'll probably take an air-conditioner with us."
#theguywiththebookreview presents: The man who fell to Earth.
This book is going to stay with me for a long time. Not because of great/good/pleasing writing but because I expect it to have many layers which will unearth themselves when I talk about it. Some moments of sheer frustration at our hapless nature gripped me by the end. The book was very effective in conveying a mess ...more
"Maybe to the Pacific, to Tahiti. We'll probably take an air-conditioner with us."
#theguywiththebookreview presents: The man who fell to Earth.
This book is going to stay with me for a long time. Not because of great/good/pleasing writing but because I expect it to have many layers which will unearth themselves when I talk about it. Some moments of sheer frustration at our hapless nature gripped me by the end. The book was very effective in conveying a mess ...more
A true alien visitation, classic Sci-fi tale from 1963 that still reads as if it was written yesterday, well ...almost!
An alien lands on Earth and tries to improve the 'life chances' for his own civilisation and those of both the human race and of planet Earth itself.
Genuinely absorbing, fascinating and intriguing, from start to finish.
Absolutely loved everything about it, never a dull moment.
Found the ending to be so profound, touching and moving - very clever and extremely thought provoking.
F ...more
An alien lands on Earth and tries to improve the 'life chances' for his own civilisation and those of both the human race and of planet Earth itself.
Genuinely absorbing, fascinating and intriguing, from start to finish.
Absolutely loved everything about it, never a dull moment.
Found the ending to be so profound, touching and moving - very clever and extremely thought provoking.
F ...more
Oct 06, 2008
Erik Graff
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
sf fans, those interested in the Bowie movie
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
sf
Picked this one up somewhere in Edison Park, Chicago, my home in Park Ridge being right across Canfield/Ozanam from the city limits. Read it on the same day I, rarely satisfied under our household's strict food regimen, bought my first real food, a can of black olives.
The Man Who Fell to Earth was one of the saddest books I'd ever read at the time. Its protagonist's good intentions towards us, the extremity under which his own species had found itself and his great loneliness were all very movin ...more
The Man Who Fell to Earth was one of the saddest books I'd ever read at the time. Its protagonist's good intentions towards us, the extremity under which his own species had found itself and his great loneliness were all very movin ...more
Apr 18, 2008
Raegan Butcher
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
aliens and drunks or drunk aliens
Simply fantastic. This is one of the most heartbreaking novels written in the past 50 years.
Who would have thought that a book about an alien coming to Earth could be so sad?? I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
I've discovered this book completely by chance (having heard of the film but never seen it) and absolutely fell in love with it. Often the book or a movie are being referred to as classic and it has to do more with their age than their contents, this book however is a fine example of a real scifi classic, one that teaches us something about ourselves through a different perspective. If there were no dates in the book at all (dates that might have seemed like a future back when the novel was writ
...more
Jan 11, 2016
Bryn Hammond
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
imagined-fiction
This is the cover I had because Bowie. Read this more than once because Bowie. It suited him.
Got around to reading this after finishing ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ recently. I must say I really enjoyed it. Alien comes to earth full of good intentions and things don’t go as well as they might have . No complicated sub plots or deep levels of meaning. It’s just a simple story well told. What more can you ask for?
I was long aware of this book through the Roeg/Bowie film of 1976. The starman was perfectly cast, of course (cocaine addiction is the ideal Stanislavskian preparation for projecting alienation). Furthermore, it's lived with me across those years because stills of the leading man feature on the covers of his albums Station to Station and Low, which happen to be two of my favourite albums (if 'Wild Is the Wind' and 'Sound and Vision' don't move you, you're a space alien too). I'd never seen a phy
...more
The best science fiction, for me as a reader who's not a sci-fan stan, relies on characters and their development and plot rather than speculation about whiz-bang technology and imagined futures. The science fiction in Walter Tevis' The Man Who Fell to Earth might seem dated to some readers, but it's a novel that succeeds on the basis of its characters and character development, plot, and cockeyed view of American culture and politics. Tevis asks his readers whether our humanity rests in our or
...more
Author Walter Tevis said of his book “The Man Who Fell to Earth”, it was the most autobiographical of all his books. At first that seems totally absurd, how is a novel about an alien who comes to the earth with the mission of saving his own planet autobiographical? Then you read it, and with a bit of biographical information it makes sense.
“The Man Who Fell to Earth” is the story of Thomas Newton, an alien who appears in Kentucky, he has a pocketful of gold rings and a mind full of inventions th ...more
“The Man Who Fell to Earth” is the story of Thomas Newton, an alien who appears in Kentucky, he has a pocketful of gold rings and a mind full of inventions th ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Bowie Book Club: Book review | 4 | 19 | Feb 10, 2017 02:21PM | |
| The Bowie Book Club: Reading discussion + General comments, background and resources | 10 | 24 | Jan 28, 2017 09:34AM | |
| Goodreads Italia: GdL Narrativa Marzo 2013: L'uomo che cadde sulla Terra di Walter Tevis - Commenti e discussione | 37 | 95 | Apr 18, 2013 10:46AM |
Readers also enjoyed
485 users
193 users
76 users
29 users
27 users
23 users
22 users
19 users
11 users
10 users
Walter Stone Tevis was an American novelist and short story writer. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money and The Man Who Fell to Earth. The Queen's Gambit has also been adapted in 2020 into a 7-episode mini-series. His books have been translated into at least 18 languages.
...more
Related Articles
Buying a gift for a bookworm seems like it should be easy, but it proves to be a daunting task year after year. Before you drive...
111 likes · 28 comments
2 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“The strange thing about television is that it doesn't tell you everything.”
—
18 likes
“Not all of us are insane.’ ‘But most of you are. Enough of you are – it only requires a few insane ones, in the right places.”
—
5 likes
More quotes…
