Book info

• Title E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Author William Kotzwinkle
• Year 1982
• Genre Science Fiction

What do you do when you're lost, millions of miles from home, surrounded by frightening creatures? You do what the Old Botanist did when he was accidentally left behind on Earth. First you find a friend...

Thoughts

As I’ve said many times before, I love a good movie novelisation. This was not a good movie novelisation. It tells the story of the film, fine, but the extra insight that you get from reading a book of the screenplay was… well, disturbing. ET has a whole backstory about being a botanist, but also as we get to know his thoughts through the activities on Earth, I’d rather not know. When you watch the film, he’s a sweet lost alien. In the book, it’s a very different tone. Also we get to know more about Mary, the mother, and that’s worrying in itself too. It’s an interesting read but if you have any affection for the film at all, I’d recommend giving this a miss.

Rating: 2 / 5