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Greener Than You Think
Ward Moore's classic novel "Greener Than You Think" posits a world with Bermuda grass running out of control -- choking out every other plant and destroying the food supply of animals and humanity alike. Originally published in 1947.
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1947
24 people are currently reading
659 people want to read
About the author
Ward Moore
75 books38 followersJoseph Ward Moore was born in Madison, New Jersey and raised in Montreal and New York City.
His first novel was published in 1942 and included some autobiographical elements. He wrote not only books but reviews and articles for magazines and newspapers.
In early 50s, he became book review editor of Frontier and started to write regularly for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His most famous novel was Bring the Jubilee (1953), and his other works include Greener Than You Think (1947) and the post-apocalyptic short stories "Lot" (1953) and "Lot's Daughter" (1954).
His first novel was published in 1942 and included some autobiographical elements. He wrote not only books but reviews and articles for magazines and newspapers.
In early 50s, he became book review editor of Frontier and started to write regularly for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His most famous novel was Bring the Jubilee (1953), and his other works include Greener Than You Think (1947) and the post-apocalyptic short stories "Lot" (1953) and "Lot's Daughter" (1954).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
April 13, 2024
Greener Than You Think is a novel that I've heard about for years but somehow never got around to reading. It has a reputation for being a classic early story of ecological horror, but I found it to be more of a very dated satirical parody of the military and the press and scientists and politicians and economics, peopled with unpleasant and stereotypical characters. It's a very misogynistic story, even by 1947's standards; the woman who develops the problem isn't taken seriously by the military because they know that the only reason a woman could be a scientist is that she would have to have a flat chest or facial hair, and raping women in the streets is mentioned as a form of celebration. The protagonist, Weener, is such a complete jerk that one is almost relieved when the planet is destroyed at last. The story switches from a traditional narrative to a series of diary entries partway through and the transition is jarring. On the other hand, there were some amusing bits here and there, and I enjoyed listening to a very enthusiastic and professional reading via LibriVox. It wasn't anything like what I expected, but I'm glad I finally got around to it, especially in this format.
April 12, 2014
This was a book that took me a while to read. It's not because is not interesting but because from the second half of the novel it drags a little and it's the same thing over and over again.
Basiclly the plot is a apocalpytic fiction but not the usual types out there. It was not a war, a plague, alien influence, divine action or something like that. It all begins with grass.
Indeed, grass. Bermuda Grass for that matter.
We have here, a new experiment straight from the lab. It grows greener than green and will be the envy of all your neighbours. Nothing can destroy it so it will always be beautiful and green. Would you care to have it sir?
If you said yes, then you doomed mankind. Because as it says... it grows and grows and nothing can destroy it. It thrives on everything, it eats everything in its path. This is the plot. How mankind tries to battle this devil bermuda grass.
The characters are few and underdeveloped. Most of the time we are being told what the grass did or what the masses, armies and such are trying to do to stop the grass from engulfing first california then after a couple of years USA and North America, South America then the world. I am not saying nothing that the synopsis don't tell.
Besides the repiteve My main problem with this book was the making of the characters. Besides our main character everyone is a stereotype of person/group. The woman scientist, african-american, the military, the goverment, the newspaper editor and our main character - a salesman turn into the bigest most important person on earth. The only character that is quite singular is a reporter, who is also a magician and every time he talks he talks with a different Accent. Also, everyone has some satyrical tone to them...
Some prejudice in this book is also in order...
"A woman scientist, ay? Funny things women'll do when they can't get a man. But long-bearded or flat chested it's all the same. Gruesome, that's what they are, gruesome. Forget it."
One of the most interesting is the way the editor talk... it remembers some editor from some series...
"Gootes, you are the end-product of a long line of incestuous idiots, the winner of the booby prize in any intelligence test, but you have done yourself in bringing me this vermionus and maggoty ordure" said Le ffaçase, throwing my efforts to the fllor and kicking at them. The outrage made me boil and if he had not been an older man I might have done him an injury. " As for you, Weener, I doubt if you will ever be elevated to the ranks of idiocy. Get the sanguinary hell out of here and do humanity a favor to step in front of the first truck driving by."
"What the hell's this?" "By the balls of Benjamim Franklin and the little white fringe on Horace Greenley's chin, this goddamned thing's been wrote by hand! Aren't there any typewriters anymore? Did Mister Remington commit suicide unbeknownst to me?"
"You're a syncophant, Gootes, a miserable groveling lowlivered cringing fawning mealymouthed chickenhearted toadeating arse-licking , slobering syncophant."
This guy made me laugh.
These book deserves three stars but with all those and many more monologues I raised it to four.
Advisable? Well, it was written before the fifties so expect some prejudices, but if you want to read one of the first books on the subject end of the world then jump in. Don't expect a masterwork but it will be a fun ride, but a bit repetitive...
Basiclly the plot is a apocalpytic fiction but not the usual types out there. It was not a war, a plague, alien influence, divine action or something like that. It all begins with grass.
Indeed, grass. Bermuda Grass for that matter.
We have here, a new experiment straight from the lab. It grows greener than green and will be the envy of all your neighbours. Nothing can destroy it so it will always be beautiful and green. Would you care to have it sir?
If you said yes, then you doomed mankind. Because as it says... it grows and grows and nothing can destroy it. It thrives on everything, it eats everything in its path. This is the plot. How mankind tries to battle this devil bermuda grass.
The characters are few and underdeveloped. Most of the time we are being told what the grass did or what the masses, armies and such are trying to do to stop the grass from engulfing first california then after a couple of years USA and North America, South America then the world. I am not saying nothing that the synopsis don't tell.
Besides the repiteve My main problem with this book was the making of the characters. Besides our main character everyone is a stereotype of person/group. The woman scientist, african-american, the military, the goverment, the newspaper editor and our main character - a salesman turn into the bigest most important person on earth. The only character that is quite singular is a reporter, who is also a magician and every time he talks he talks with a different Accent. Also, everyone has some satyrical tone to them...
Some prejudice in this book is also in order...
"A woman scientist, ay? Funny things women'll do when they can't get a man. But long-bearded or flat chested it's all the same. Gruesome, that's what they are, gruesome. Forget it."
One of the most interesting is the way the editor talk... it remembers some editor from some series...
"Gootes, you are the end-product of a long line of incestuous idiots, the winner of the booby prize in any intelligence test, but you have done yourself in bringing me this vermionus and maggoty ordure" said Le ffaçase, throwing my efforts to the fllor and kicking at them. The outrage made me boil and if he had not been an older man I might have done him an injury. " As for you, Weener, I doubt if you will ever be elevated to the ranks of idiocy. Get the sanguinary hell out of here and do humanity a favor to step in front of the first truck driving by."
"What the hell's this?" "By the balls of Benjamim Franklin and the little white fringe on Horace Greenley's chin, this goddamned thing's been wrote by hand! Aren't there any typewriters anymore? Did Mister Remington commit suicide unbeknownst to me?"
"You're a syncophant, Gootes, a miserable groveling lowlivered cringing fawning mealymouthed chickenhearted toadeating arse-licking , slobering syncophant."
This guy made me laugh.
These book deserves three stars but with all those and many more monologues I raised it to four.
Advisable? Well, it was written before the fifties so expect some prejudices, but if you want to read one of the first books on the subject end of the world then jump in. Don't expect a masterwork but it will be a fun ride, but a bit repetitive...
April 1, 2015
Albert Weener, el cínico y mezquino narrador de la historia, es un vendedor puerta a puerta contratado por la doctora Francis para que venda su producto: el Metamorfoseador, que es capaz de mejorar sustancialmente el crecimiento de las gramíneas como medio para combatir el hambre en el mundo. Pero Albert, que no cree precisamente en el producto, decide probarlo en un césped marchito. Cuál no será su sorpresa cuando comprueba que realmente funciona. Pero surge un problema, y es que la hierba no deja de crecer y extenderse.
‘Más verde de lo que creéis’ (More Than You Think, 1947), del norteamericano Ward Moore, aparte de plantear un tema tan candente como es el cambio climático, es una visión bastante exacta de la codicia del ser humano. Interesante y ameno.
‘Más verde de lo que creéis’ (More Than You Think, 1947), del norteamericano Ward Moore, aparte de plantear un tema tan candente como es el cambio climático, es una visión bastante exacta de la codicia del ser humano. Interesante y ameno.
February 25, 2016
When I was a teenager I had a poster on my wall. It was a black and white picture of a beautiful Native American woman, and a text at the bottom half which said: "Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten." This quote kept popping up in my head while reading this book.
It is a story about one of the most redicilous little man (and I'm not talking about physical hight here) I have read in a long time. He is vain, sexist, self serving, and so very, very greedy. In some way he is a representation of how terrible completely unbridled greed can be. The narrator, and main character, Weener, hasn't got an ounce of humanity in him. Just a lust for money, and power. This character might become very tiresome if it wasn't for the fact that this is a well written satire. In fact this very annoying character becomes quite funny at times.
The plot is quite familiar to anyone that has read apocalyptic novels. The plot in its simplest form is that people loose control over a scientific experiment, and things go bad. The scientist does even sound like one of the mad scientist variety, brilliant, with zero people skills, and no interest in anything beyond the science.
It was written in 1947, but seems very topical right now. Not in the sense that we are about to experience an outbreak of Frankengrass anytime soon, but in the sense that it has something to say about our current relationship with nature, and money. The one thing that dragged this down a little bit for me was that it is on the longish side, but to me it makes up for that by its good satire.
It is a story about one of the most redicilous little man (and I'm not talking about physical hight here) I have read in a long time. He is vain, sexist, self serving, and so very, very greedy. In some way he is a representation of how terrible completely unbridled greed can be. The narrator, and main character, Weener, hasn't got an ounce of humanity in him. Just a lust for money, and power. This character might become very tiresome if it wasn't for the fact that this is a well written satire. In fact this very annoying character becomes quite funny at times.
The plot is quite familiar to anyone that has read apocalyptic novels. The plot in its simplest form is that people loose control over a scientific experiment, and things go bad. The scientist does even sound like one of the mad scientist variety, brilliant, with zero people skills, and no interest in anything beyond the science.
It was written in 1947, but seems very topical right now. Not in the sense that we are about to experience an outbreak of Frankengrass anytime soon, but in the sense that it has something to say about our current relationship with nature, and money. The one thing that dragged this down a little bit for me was that it is on the longish side, but to me it makes up for that by its good satire.
June 3, 2015
This book. It was fascinating. It was hilarious. I loved the writing, the characters, and the creativity of the unusual problem of grass taking over the world.
It was originally published in 1947. The attitudes and prejudices, "'A woman scientist, ay? Funny things women'll do when they can't get a man.'" I nearly peed myself laughing. The editor and his lengthy insults including "addlepated," oh, my. The reporter who does magic tricks and speaks in different accents and of course Weener. Oh, Weener. He has a completely skewed view of himself and the world he ends up both destroying and conquering.
While I did giggle quite a lot and enjoyed some of the long monologues, toward the end it got sort of dark and sad, as things tend to do when it all ends in grass.
It was originally published in 1947. The attitudes and prejudices, "'A woman scientist, ay? Funny things women'll do when they can't get a man.'" I nearly peed myself laughing. The editor and his lengthy insults including "addlepated," oh, my. The reporter who does magic tricks and speaks in different accents and of course Weener. Oh, Weener. He has a completely skewed view of himself and the world he ends up both destroying and conquering.
While I did giggle quite a lot and enjoyed some of the long monologues, toward the end it got sort of dark and sad, as things tend to do when it all ends in grass.
December 30, 2012
anticapitalist, feminist satire better than it has any right to be. posthuman sublime rarely rendered better. highly, highly recommended.
April 17, 2015
When I read this book I couldn't help juxtaposing the story to Jonathan Christopher's "The Death of Grass", another apocalyptic SF novel in which the agent of mankind's destruction is grass. Only this time, instead of grass dying out, it is doing quite the opposite. It is taking over everything else and nothing man throws against it seems to stop it.
Stylistically this is very different as well, being more of a satire than an adventure. The story being a narrative of the protagonist Albert Weener who begins as a lowly salesman struggling to make ends meet. He inadvertently sows the seeds of the upcoming apocalypse trying to sell a new miracle grass enhancing product. As the new Bermuda grass spreads and takes over, Weener rises to prominence, achieving riches, and power beyond his wildest dreams. In fact the rise of Albert Weener seems to exactly parallel the rise of the grass and he is the only one who really benefits from the catastrophe. He becomes increasing unsympathetic a character as he rises to power, his attempts to portray his own actions in a favourable light fail to veil his truly unscrupulousness behaviour.
Unlike "The Death of Grass" that really focused on showing the reader the precariousness of civilization and ramming home how harsh life might become when it collapses, one is inoculated from it in this story as we're trapped viewing the crisis unfold through the eyes of the one who is least troubled by it. Civilization is clearly breaking down and terrible things are happening but we are only distantly aware of them.
I felt, at times, that the novel was too long and drawn out. Those that enjoy watching humanity's slow and inevitable demise will relish this but I felt it would have benefited from a bit more brevity. Still, Moore writes in an engaging manner and it's an easy read. I wasn't entirely clear on the point the author was trying to make with this story and it certainly didn't affect me as powerfully as John Christopher's story. An intriguing read nonetheless.
Stylistically this is very different as well, being more of a satire than an adventure. The story being a narrative of the protagonist Albert Weener who begins as a lowly salesman struggling to make ends meet. He inadvertently sows the seeds of the upcoming apocalypse trying to sell a new miracle grass enhancing product. As the new Bermuda grass spreads and takes over, Weener rises to prominence, achieving riches, and power beyond his wildest dreams. In fact the rise of Albert Weener seems to exactly parallel the rise of the grass and he is the only one who really benefits from the catastrophe. He becomes increasing unsympathetic a character as he rises to power, his attempts to portray his own actions in a favourable light fail to veil his truly unscrupulousness behaviour.
Unlike "The Death of Grass" that really focused on showing the reader the precariousness of civilization and ramming home how harsh life might become when it collapses, one is inoculated from it in this story as we're trapped viewing the crisis unfold through the eyes of the one who is least troubled by it. Civilization is clearly breaking down and terrible things are happening but we are only distantly aware of them.
I felt, at times, that the novel was too long and drawn out. Those that enjoy watching humanity's slow and inevitable demise will relish this but I felt it would have benefited from a bit more brevity. Still, Moore writes in an engaging manner and it's an easy read. I wasn't entirely clear on the point the author was trying to make with this story and it certainly didn't affect me as powerfully as John Christopher's story. An intriguing read nonetheless.
May 23, 2021
For lovers of Cat's Cradle, a fun disaster book. I still prefer CC, since this (in its original edition) is overlong and overthorough in its destruction, and the Ultimate Ugly American narrator can get wearying (especially his overdone overuse of Timespeak compoundword coinages).
On the other hand, the book probably speaks more to the global warming and Trump era than it did even to post-WWII USA; the craven, amoral, exploitative, racist, sexist nature of Albert is a lot like that of Donald with his doublespeak made more intelligent. My favorite parts are some of the human sidelights: the sarcastic, Mencken-like newspaperman; the composer and his wife; and the boatman who saves Weener in France.
Very surprised that this has not been more acclaimed and reissued. Are you listening, NYRB Classics?
On the other hand, the book probably speaks more to the global warming and Trump era than it did even to post-WWII USA; the craven, amoral, exploitative, racist, sexist nature of Albert is a lot like that of Donald with his doublespeak made more intelligent. My favorite parts are some of the human sidelights: the sarcastic, Mencken-like newspaperman; the composer and his wife; and the boatman who saves Weener in France.
Very surprised that this has not been more acclaimed and reissued. Are you listening, NYRB Classics?
November 2, 2017
Alguna vez escuche que ver la hierba creecer en un dia de verano era la cosa mas aburrida del mundo pero dentro de esta historia podemos ver como esto acaba siendo algo muy interesante y la vista de Ward Moore sobre la humanidad cuando enfrente la catastrofe definitiva (?).
February 20, 2016
Another addition to my post-apocalypse library.
Originally published in 1947, this particular end-of-the-world scenario comes about due to a compound (the Metamorphosizer!) designed to increase the yield in food crops. The main character (I can't bring myself to call him a protagonist...he's not a good guy), Albert Weener, is a salesman and is contacted by the creator of the Metamorphosizer, a chemist named Josephine Francis.
I should be used to the casual misogyny and racism of these mid-century books by now, but it still manages to shock me. The way Weener talks about Francis and about women in general, as well as minorities and the riffraff, is just appalling!
Thankfully, the chick scientist manages to get in some of the best insults against Weener: "When I am too old for work and ready for euthanasia I shall have you come and talk me to death." Ha! That's great.
I thought this book had a humorous tone at first. Weener was inept and clueless and started the end of the world through his own incompetence and lack of self-awareness. It devolved into a very dark look at the breakdown of society as the out-of-control Bermuda grass slowly but inevitably encroached upon the world. Just the premise--grass? Really? The end of the world comes about because of GRASS?--is a little bit funny, but it is not a lighthearted book at all.
I would give this four stars if it weren't for one of the most greedy, unlikable, and awful characters I've encountered in any of these post-apocalypse books. Albert Weener is a boil on the ass of humanity.
Good read, though!
Originally published in 1947, this particular end-of-the-world scenario comes about due to a compound (the Metamorphosizer!) designed to increase the yield in food crops. The main character (I can't bring myself to call him a protagonist...he's not a good guy), Albert Weener, is a salesman and is contacted by the creator of the Metamorphosizer, a chemist named Josephine Francis.
I should be used to the casual misogyny and racism of these mid-century books by now, but it still manages to shock me. The way Weener talks about Francis and about women in general, as well as minorities and the riffraff, is just appalling!
Thankfully, the chick scientist manages to get in some of the best insults against Weener: "When I am too old for work and ready for euthanasia I shall have you come and talk me to death." Ha! That's great.
I thought this book had a humorous tone at first. Weener was inept and clueless and started the end of the world through his own incompetence and lack of self-awareness. It devolved into a very dark look at the breakdown of society as the out-of-control Bermuda grass slowly but inevitably encroached upon the world. Just the premise--grass? Really? The end of the world comes about because of GRASS?--is a little bit funny, but it is not a lighthearted book at all.
I would give this four stars if it weren't for one of the most greedy, unlikable, and awful characters I've encountered in any of these post-apocalypse books. Albert Weener is a boil on the ass of humanity.
Good read, though!
October 19, 2013
Published in 1947, Greener Than You Think is still an engaging, funny read. The protagonist and narrator, Albert Weiner, is one of science fiction's most delightful and dastardly villains, and he is all the more so because he seems genuinely blind to his own villainy. The scenario - scientifically-altered bermuda grass run amok - is comical, but as the plot develops apocalyptically, it is also weird and disturbing. This book provides a bunch of laughs and some commentary on modern American priorities and attitudes that are peculiarly still timely.
July 9, 2017
Que pasaría si en la tierra brotarán brotes verdes sin control. Este es el planteamiento inicial que nos propone el señor Moore en su novela "Más verde de lo que creéis" una historia apocalíptica que no deja en muy buen lugar al ser humano. Contada de una forma un tanto pulp se convierte en una lectura entretenida y curiosa.
Recomendada para todos aquellos nostálgicos.
Recomendada para todos aquellos nostálgicos.
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February 26, 2017God, I hate Albert Weener.
April 14, 2022
I don't read much science fiction these days, but this is a book I return to every couple of years as a worthy classic read. I wasn't going to review it, but reading reviews from other Goodreads folk changed my mind. I was surprised to see a good bit of grousing about main character Albert Weener, his few friends, and their attitudes toward women and minorities. This book was written in 1947. This may be satiric science fiction but it was also a reflection of what society was really like, especially then. I know because I asked my parents.
Are you going to censor Huckleberry Finn for the child abuse and the way black people were treated, leaving this type of information buried in the history books? Do you think anyone who looks down on women or black people will do it solely because he saw it in this book?
Albert Weener is a dollar-chasing, bamboozling salesman who answers an employment ad. He meets the unattractive, self-educated, insulting and highly intelligent scientist Miss Francis, who has developed a formula that will make crops grow to the point of ending famine in the world. She wants him to spray the diluted formula on some crops, collecting a fee from the farmers, since she needs money to continue her research. Like both women (and the black man) who spend any amount of time with Weener, she makes a fool out of him constantly, but he excuses Miss F "for her gender." Weener is a bit of a fool, anyway. His last name is designed to make bullies happy, and his complexion is so spotty he is beyond ever being presentable. He also is lazy and mercenary, and picks as his first client a family whose lawn is dirt and devilgrass. The undiluted formula of Miss Francis creates a monster. Devilgrass is bad enough without altering its DNA so it can feed on almost any substance.
As the authorities attempt to kill the grass, it becomes bigger and stronger, and begins to spread. Lives are lost within its thick growths. Weener is given a byline re: the grass on a local newspaper despite his inability to write well, but at some point he also begins writing a history of the grass as it spreads from state to state and country to country.
Moore shows us a lot of the worst of humanity. Things always get ugly when people find their possessions and lives to be threatened. Weener, of course, is even worse because of his hypocrisy; he makes money on the attacking grass, yet he was the one who started it, and he feels no guilt at all. Miss Francis, who has a significant ego of her own, does take some responsibility, and dedicates herself to finding a formula to kill the grass. Can she do so before civilization ends? She doesn't seem too worried about it as she works with painstaking slowness. In the meantime there are those who meet suicidal and/or noble ends, and cult figures who appropriate the grass for their own uses.
There is some odd writing in this book. Maybe because it's Weener's account of the Grass, Moore has felt free to skip the majority of apostrophes. He also squashes words together to make a new words, like "gumchewing moviegoing maninthestreet. Or, "twothirds" and "typhusridden." Distracting but rather clever. I still think older completely unwoke books are worth reading, especially with the combination of satire and science fiction within this one. My paperback copy has just fallen into two parts, and I will be happy to buy a replacement.
Are you going to censor Huckleberry Finn for the child abuse and the way black people were treated, leaving this type of information buried in the history books? Do you think anyone who looks down on women or black people will do it solely because he saw it in this book?
Albert Weener is a dollar-chasing, bamboozling salesman who answers an employment ad. He meets the unattractive, self-educated, insulting and highly intelligent scientist Miss Francis, who has developed a formula that will make crops grow to the point of ending famine in the world. She wants him to spray the diluted formula on some crops, collecting a fee from the farmers, since she needs money to continue her research. Like both women (and the black man) who spend any amount of time with Weener, she makes a fool out of him constantly, but he excuses Miss F "for her gender." Weener is a bit of a fool, anyway. His last name is designed to make bullies happy, and his complexion is so spotty he is beyond ever being presentable. He also is lazy and mercenary, and picks as his first client a family whose lawn is dirt and devilgrass. The undiluted formula of Miss Francis creates a monster. Devilgrass is bad enough without altering its DNA so it can feed on almost any substance.
As the authorities attempt to kill the grass, it becomes bigger and stronger, and begins to spread. Lives are lost within its thick growths. Weener is given a byline re: the grass on a local newspaper despite his inability to write well, but at some point he also begins writing a history of the grass as it spreads from state to state and country to country.
Moore shows us a lot of the worst of humanity. Things always get ugly when people find their possessions and lives to be threatened. Weener, of course, is even worse because of his hypocrisy; he makes money on the attacking grass, yet he was the one who started it, and he feels no guilt at all. Miss Francis, who has a significant ego of her own, does take some responsibility, and dedicates herself to finding a formula to kill the grass. Can she do so before civilization ends? She doesn't seem too worried about it as she works with painstaking slowness. In the meantime there are those who meet suicidal and/or noble ends, and cult figures who appropriate the grass for their own uses.
There is some odd writing in this book. Maybe because it's Weener's account of the Grass, Moore has felt free to skip the majority of apostrophes. He also squashes words together to make a new words, like "gumchewing moviegoing maninthestreet. Or, "twothirds" and "typhusridden." Distracting but rather clever. I still think older completely unwoke books are worth reading, especially with the combination of satire and science fiction within this one. My paperback copy has just fallen into two parts, and I will be happy to buy a replacement.
September 14, 2016
Greener Than You Think is a satire rather than an adventure story. One plant (a Bermuda grass treated with a special growth chemical) slowly spreads across California and beyond, swallowing cities and making vast tracks of land uninhabitable.
One challenge with this book is that the narrator, Albert Weener, is unreliable. He sees himself as the hero whereas he is the villain and more of a monster than the weed. Plus the reader’s impression of events and characters is initially filtered through his (self-serving) point of view.
Also, the momentum of the story flags a bit in the middle, but the ending makes up for it (at least for me).
One challenge with this book is that the narrator, Albert Weener, is unreliable. He sees himself as the hero whereas he is the villain and more of a monster than the weed. Plus the reader’s impression of events and characters is initially filtered through his (self-serving) point of view.
Also, the momentum of the story flags a bit in the middle, but the ending makes up for it (at least for me).
December 16, 2022
What begins as a silly, irritating, and poorly written "Golden Age" science fiction novel gradually becomes a sardonic, gruesome, and truly disturbing near-classic. Not as good as Moore's "Bring the Jubilee," but close.
April 16, 2017
The edition I borrowed, from 1985, has an introduction by Isaac Asimov where he sort of laments that this is a lost classic, and wonders why this book isn't in greater circulation among traditional sci-fi fans. A modern reader would figure out why in the first few pages: This book is unbelievably sexist. It's only relevant to the plot once (when the scientist who invents the fertilizer that causes grass to take over the planet is dismissed as being unintelligent because she's female), but it comes up EVERY SINGLE TIME a woman is mentioned - the narrator has to say something about the inferior nature of women, or how they belong in the kitchen, or how he's such a progressive guy because he doesn't think ALL women belong in the kitchen, just most of them, and the rest are pretty much whores. Every time a character so much as passes him by he has to bring it up. No wonder the character never marries. He can't stand to be in the same room with them. Neither can the other male characters. It's super distracting to an otherwise good book. Also, there's a guy who does racist accents that are annoying even to the main character, so you've got that going on.
Otherwise I actually liked this book a lot. What a shame.
Otherwise I actually liked this book a lot. What a shame.
June 14, 2022
MAN DOESN'T LISTEN TO FAR MORE QUALIFIED WOMAN; DIRECTLY CAUSES DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY.
Seriously, Albert Weener is unbearable. He is the sole narrator, and in first person, so the reader is subject to all of his awfulness as he mansplains his way through a grassy apocalypse, and it made this book a SLOG. The slow destruction of civilisation by giant lawn grass - yes, I will turn up for that, as demonstrated by my finishing this book, but I don't recommend following me on this journey because this guy is the WORST. He's not even interesting? About a third of the way through her buys some stocks and starts making money, and then that's ALL HE TALKS ABOUT. There's some very brief relief when someone interacts with him or he describes the grass, but mostly it becomes tedious descriptions of his business dealings.
Pretty good ending, though, and the grassy parts were great, so am rounding up.
Seriously, Albert Weener is unbearable. He is the sole narrator, and in first person, so the reader is subject to all of his awfulness as he mansplains his way through a grassy apocalypse, and it made this book a SLOG. The slow destruction of civilisation by giant lawn grass - yes, I will turn up for that, as demonstrated by my finishing this book, but I don't recommend following me on this journey because this guy is the WORST. He's not even interesting? About a third of the way through her buys some stocks and starts making money, and then that's ALL HE TALKS ABOUT. There's some very brief relief when someone interacts with him or he describes the grass, but mostly it becomes tedious descriptions of his business dealings.
Pretty good ending, though, and the grassy parts were great, so am rounding up.
May 22, 2020
6.75/10
Es curioso como, dentro de la distancia de estilo y el cambio de los tiempos desde que fuera escrita la novela hasta los gustos actuales, gracias a su humor mantiene vigentes muchos de los temas tratados con fina y extremada ironía: el capitalismo salvaje que se lava las manos ante las víctimas que va causando, la lectura ecológica, el machismo y discriminación de la mujer que se sale del estatus que la sociedad le marca, la emigración y la falta de asilo, la prepotencia de ciertas clases dirigentes adineradas, la lucha despiadada por los recursos...
Hay secciones que ahora se nos pueden antojar bastante desfasadas (cierta invasión), pero en general mantiene el tipo muy bien.
Es curioso como, dentro de la distancia de estilo y el cambio de los tiempos desde que fuera escrita la novela hasta los gustos actuales, gracias a su humor mantiene vigentes muchos de los temas tratados con fina y extremada ironía: el capitalismo salvaje que se lava las manos ante las víctimas que va causando, la lectura ecológica, el machismo y discriminación de la mujer que se sale del estatus que la sociedad le marca, la emigración y la falta de asilo, la prepotencia de ciertas clases dirigentes adineradas, la lucha despiadada por los recursos...
Hay secciones que ahora se nos pueden antojar bastante desfasadas (cierta invasión), pero en general mantiene el tipo muy bien.
June 9, 2025
It‘s very easy to write a bad satire that just „does the thing“ with a veneer or aloofness and I‘m afraid this is what has happened here. There were some interesting aspects though: considering the relatively prevailing obsession with lawns (aka gras), the apocalypse starting because someone is convinced that they shoud spray their lawn so it looks better is quite funny; the evil billionaire-criminal narrator whom everyone makes fun of (though I don’t enjoy him as a narrator, nor do I think that aspect of the satire works particularly well) and… well, those are probably the two best aspects.
April 28, 2021
It is a little surreal reading this in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Much of the criticisms made in the book still apply to our own day and age. This book does what science fiction does best, imagine an out-of-this-world problem and examine how humans react to it.
August 7, 2020
An original 'end of the world' story, narrated from the perspective of the person who unwittingly caused it.
March 12, 2024
Absolutely wild
September 1, 2019
I picked up this book in a thrift store because I thought the cover art was pretty neat and the title was kind of bizarre. The front cover also carried the legend "THE GREAT SCIENCE FICTION CLASSIC."
The blurb on the back cover sealed the deal:
"THE THING ALL STARTED IN THE MOST TRIVIAL WAY... Albert Weener, a door-to-door salesman with most of the instincts of a roach, answered a Help Wanted ad, and found himself working for Josephine Spencer Francis, who looked like an unmade bed and had discovered a formula for increasing the fertility and growth of grasses. Miss Francis' fatal formula was applied to the most decrepit lawn in town, consisting largely of diseased devil grass.
"The was hell to pay the next morning. The dead devil grass had come to lush, powerful and vigorous life and was pursuing its happy way across the sidewalk.
"When asked what would stop it, Miss Francis replied, 'So far as I know, nothing.'"
It's an interesting book, but I would classify it more as a sci-fi curiosity than a classic.
From the blurb and the title, I got the impression that it was sort of a comedic sci-fi story, and it certainly has those elements — at least early on. But then it just sort of drops those and plods on interminably, like so much out-of-control Bermuda grass. I'm surprised that I read an edition that was "revised and abridged by the author." My copy clocks in at 185 pages. Other editions have more than twice that in page count (though this could be because of type size and spacing). Still, if this paperback had been much longer, I might have given up on it.
It's a long, rambling story (and in honor of it, so is this review!). As per the blurb, Weener answers a help-wanted ad placed by a brusque, rude scientist with no social graces (who would likely be described today as having Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism). Weener applies the formula to one lawn, and from that one application, the Bermuda grass grows out of control, and over the course of the book, devours Los Angeles, California, the Western US, all of the US, North America, South America, and eventually the rest of the world.
• Albert Weener comes across as sort of an average Joe early on. But as he succeeds in business thanks to the grass, he becomes increasingly more of a self-absorbed jackass, a fact to which he seems oblivious. He's not nasty, or a mustache-twirling villain, per se. It's just that all of his negative qualities become magnified and he becomes more and more cluelessly condescending, self-centered, misogynistic and inconsiderate. He grows less and less likable as the book goes on, and he didn't exactly start out as a particularly nice guy. I'm guessing this was Moore's intention.
• Miss Francis is unpleasant as well but Moore makes a point that this is an intelligent woman who will not waver from her convictions, so she's got that redeeming quality. But the fact that she's the one who created the formula and then gave it to a salesman to sell before thoroughly testing it shows how irresponsible she is. Considering this, the story would make more sense if it was she who unleashed the grass on mankind, just by testing it outside herself. I guess Moore didn't want to tell the story from the point of the scientist, though, and thus Weener was born.
• Jacson Gootes is a newspaper reporter early in the story who shadows Weener at first and then is sort of paired up with him. He's given to idly displaying sleight-of-hand tricks while chatting and going into silly accents. He's a fun character, but the accent bit is odd at first — the dialogue is written phonetically and it's hard to understand what he's trying to say (especially before I realized it was Gootes' shtick, and that he'd switch dialects constantly). Because of this, I first started this book, I thought maybe the author was British, trying to write a book set in America. But Gootes is the book's most likable character, and sadly perishes very early on. When he seemed to meet his doom, I was still within the first quarter of the book, and misinterpreted the tone of the book. I thought for sure the story was kind of going in an over-the-top goofy sci-fi direction, and that despite all the 'destruction' that the grass would die or recede and Gootes and the others lost in the grass would emerge a little worse for wear, but unscathed. Nope!
• If Gootes is the most likable character, newspaper editor W.R. Le ffaçasé is the most fun. He constantly spits out hateful but ultimately harmless venom at everyone, but directs most of it at Weener. He might be the stock character of a typical gruff, angry newspaper editor, but he's still a delight. I presume he's given such an unwieldy name as a joke. Removing the first 'f,' it translates into English as "the facade." Okay. I guess I get it. He's all bluster and nastiness, but it's all a front. We learn later on, after he quits the newspaper business, there's rumors that he dedicated the last years of his life as a sort of wandering monk, tending to the sick.
There's a handful of other characters as well — General Thario, his son, his daughters, his unpleasant wife. Preblesham — a former religious zealot Weener manages to employ. And a mysterious and gorgeous woman that Weener crosses paths with a few times.
Aside from Thario and his son, they're not really developed. The mysterious woman is the most frustrating because there's absolutely no payoff to her few mysterious appearances. (Did Moore abridge her part in the story for the edition I read?)
I love mid-twentieth century fiction. This certainly has that flavor at the beginning. And the early part of the book, set in 1940s Los Angeles, was fun to read, as someone who lives there.
But there's a lot of problems, too. To go from a comedic book with almost a pulp-y detective story feel to something much loftier isn't easy, and Moore doesn't really succeed. It just drags on and on.
He makes a lot of commentary on society. Francis is constantly dismissed and belittled by other characters (including Weener) because of her sex. A headstrong, dedicated (albeit misguided) woman more interested in science than accepted 1940s lady-like things was reason enough for derision by almost all the characters she comes in contact with.
Moore certainly touches on race and ethnicity and even illegal immigration near the end. That's pretty interesting from a 2019 perspective. Weener's perceptions of how various ethnicities reacted to the invading grass is certainly of note:
"But the utmost severity of local and national officials, even when backed by the might of the World Government, could not cope with the waves of migrants from the East nor the heedlessness of law they brought with them. As the Grass pushed the Indians and Chinese westward, they in turn sent the Mongols, the Afghans and the Persians ahead of them. These naturally warlike people were displaced, not by force of arms, but by sheer weight of numbers; and so, doubly overcome by being dispossessed of their homes—and by pacifists at that—they vented their pique upon those to to west." Oh my.
As to the very end — it's unclear whether Weener is hallucinating on the last page or not, so the ending is left intentionally vague. I was fine with that. But frankly, this book could have used some serious editing! (And copy editing, too — there are a lot of typos throughout. And for some reason, Ballantine Books' press of the early 1960s evidently didn't have a hyphen, so every hyphenated term just runs awkwardly together as one word.)
I'm always interested in seeing how books are translated into other, more visual media. "Greener Than You Think" was, as far as I can tell, never turned into a movie. It would have been all but impossible to do so until the advent of CGI. But now it could be done pretty easily.
I think they'd really have to take a pair of pruning shears to the source material, though!
The blurb on the back cover sealed the deal:
"THE THING ALL STARTED IN THE MOST TRIVIAL WAY... Albert Weener, a door-to-door salesman with most of the instincts of a roach, answered a Help Wanted ad, and found himself working for Josephine Spencer Francis, who looked like an unmade bed and had discovered a formula for increasing the fertility and growth of grasses. Miss Francis' fatal formula was applied to the most decrepit lawn in town, consisting largely of diseased devil grass.
"The was hell to pay the next morning. The dead devil grass had come to lush, powerful and vigorous life and was pursuing its happy way across the sidewalk.
"When asked what would stop it, Miss Francis replied, 'So far as I know, nothing.'"
It's an interesting book, but I would classify it more as a sci-fi curiosity than a classic.
From the blurb and the title, I got the impression that it was sort of a comedic sci-fi story, and it certainly has those elements — at least early on. But then it just sort of drops those and plods on interminably, like so much out-of-control Bermuda grass. I'm surprised that I read an edition that was "revised and abridged by the author." My copy clocks in at 185 pages. Other editions have more than twice that in page count (though this could be because of type size and spacing). Still, if this paperback had been much longer, I might have given up on it.
It's a long, rambling story (and in honor of it, so is this review!). As per the blurb, Weener answers a help-wanted ad placed by a brusque, rude scientist with no social graces (who would likely be described today as having Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism). Weener applies the formula to one lawn, and from that one application, the Bermuda grass grows out of control, and over the course of the book, devours Los Angeles, California, the Western US, all of the US, North America, South America, and eventually the rest of the world.
• Albert Weener comes across as sort of an average Joe early on. But as he succeeds in business thanks to the grass, he becomes increasingly more of a self-absorbed jackass, a fact to which he seems oblivious. He's not nasty, or a mustache-twirling villain, per se. It's just that all of his negative qualities become magnified and he becomes more and more cluelessly condescending, self-centered, misogynistic and inconsiderate. He grows less and less likable as the book goes on, and he didn't exactly start out as a particularly nice guy. I'm guessing this was Moore's intention.
• Miss Francis is unpleasant as well but Moore makes a point that this is an intelligent woman who will not waver from her convictions, so she's got that redeeming quality. But the fact that she's the one who created the formula and then gave it to a salesman to sell before thoroughly testing it shows how irresponsible she is. Considering this, the story would make more sense if it was she who unleashed the grass on mankind, just by testing it outside herself. I guess Moore didn't want to tell the story from the point of the scientist, though, and thus Weener was born.
• Jacson Gootes is a newspaper reporter early in the story who shadows Weener at first and then is sort of paired up with him. He's given to idly displaying sleight-of-hand tricks while chatting and going into silly accents. He's a fun character, but the accent bit is odd at first — the dialogue is written phonetically and it's hard to understand what he's trying to say (especially before I realized it was Gootes' shtick, and that he'd switch dialects constantly). Because of this, I first started this book, I thought maybe the author was British, trying to write a book set in America. But Gootes is the book's most likable character, and sadly perishes very early on. When he seemed to meet his doom, I was still within the first quarter of the book, and misinterpreted the tone of the book. I thought for sure the story was kind of going in an over-the-top goofy sci-fi direction, and that despite all the 'destruction' that the grass would die or recede and Gootes and the others lost in the grass would emerge a little worse for wear, but unscathed. Nope!
• If Gootes is the most likable character, newspaper editor W.R. Le ffaçasé is the most fun. He constantly spits out hateful but ultimately harmless venom at everyone, but directs most of it at Weener. He might be the stock character of a typical gruff, angry newspaper editor, but he's still a delight. I presume he's given such an unwieldy name as a joke. Removing the first 'f,' it translates into English as "the facade." Okay. I guess I get it. He's all bluster and nastiness, but it's all a front. We learn later on, after he quits the newspaper business, there's rumors that he dedicated the last years of his life as a sort of wandering monk, tending to the sick.
There's a handful of other characters as well — General Thario, his son, his daughters, his unpleasant wife. Preblesham — a former religious zealot Weener manages to employ. And a mysterious and gorgeous woman that Weener crosses paths with a few times.
Aside from Thario and his son, they're not really developed. The mysterious woman is the most frustrating because there's absolutely no payoff to her few mysterious appearances. (Did Moore abridge her part in the story for the edition I read?)
I love mid-twentieth century fiction. This certainly has that flavor at the beginning. And the early part of the book, set in 1940s Los Angeles, was fun to read, as someone who lives there.
But there's a lot of problems, too. To go from a comedic book with almost a pulp-y detective story feel to something much loftier isn't easy, and Moore doesn't really succeed. It just drags on and on.
He makes a lot of commentary on society. Francis is constantly dismissed and belittled by other characters (including Weener) because of her sex. A headstrong, dedicated (albeit misguided) woman more interested in science than accepted 1940s lady-like things was reason enough for derision by almost all the characters she comes in contact with.
Moore certainly touches on race and ethnicity and even illegal immigration near the end. That's pretty interesting from a 2019 perspective. Weener's perceptions of how various ethnicities reacted to the invading grass is certainly of note:
"But the utmost severity of local and national officials, even when backed by the might of the World Government, could not cope with the waves of migrants from the East nor the heedlessness of law they brought with them. As the Grass pushed the Indians and Chinese westward, they in turn sent the Mongols, the Afghans and the Persians ahead of them. These naturally warlike people were displaced, not by force of arms, but by sheer weight of numbers; and so, doubly overcome by being dispossessed of their homes—and by pacifists at that—they vented their pique upon those to to west." Oh my.
As to the very end — it's unclear whether Weener is hallucinating on the last page or not, so the ending is left intentionally vague. I was fine with that. But frankly, this book could have used some serious editing! (And copy editing, too — there are a lot of typos throughout. And for some reason, Ballantine Books' press of the early 1960s evidently didn't have a hyphen, so every hyphenated term just runs awkwardly together as one word.)
I'm always interested in seeing how books are translated into other, more visual media. "Greener Than You Think" was, as far as I can tell, never turned into a movie. It would have been all but impossible to do so until the advent of CGI. But now it could be done pretty easily.
I think they'd really have to take a pair of pruning shears to the source material, though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2012
what a weird and unexpected book.
first published in 1947, it has (through its satirical bent) a remarkably modern outlook: environmentalist, feminist, anti-racist, etc etc. and a vicious antagonist, the worst antagonist humanity has ever faced: genetically modified, voracious blind Bermuda grass.
any california gardener who has ever fought against this vicious predator knows that the Bermuda always wins. i once laid thick black plastic sheeting over a huge swath of Bermuda in the summertime (90+ degree temperatures). i left it on for 30 days. when i took it up, the Bermuda looked dead, a state which lasted for about 4 days before it began to green up.
the Bermuda is actually one of the finest characters in this book. Moore's descriptions of it make it painfully clear that he has fought his own pitched battles against Bermuda and lost. his descriptions of it are menacing and hilarious, and sometimes deeply, deeply creepy.
this being satire, other characterizations are necessarily shallow. so there's not much to say on that score, except that the publisher Le ffacase (i'm sure there's a joke in the name, but i'm not getting it) is magnificent at insults and diatribes, and the utter failure by Miss Francis to respect authority is a refreshing joy.
satire is a wondrous tool when wielded by a sharp mind, and Moore definitely has that. the book does go on a bit long, though; satire is best kept short. still, a little judicious skimming won't kill the experience. on the whole, it's an experience worth having; you'll certainly never look at a patch of Bermuda grass the same ever, ever again.
first published in 1947, it has (through its satirical bent) a remarkably modern outlook: environmentalist, feminist, anti-racist, etc etc. and a vicious antagonist, the worst antagonist humanity has ever faced: genetically modified, voracious blind Bermuda grass.
any california gardener who has ever fought against this vicious predator knows that the Bermuda always wins. i once laid thick black plastic sheeting over a huge swath of Bermuda in the summertime (90+ degree temperatures). i left it on for 30 days. when i took it up, the Bermuda looked dead, a state which lasted for about 4 days before it began to green up.
the Bermuda is actually one of the finest characters in this book. Moore's descriptions of it make it painfully clear that he has fought his own pitched battles against Bermuda and lost. his descriptions of it are menacing and hilarious, and sometimes deeply, deeply creepy.
this being satire, other characterizations are necessarily shallow. so there's not much to say on that score, except that the publisher Le ffacase (i'm sure there's a joke in the name, but i'm not getting it) is magnificent at insults and diatribes, and the utter failure by Miss Francis to respect authority is a refreshing joy.
satire is a wondrous tool when wielded by a sharp mind, and Moore definitely has that. the book does go on a bit long, though; satire is best kept short. still, a little judicious skimming won't kill the experience. on the whole, it's an experience worth having; you'll certainly never look at a patch of Bermuda grass the same ever, ever again.
June 18, 2015
Another addition to my post-apocalypse library.
Originally published in 1947, this particular end-of-the-world scenario comes about due to a compound (the Metamorphosizer!) designed to increase the yield in food crops. The main character (I can't bring myself to call him a protagonist...he's not a good guy), Albert Weener, is a salesman and is contacted by the creator of the Metamorphosizer, a chemist named Josephine Francis.
I should be used to the casual misogyny and racism of these mid-century books by now, but it still manages to shock me. The way Weener talks about Francis and about women in general, as well as minorities and the riffraff, is just appalling!
Thankfully, the chick scientist manages to get in some of the best insults against Weener: "When I am too old for work and ready for euthanasia I shall have you come and talk me to death." Ha! That's great.
I thought this book had a humorous tone at first. Weener was inept and clueless and started the end of the world through his own incompetence and lack of self-awareness. It devolved into a very dark look at the breakdown of society as the out-of-control Bermuda grass slowly but inevitably encroached upon the world. Just the premise--grass? Really? The end of the world comes about because of GRASS?--is a little bit funny, but it is not a lighthearted book at all.
I would give this four stars if it weren't for one of the most greedy, unlikable, and awful characters I've encountered in any of these post-apocalypse books. Albert Weener is a boil on the ass of humanity.
Good read, though!
Originally published in 1947, this particular end-of-the-world scenario comes about due to a compound (the Metamorphosizer!) designed to increase the yield in food crops. The main character (I can't bring myself to call him a protagonist...he's not a good guy), Albert Weener, is a salesman and is contacted by the creator of the Metamorphosizer, a chemist named Josephine Francis.
I should be used to the casual misogyny and racism of these mid-century books by now, but it still manages to shock me. The way Weener talks about Francis and about women in general, as well as minorities and the riffraff, is just appalling!
Thankfully, the chick scientist manages to get in some of the best insults against Weener: "When I am too old for work and ready for euthanasia I shall have you come and talk me to death." Ha! That's great.
I thought this book had a humorous tone at first. Weener was inept and clueless and started the end of the world through his own incompetence and lack of self-awareness. It devolved into a very dark look at the breakdown of society as the out-of-control Bermuda grass slowly but inevitably encroached upon the world. Just the premise--grass? Really? The end of the world comes about because of GRASS?--is a little bit funny, but it is not a lighthearted book at all.
I would give this four stars if it weren't for one of the most greedy, unlikable, and awful characters I've encountered in any of these post-apocalypse books. Albert Weener is a boil on the ass of humanity.
Good read, though!
November 18, 2020
What the heck did I just read? This story was all over the place and I found it particularly hard to follow. Maybe part of the problem was that this free Kindle version was put together by volunteers. The spelling and the run-on sentences were a bit of a mess.
If there was a timeline of how quickly everything became overgrown, I missed it. The tale became bogged down in flowery language, and jumped between plots so quickly, I feel a lot of key information passed me right by. I'm afraid the author tried to take a silly premise, and make it far too serious by throwing in a lot big words. By 1/4 into the book, I began zoning out.
If there was a timeline of how quickly everything became overgrown, I missed it. The tale became bogged down in flowery language, and jumped between plots so quickly, I feel a lot of key information passed me right by. I'm afraid the author tried to take a silly premise, and make it far too serious by throwing in a lot big words. By 1/4 into the book, I began zoning out.
September 27, 2008
I would LOVE to own this book. The style is so vibrant, the characters are so unique and memorable all to the backdrop of a very depressing situation. One little spray of an untested chemical on one lawn in Los Angeles ends up creating a worldwide catastrophe. Its worth a read for the main character's boss alone! Oh my, what combination of words come out of this guy's mouth -- its amazing. This novel comes HIGHLY recommended!
September 8, 2010
A rather long-winded account of the earth conquered by a mutant strain of Bermuda grass. The first person narrator is a "born salesman" who not only sets the thing in motion, but stays at the center of events through chance and luck. Moore creates memorable characters, satirizing mysogyny, newspaper men, military men put out to pasture, and the British servant classes. Perhaps it goes on too long, but at times it is very funny, and the narrator's cluelessness can be both amusing and irritating.
July 13, 2021
wow.. hard to read!
Great plot, deft satire, but REALLY hard to read because the main character is simply too appallingly self-centered and ignorant.
Great plot, deft satire, but REALLY hard to read because the main character is simply too appallingly self-centered and ignorant.
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