Book Anatomy · The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 65 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
6,797 different words. On average 52 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 3,252 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
martians, martian, cylinder, smoke, guns. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 14.88 words ending in 'ly' and 10.38 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.4% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 7.8% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 37% of sentences: i, the, it, he, and.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 425 |
| the | 358 |
| it | 163 |
| he | 144 |
| and | 130 |
| they | 92 |
| but | 88 |
| a | 80 |
| there | 75 |
| at | 71 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.64 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
84 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.39 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 2: No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and …
Ch 1, para 2: No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and …
Ch 3, para 5: It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this object was at all evident to me. At the first glance it was …
Ch 3, para 12: It was glaringly hot, not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind, and the only shadow was that of the few scattered pine trees. The …
Ch 4, para 18: Suddenly the monster vanished. It had toppled over the brim of the cylinder and fallen into the pit, with a thud like the fall of a great mass …
Ch 5, para 3: I did not dare to go back towards the pit, but I felt a passionate longing to peer into it. I began walking, therefore, in a big curve, …
Wells uses vivid similes comparing the Martians to vast intellects and the red weed to disease, and metaphors of invasion as dethronement. Similes dominate early chapters; metaphors of dominion and fall intensify from chapter 23 onward.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 23, Ch 25, Ch 27
Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes (Ch 1, para 2)
I felt as a rabbit might feel returning to his burrow and suddenly confronted by the work of a dozen busy navvies digging the foundations of a house. (Ch 23, para 3)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 58%, sound 30%, touch 10%, taste 1%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 482 |
| sound | 251 |
| touch | 84 |
| taste | 8 |
| smell | 7 |
Sight dominates throughout. Sound appears in the Martians' wailing cry and mechanical noises. Smell and taste are minimal. Touch conveys terror and physical sensation, especially in chapters 21 and 25.
Chapters: Ch 5, Ch 21, Ch 25, Ch 27
Suddenly there was a flash of light, and a quantity of luminous greenish smoke came out of the pit in three distinct puffs (Ch 5, para 12)
And oh! the sweetness of the air! (Ch 22, para 20)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
113 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 1.87 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Lists of three appear in descriptions of Martian weapons and destruction. Repetition of 'fled', 'heat-ray', and 'black smoke' builds dread. The pattern of cylinder falls repeats across chapters 2, 8, and 18.
Chapters: Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 15, Ch 18
Suddenly there was a flash of light, and a quantity of luminous greenish smoke came out of the pit in three distinct puffs (Ch 5, para 12)
Thick streamers of black smoke shot with threads of red fire were driving up into the still air, and throwing dark shadows upon the green treetops eastward (Ch 9, para 43)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: thither, hither, ere, nay.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thither | 4 |
| hither | 3 |
| ere | 1 |
| nay | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Wells shows action directly in chapters 4 and 5 with the Martians emerging and deploying the Heat-Ray. He tells the brother's experience in chapters 14 to 17 through summary and reported events rather than direct scenes.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 14, Ch 16
I think everyone expected to see a man emerge—possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man (Ch 4, para 13)
My younger brother was in London when the Martians fell at Woking. He was a medical student working for an imminent examination, and he heard nothing of the arrival until Saturday morning. (Ch 14, para 2)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Early chapters mix description with action. Chapter 1 describes Mars and the Martian threat before action begins. Chapters 4 and 5 plunge into action with minimal setup. Later chapters balance observation with movement.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 19
Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes (Ch 1, para 2)
Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange horror of its appearance (Ch 4, para 17)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 7.0 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| saw | 129 |
| seemed | 92 |
| heard | 71 |
| thought | 47 |
| felt | 26 |
| knew | 22 |
| watched | 16 |
| realised | 12 |
| noticed | 8 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from scientific curiosity in chapter 1 to terror in chapters 4 to 6, then to grim observation in chapters 19 to 21, and finally to wonder and relief in chapters 25 to 27.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 19, Ch 25
At that time it was quite clear in my own mind that the Thing had come from the planet Mars, but I judged it improbable that it contained any living creature (Ch 3, para 6)
With overwhelming force came the thought of myself, of my wife, and the old life of hope and tender helpfulness that had ceased for ever. (Ch 25, para 32)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy is sparse. Mild irony appears in chapter 7 when the narrator's terror falls away like a garment, and in chapter 24 when the artilleryman's grand plans prove impractical. The book is not comedic.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 24
My terror had fallen from me like a garment. My hat had gone, and my collar had burst away from its fastener (Ch 7, para 5)
I resolved to leave this strange undisciplined dreamer of great things to his drink and gluttony, and to go on into London. (Ch 24, para 97)
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