“Godzilla” by Ian Thorne Review

“Godzilla” by Ian Thorne was one of the few books, as a kid, that I couldn’t get enough of! I found out, shortly after entering the third grade, that my school library had a number of these Crestwood House Monster Series books. These books were extremely popular, but few were as popular as “Godzilla.” In fact, for months, I couldn’t find this book available on the shelves in the library. It got to a point where I asked the librarian if I could put my name down on a reserve list. She said she’d be glad to, but I’d be waiting, literally, several months to even get my opportunity at reading the book. To say the least, this book was extremely popular! Once I was able to get my hands on it, I was hooked on this book! So much so I tried to renew it several times, but there was a long list of people waiting to check this book out after I got done reading it. The librarian would let me re-check the book out one more time, but not anymore after that due to the long waiting list. As I finished up elementary school, the book became a bit easier to find on the shelf and checkout; but it still was one, if not the most, popular books of the Crestwood House monster books.

Back in 2001 I was able to locate a pristine copy of this book for $35. Pretty expensive considering it’s a children’s’ book. But it was well worth it. As I began to read it, for the first time in five years, I realized how inaccurate the book really is. While this book has a lot of sentimental value to me, the facts in this book make it one that I wouldn’t show a new Godzilla fan…including younger fans.

The book was initially published in 1977 and does contain synopses of numerous Godzilla movies including: Gojira, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster, and Destroy All Monsters. The book does a wonderful job of encapsulating the stories of these movies, and then some. The book also has some wonderful photos despite some of them having been cropped and rendered inaccurately for the movie that is being discussed. One example of this is a photo used by Dr. Yamane in the Diet Building showing Godzilla peering over a mountain. In the book, this photo is used, but citizens of Oto Island and fire are cropped in the photo to make it look like Godzilla is breathing fire on them.

Photos are something I can handle being inaccurate, but having the information wrong is a whole ‘nother story. Granted, I will give Thorne some slack in that she was going by the American versions of the films; but even then, she still gets some of the information wrong. Some of the inaccurate information that’s housed in the book are the following:

• Godzilla is 400 feet tall (granted, this is mentioned in the American version of the film and Thorne probably had never seen the original Gojira, so I’ll give him slack here).
• Godzilla’s green (In some movies it almost looks like there may be a green hue to his skin, but Godzilla, for the most part, is a charcoal gray).
• Anguirus is known as Anzilla.
• Aspiga (a.k.a. Kumonga) and Kamacuras (a.k.a. Gimantis) are referred to as spiders (Kamacuras is spelled “Gamakera” in the book. On top of that, the only spider of these two is Kumonga…Kamacuras was the praying mantis).
• There were two ending to King Kong Vs. Godzilla.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. What makes it even more cringing is even when Thorne gets some of the information wrong from the American films. One example is when Thorne is writing about Steve Martin’s address to the audience about Dr. Serizawa and the death of Godzilla: “The menace is gone, and so is a great man. But now the world can wake up and live again. Perhaps now, with the example set by Dr. Serizawa, we can do so more wisely.”  The last part, “Perhaps now, with the example set by Dr. Serizawa, we can do so more wisely,” is never said in the movie. Thorne also says Martin radio-addressed this message. It is unclear as to whether Martin did do this. Granted, it can be assumed he did, but the entire movie is him narrating to the audience and, therefore, shouldn’t even be considered a radio address.

Another error is when she writes about Godzilla Raids Again. Of course, she makes the simple mistake of calling it, Gigantis: The Fire Monster, but I’ll give her another pass. However, her error is committed when she writes that Godzilla is female. Nowhere in the movie, including the American film, does it state Godzilla is female. In fact, Godzilla is male in the movie. Godzilla has never been considered female. Actually, towards the end of Godzilla Raids Again, when the JSDF is in the process of encasing Godzilla in a icy tomb on Iwato Island, one of the ground commanders shouts to his fighter pilot comrades, “You’ve got him! Keep on going!” Him is the keyword.

During the three years I was able to get my hands on the book in elementary school, I caught some of these problems. But as time went on, and I got a copy for myself, I realized how incredibly inaccurate this book really is. Nevertheless, the book does contain some really nice photos, including a diagram on the process of shooting a Godzilla movie. Some of my favorite photos are a couple that are behind-the-scenes.

“Godzilla” by Ian Thorne is a very important book in that it probably helped cultivate some Godzilla fans during the time of its release. Whether or not some of those young readers remained Godzilla fans is an entirely different conversation. But the book is definitely inaccurate. In all honesty, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone…unless you’re a Godzilla fan who is able to spot these errors in fact. The book is a bit difficult to find, but I have noticed that if a person really wanted to grab a copy, all he would have to do is Google it. Now, whether a person can find a copy in really good condition is a whole different issue. I was fortunate to have located a great copy of it, but the price of it was still steep (although it has been out of print for nearly thirty years).

Overall, a book that has some neat pictures but a lot of factual errors. If you’re really interested in locating a copy of this book, I wouldn’t suggest spending more than $15 for it. For a person, such as myself, however, who grew up reading this book from beginning to end countless times, the sentimental value is somewhat worth a steeper price tag. In the end, I wouldn’t really suggest wasting any time on this book unless you’re a completest or have some sentimental attachment to the book.