H G Wells

There are two sides to Welles. . His own personality seems to be full of contradiction. A lot of his fiction was against empire and large scale industries. He liked to be seen as liberal-minded. But he was a racist and a snob. Some of his writing reflects that, but he was prolific and produced a lot of original work. I don't want to expand the post, there is currently a movement that would like to clean and edit the past. Personally, I don't support that, people are of there own time. I'm currently working my way through, The Complete Short Stories of HG Wells. When I read The Flowering of the strange orchid. I thought it might be the inspiration for, Little Shop Of Horrors.
 
Finch said:
There are two sides to Welles. . His own personality seems to be full of contradiction. A lot of his fiction was against empire and large scale industries. He liked to be seen as liberal-minded. But he was a racist and a snob. Some of his writing reflects that, but he was prolific and produced a lot of original work. I don't want to expand the post, there is currently a movement that would like to clean and edit the past. Personally, I don't support that, people are of there own time. I'm currently working my way through, The Complete Short Stories of HG Wells. When I read The Flowering of the strange orchid. I thought it might be the inspiration for, Little Shop Of Horrors.
Click to expand...

He met Orson Wells, they did a radio interview together .

His Great Grandson Simon Wells directed the 2002 Guy Pierce lead remake of The Time Machine.
 
Finch said:
There are two sides to Welles. . His own personality seems to be full of contradiction. A lot of his fiction was against empire and large scale industries. He liked to be seen as liberal-minded. But he was a racist and a snob. Some of his writing reflects that, but he was prolific and produced a lot of original work. I don't want to expand the post, there is currently a movement that would like to clean and edit the past. Personally, I don't support that, people are of there own time. I'm currently working my way through, The Complete Short Stories of HG Wells. When I read The Flowering of the strange orchid. I thought it might be the inspiration for, Little Shop Of Horrors.
Click to expand...
Can you please develop your argument that Wells was a racist and a snob?
 
hitmouse said:
Can you please develop your argument that Wells was a racist and a snob?
Click to expand...
As I said, his attitude is contained in his writing. I would suggest you start with the short story Through A Window.
 
I have read most of his stuff, fiction and non- fiction. Some of his early writings are quite uncomfortable, but I think, looking at entirety of his works, it is lazy to simply state that he was a racist or a snob. He was a complex man who analysed things deeply, and his opinions evolved with time. He was not, in my view, a two- dimensional bigot.
 
AE35Unit said:
Yes but I wouldn't class Hitler as an author
Click to expand...
It is a book. He wrote it. His name is on the cover. Therefore he is an author. He was also going to become an evil mass-murdering dictator with one bollock. The two are not mutually exclusive.
 
hitmouse said:
It is a book. He wrote it. His name is on the cover. Therefore he is an author. He was also going to become an evil mass-murdering dictator with one bollock. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Click to expand...
Writing one book doesn't necessarily make one an author. Mein Kampf should be burned
 
He was a genius for ideas.
I love the reaction Brian Aldiss had when discussing the ending of War of the Worlds in a documentary on it. He shouted "bloody genius!" For someone to have socio-political ideas at heart in their writing is one thing, but to be able to create a story that makes the message with irony and a profound existential thought. From the macro-cosmic to the micro-cosmic. It is such a great idea for an ending to a story like that. The giant is defeated by the ant-who is not even a recognized combatant in the story! It is a reminder of the multitude of life processes and actors in play--it is not just a simple tirade about colonialism. It is way beyond that--it is Homeric.

I don't mind his writing style although it doesn't stand out for me--I have read some of his non-fiction. Like Lovecraft, he could communicate weighty ideas with a control of language and vocabulary we don't see anymore. He gets criticized for believing in eugenics but from what I understand, the hard part would have been to find a writer who did not believe in eugenics. It goes back to ancient times-everyone believed your parents have a big influence on your biology. If you have tall parents, there is good chance you will be tall.

The trouble for us I believe in looking back on writers is that we are so bombarded by narrow political philosophy/ideology that we have lost understanding of how different things were just a few decades ago. We are encouraged to forget or repudiate the past in our societies.
I think he believed tribalism was dangerous for social harmony within the shrinking borders of a global village, his work indicates that theme. He felt there could be no exceptions and he wasn't afraid to address it. You could not have "do as I say, not as I do." Everyone had to be with the program for it to work (assuming it ever could).
He recognized the exceptions and the destructive influences which we see today from that. Tribalism is alive and well, despite all the rhetoric and the contradictory media statements about unity and tolerance. Those who claim to be passionately against tribalism tend to demonstrate it the most, especially when they attack older societies for their homogeneity.
If Wells was a young writer today-he would be rejected from publishing right at the gates. It validates his views on biology and clashes within life systems. Sometimes a war of worlds is carried out without guns or physical fighting. Being shunned or cancelled from institutions which used to welcome you can be another form of tribal conflict.
 
I want to write a novel in the style of H. G. Wells so bad.

Is it not the case that David Wallace & Aldous Huxley were very similar to him in style?
 
phileas fogg said:
I want to write a novel in the style of H. G. Wells so bad.

Is it not the case that David Wallace & Aldous Huxley were very similar to him in style?
Click to expand...
Have you read them? What do you think?

Personally I have never linked Huxley and Wells stylistically.
 
I'd say Wells was often reportorial. At the extreme, you get a short story like "The Sea Raiders"; I think War of the Worlds leans that way. ...Dr. Moreau less so. I'd say his style was closer to that of Arthur Conan Doyle than to that of, say, Henry James. (Yeah, that's maybe a wider than useful spectrum.)
 
A man of his exploding world. Started in 1895 when the world's access to goods was slipping into warp drive. The Time Machine is literally a man's view of an ever-rapidly changing world. If you sit back and try to encompass the picture it's a bit bewildering. He explored and used fields in transition for his ideas. Brilliant guy.

For any of you younger commentors/readers here, at six years old I saved up pop bottle money and bought myself one of the very first transistor (3) radios. I now have a seven core, one terabyte, flat screened, high internet computer and more, where I not only write but program and do art. And I have the ability to put my stuff out where others can see it.

Coming from three transistors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
B The Time Machine By Wells. What You Think Happened to the Time Traveler ? Book Discussion 8
B Who is Greater H G Wells or Jules Verne ? Classic SF&F 13
Bick William Dean Howells - The Rise of Silas Lapham, My Mark Twain, &c. Literary Fiction 9
phileas fogg China & H. G. Wells China Mieville 1
Werthead The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells Reviews & Interviews 49

Similar threads


Back
Top