Thoughts on War of the Worlds

Sometimes with a short story or novella such as this, one can find volumes of interesting material to discuss.  And after having recently read other magnificent works by H.G. Wells such as The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau and The Time Machine, I had high hopes for War of the Worlds.  Sadly, War of the Worlds was less than stellar.  I think H.G. Wells may have put it best when, two years after the famous radio debacle, he thanked Orson Wells for increasing sales to one of his "more obscure" titles.  Perhaps he too felt it was a weak entry.  I am not trying to say that it is a terrible story by any means.  It was well received by both readers and critics when originally published in 1897 and 1898 and has heavily influenced science fiction ever since.  I just think that, compared to his other works, it feels much less defined.  The main thing that irritates me is how the main character is handled.  The "main character" is never named but Wells goes so far as to give him a job, a wife and a brother.  His actions and reactions are dry and robotic and he seems more faceless than the enemy he is fleeing.  The story, itself, chugs along like a broken train, in fits and stops.  Halfway through his escape we are told of his brother's journey for many pages and the transition between the two tales is so poor that sometimes I was unsure of which character I was reading about. Hmmm, perhaps character names would've come in handy here?  I am sure this is a symptom of the serialized form of publication but it strongly reeks of being haphazardly extended for the readers. 

Now I guess it's only fair that I also explain what was good about it.  I am, to begin with, a big fan of old horror and sci-fi stories.  This was written in the journalistic style, which is a way of lending the story a feeling of reality and was often employed by some of my favorite horror writers like Poe and Lovecraft.  So, in other words, I liked the format and it had a feeling of familiarity.  I also like that Wells was not shy about introducing a little violence and gore into the mix.  It must have been shocking to read about one's fellow countrymen being reduced to blackened and charred corpses or being drained of blood by hooting aliens.  Even themain character trying to sate his own starvation by sucking on the dry bones of unidentifiable animal skeletons adds another level of horror.  But if the main character was not well developed, the aliens were.  I cant picture the character we were reading about but the aliens and their mysterious equipment are very clearly defined.  Wells degree in zoology comes into play many times as he discusses how the aliens reproduce, how they eat, or how the strange red weed spreads over the countryside.  But, most of all, I think the concept of how the aliens react to humans is what gained the book its popularity.  I thinks a human would show more sympathy in killing a nest of rats than the aliens did for humanity.  They treat the citizens of England much like we would a patch of weeds.  There is no attempt to communicate, no torture, nothing to even regard humans as sentient creatures.  It is a beautiful and horrifying concept.

As a final note.  If you look closely, you can detect some of Well's social views coming through.  He throws rich and poor in the same horrible situation. He even has a horse trample a rich man trying to clamber in the mud for his spilled coins.  He shows the weak position of the church and the clergy on multiple occasions.  I feel that Wells did not have a particularly high opinion of his own countrymen in the way that all of their best efforts result in foolishness or disaster and most of the other characters are clownish in behavior.

Well, I hope all of you enjoyed the short story (in some manner) and I will be back soon to introduce The Tempest.  Thanks everyone! 

Joe

May's Selection: H.G.Wells War of the Worlds

Hello everyone and my sincerest apologies for the delay.  May has been quite a busy month for me and I have had little time to commit to reading or writing.  Thankfully, I have had a short respite from my duties and now have a little time to announce this months book (albeit a bit late...) .  I'm sure it seems incredibly swell of me to post the book information one week from the end of the month, but maybe two people are currently following this book-list so I won't fret over it.  For you others out there who are also saddled with busy work or social lives I am glad to inform you that this months choice, H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds,  tops out at a mere 130 or so pages.  This should make for a light, few nights read compared to our last few endeavors.  For those of you who have not picked up a copy as yet, any edition will do.  We do not have to deal with translations or multiple versions in this case.  I, myself, acquired from Barnes and Nobles a nice gilded and leather-bound volume of H.G. Wells seven novels but you do not need to go that far with it.  Anyone should be able to find a super-cheap used copy from Amazon.com, or a local used-book seller.  Those who really want to save cash can probably find free online versions (those who have Kindles also have access to free pre-1920 books; I always support the buying of books but I know the economy is tough right now.

Herbert George Wells was an English author born in 1866 into a family of meager income.  His father was an unsuccessful businessman who would jump from one failed enterprise to another while his mother remained at a fixed position as a live-in maid.  This would eventually lead to his parents living separately and him having to seek apprenticeships.   H.G. Wells would, in his early adult life, struggle to find teaching positions, often temporary, and sometimes could not  keep himself well-fed or gainfully employed. Wells, socially speaking, was a bit of a womanizer having been married twice while still engaging in multiple affairs with a myriad of women including an early activist for birth control and a feminist writer.  Philosophically, Wells was a pacifist as well as a socialist extremist whose views were so divergent they eventually got him expelled from the socialist Fabian Society.  Conversely, he was also a Social Darwinist and supported the now-controversial idea of eugenics (preventing "undesirable" traits from continuing in the human gene-pool).  Despite his outspoken political and philosophical views Wells is still considered one of the great thinkers of his time.  In addition to his "Social Science Fiction" novels he also published several scientific journals and articles and accurately predicted some of the progress of the twenty-first century.

War of the Worlds tells the story of one man's observations of an alien invasion on the terribly unprepared (who would be?) London suburb of Woking.  Attentive readers should be able to pick up on some of H.G. Wells' typical social commentary in this novella.