MARTIANS INVADE…! Well, eventually they would, in the immortal science-fiction classic “The War of the Worlds,” authored by Herbert George (H.G.) Wells who was born on this date (September 21) in 1866. Without question, Wells was no lightweight when it came to intellectual capacity. If anything, he was a “deep thinker” who was not only gifted with a vivid imagination, but also abilities akin to those that would be possessed by an extremely prescient “futurist.” Wells, who is best remembered today for his popular works of science-fiction, was always, it seems, profoundly interested in the “larger world” and the complex societies within that world created and nurtured by man. In terms of politics, he considered himself something of a “socialist” (not Rick’s cup of tea…!) and believed in the establishment of a benevolent “single world order” to replace individual nations that, he believed, would ultimately find themselves in engaged in repeated wars. His views were largely “pacifist” in nature, but not exclusively so – and his works often embodied utopian ideals, although much of what he depicted in his novels was, it seems to me, distinctly dystopian in nature. Overall, his complicated political views were, at times, contradictory, often inflammatory and not always popular. Some would say he was a bit kooky at times. In addition to his novels (both well and lesser known ones), Wells wrote numerous short stories, a variety of non-fiction works and two very popular history works, “The Outline of History” first published in complete volume form in 1920 and “A Short History of the World” published in 1922. Wells updated these works in various revised editions during his lifetime. Collectively, these works sold millions of copies and made Wells a wealthy man. Wells died of natural causes on August 13, 1946 at his home in Regent’s Park in London. Rather than dwell on Wells’ politics or over-analyze the “messages” and themes contained in his many works, I have always preferred to simply enjoy his science fiction for the great, thrilling and imaginative stories that they are. Some of his major works in this genre include: “The Time Machine,” (1895); “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” (1896); “The Invisible Man,” (1897); “The War Between the Worlds,” (1898); “The First Men in the Moon,” (1901); and others. You will note, that all of the works I’ve cited were produced (rather remarkably, I think) relatively early in Wells’ literary career and over a fairly short time frame. Personally, I was first introduced to Wells (in comic book form) as young boy via the very delightful “Classics Illustrated” series, but went on later to read the full editions of all of those listed above. Pictured below: 1) Wells as both a young man and later during his career; 2) A series of covers from the “Classics Illustrated” series of comics – my first introduction to Wells.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 13:30:44 +0000
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