Synopses & Reviews
H. G. Wells was one of the most influential authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered today as the author of classic works of science fiction, such as
The Invisible Man, The War of the WorldS≪/i>, and
The First Men in the Moon. He was also the author of
The Outline of World History, an ambitious chronicle of the world from antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century. Through essays and reviews, this volume traces the critical reception of his works.
An introductory essay overviews Wells's literary career and provides a context for understanding his works. Each of the sections that follow treats one of his major works, according to the publication date of his story. Within each section are reviews, essays, or excerpts that exemplify the critical response to that particular work from the time of its appearance to the present day. A bibliography at the end of the volume lists the most important modern critical studies of Wells and indicates the tremendous contemporary interest in Wells as an author.
Review
Reprints of difficult-to-find sources are generally valuable, and Scheick's work is no exception. The book is most useful for gauging Well's entire career. Scheick's careful introduction and critical essay provide balanced overviews for assessing both Well's place in his literary milieu and his reputation in general. Recommended for lower-division undergraduates and up.Choice
Synopsis
H. G. Wells is best know as the author of enduring classics of science fiction, such as The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. His tale of space flight, The First Men in the Moon, was written at the turn of the century and anticipated modern space travel. He was also the author of The Outline of World History, an ambitious chronicle of the world from antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century. Through essays and reviews, this book records his critical reception.
Synopsis
Essays and reviews chart the critical response to H. G. Wells for 1895 to the present.
About the Author
WILLIAM J. SCHEICK is J.R. Millikan Centennial Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Texas at Austin.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword by Cameron Northouse
Introduction: H. G. Wells and the Literate Subconscious
Experiment in Autobiography by H. G. Wells
The Lounger by Anonymous
The Early H. G. Wells by Bernard Bergonzi
Literature by Anonymous
The War of the Worlds by John St. Loe Strachey
Mr. Sammler's War of the Planets by Allan Chavkin
The Ideas of H. G. Wells by Anonymous
History, Adventure, and School Stories by Anonymous
The Natural History of H. G. Wells by John R. Reed
Sociological Speculations by F. C. S. S.
Mr. Well's Kipps by F. G. Bettany
The Novels of Wells, Bennett and Galsworthy by William Bellamy
Encounters with the "White Sphinx": The Re-Vision of Poe in Wells's Early Fiction by Catherine Rainwater
Mr. Wells's New Novel by W. H. Chesson
A Fictioneer of the Laboratory by H. L. Mencken
The New Machiavelli by Arnold Bennett
H. G. Wells and Mrs. Humphry Ward by John R. Reed
The Novel of Ideas by Rebecca West
Keeping the Game Going: The Re-Vision of Poe in Wells's Later Fiction by Catherine Rainwater
Ellen Glasgow's Outline of History in The Shadowy Third and Other Stories by Catherine Rainwater
Mr. Wells's New Novel by E. B. Osborn
Mr. H. G. Wells's Pamphlet Novel by Richard Jennings
H. G. Wells's and Henry James's Two Ladies by Janet Gabler-Hover
Schopenhauer, Spengler, and Wells by William J. Scheick
Afterword: The Contemporary Novel by H. G. Wells
Supplementary Readings: 1956-1994
Index