Herbert wells (1866 – 1946) Questions and tasks

1. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the proper and geographical names:

Herbert George Wells ['hE:bqt GLG welz]

Isabel ['Izqbql] Moreau ['mPrL]

Ann Veronica ['xn vI'rPnIkq]

Machiavelli ["mxkIq'velI]

Rebecca West [rI'bekq west]

Britling ['brItlIN] Henry James ['henrI 'GeImz]

League of Nations [lJg qv 'neISqnz]

Stalin ['stxlIn] Roosevelt ['rHzvqlt]

John Galsworthy ['GPn 'gLlzwE:TI]

2. Read the text:

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946), English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, best known for such science fiction as “The Time Machine” (1895), “The Invisible Man” (1897), and “The Man of the Worlds” (1898) and for the popular history “The Outline of History” (1920, revised 1931).

Early life. Wells was the son of domestic servants turned into small shopkeepers. He didn’t want to follow his parents’ profession, and at the age of 17 he became a pupil-teacher in a small country school. Here at last he could use his mind and did so to advantage, winning a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London. Although he failed to obtain a degree, the three years spent there impressed a romantic conception of science upon his writer’s imagination that was to prove a source of inspiration for his novels.

Uncertified as a teacher, he could find only the poorest paid job in schools until he succeeded in obtaining his degree extramurally. At this stage of his life he became sure that he would become a great writer. His first attempt at novel writing, however, was imitative and unsuccessful. He had married his cousin Isabel, a girl from his own humble social class; and their marriage was dull and unhappy.

He decided to abandon his dull job and his unhappy marriage in order to make one last attempt at authorship. Wells ran off with one of his pupils (who later became his second wife and the mother of two of his sons) and set himself as a free-lance writer.

[ Driven by the necessity of supporting two homes, he abandoned imitation and became almost immediately a successful journalist and short-story writer, the possessor of a lively and humorous style. “The Time Machine” (1895), written within a year of his breakaway, became a resounding success. It was followed within a few years by a succession of striking scientific fantasies, “The Wonderful Visit” (1895); “The Island of Doctor Moreau” (1896); “The Invisible Man” (1897), including his most famous, “The War of the Worlds”. Soon he was able to give up journalism and retire to the country to become a full-time novelist. Country air, exercise, and freedom of financial worries brought an immense improvement in his health. His fiction began now to reflect his search for a beautiful and passionate woman with an intellectual equal to his own. Something of Wells’ restless search for a soul mate is expressed in “The Sea-Lady” (1902).

Association with Fabians. When the success of “Anticipations” (1901), his first full-scale attempt at prophecy, brought Wells an invitation to join the (Socialist) Fabian Society in London, and he accepted it. He brought into gathering of theorizing intellectuals his dynamism and it helped him to capture the younger Fabians with his recommendations about sexual freedom. All these experiences are shown in “Ann Veronica” (1909), “The New Machiavelli” (1911). The outbreak of war in 1914 found Wells involved in the love affair, which, by his own admission, had the greatest effect on his life and work. In the young English author Rebecca West he found the ideal for which he had been searching, but the two intellects had both positive and negative effects on one another. This love affair is reflected in his novel “Mr. Britling Sees It Through” (1916) full of comic spirit and renewed vitality. But another book “Boon” (1915), wickedly spiteful parody of the American novelist Henry James brought Wells into deep disgrace with the literary establishment.

Campaigner for world peace. Wells had been a firm believer in the idea of a League of Nations, and the failure of the statesmen to arrange a just peace after World War I drove him, with his furious energy, into the work of awakening mankind to the instability of the world order. “The Outline of History” (1920, revised in 1931) was written in a course of a year. It was followed by “The Science of Life” (1929-30), and “The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind” (1932), both composed with the help of collaborators. The poverty-stricken teacher had become the teacher of mankind. In 1934 “Experiment in Autobiography” was published, a masterpiece of self-revelation and a mirror of Wells’ intelligent mind.

Throughout the 1930s, Wells was at the storm centre of every event that seemed to be propelling civilization toward suicide. He interviewed Stalin and Roosevelt to see if some solution could not be found to the dangerous division between state capitalism and private capitalism. He succeeded the English novelist John Galsworthy as president of International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists (PEN) and everywhere and continuously he urged upon the necessity to defeat the forces that were leading mankind to its own destruction. Wells died in London in his 80^th year.

3. Answer the questions to discuss the text in detail. Use the text for reference.

1. When did H. Wells become a teacher? What impressed him most

of all when he worked at school? Was science a source of inspi-

ration for him?

2. How did he happen to support two families? Did he become a successful journalist and a short-story writer? What was characteristic of his style?

3. How can the famous novels by H. Wells be characterized? What did he want to reflect in his novels?

4. Was H. Wells interested in politics? Did he join any political party or society? What works were created in this period?

5. Comment on the idea that H. Wells, the poverty-stricken teacher, was the teacher of mankind.

4. Translate in writing the passage in brackets.

5. Speak on the life and creative work of H.G. Wells.