Herbert George Wells

Herbert George Wells . He was known as H.G. Wells . He was a British writer , novelist, historian and philosopher . He is considered one of the precursors of science fiction; He is in the line of novelists who present a realistic vision of life as a means to improve the living conditions of humanity.

Famous for his science fiction novels, such as The War of the Worlds ( 1898 ) and The Time Machine ( 1895 ), both made into films on more than one occasion.

Summary

[ disguise ]

• 1 Biographical summary
  • 1 Childhood
  • 2 Youth
  • 3 Death
• 2 Some of his works
  • 1 Other of his works
• 3 Hall of Fame
• 4 Sources

Biographical summary

He was born on September 21 , 1866 in Bromley, Kent , a small town very close to London at the time and today integrated as another neighborhood in the British capital. He is the son of Joseph Wells and Sarah Neal. The family, from the impoverished lower-middle class of the time, called him Bertie. They had a not prosperous store bought thanks to an inheritance, in which they sold porcelain objects and other varieties of household goods.

Childhood

His first studies were carried out in a private school, run by a former janitor who became a teacher, Thomas Morley, endowed with few pedagogical skills and even less knowledge.

A childhood accident in which he broke his tibia and his long convalescence forced him to rest for months. At the age of eight, this imposed stillness led to the discovery and pleasure of reading, guided by his father, authors such as Charles Dickens and Washington Irving , his first favorite novelists. He will rightly speak of that fall as one of the luckiest moments of his life.

Youth

He worked as an apprentice, between 1881 and 1883 , in a textile store called Southsea Drapery Emporium: Hyde’s, an experience that is reflected in his novels The Wheels of Chance ( 1896 ) and Kipps ( 1905 ), whose protagonist is a textile apprentice.

In 1884 he obtained a scholarship to study Biology at the Royal College of Science in London until 1887 , where he had Thomas Henry Huxley as a teacher and, away from classical humanism, he placed himself in a position closer to the sciences, which provided him with a good part of the creative energy that nourished his career as a novelist.

During this period he also joins a school debate club called Debating Society, where he expresses his interest in a transformation of society. He was part of the founders of The Science School Journal , a magazine in which he made known his postulates in literature and social issues. It was in her that his first novel, The Time Machine ( 1895 ), came to light, an immediate success, the book was talked about everywhere. He had become a famous author, to whom all the newspapers asked for collaborations.

He abandons journalism, although not completely, and dedicates himself to writing. In the same year he published The Marvelous Visit, and in the following three years three novels that cemented and increased his prestige: The Island of Doctor Moreau , The Invisible Man ( 1897 ); and The War of the Worlds , ( 1898 ).

His relationship with Rebecca West, which lasted ten years, produced a son, Anthony West, born in 1914 .

Its production could be divided into three stages: the scientific novel, the family and the sociological. The scientific novel began with the end of World War II and soon became a popular genre. She was a member of the Fabian Society. Plagued by the physical ailments that had plagued him throughout his life, tuberculosis and kidney damage, he took refuge during his last years at his estate in Easton Glebe, dedicated to revising his complete works.

Death

He died on August 13 , 1946 , in London , at the age of 79.

Some of his works

He published more than eighty titles in which he followed the tradition of J. Bunyan and Daniel Defoe apart from the influence that French and Russian authors exerted on contemporary novelists such as Henry James , George Edward Moore and Joseph Conrad .

Due to its great extension and international dissemination, his works include:

• The Time Machine ( 1895 ), a novel in which science, adventure and politics were intertwined, addressing the theme of class struggle.
• The wonderful visit (1895).
• The island of the learned Moreau ( 1896 ).
• The Invisible Man ( 1897 ).
• The War of the Worlds ( 1898 ), science fiction novel, describing a Martian invasion of Earth.
• The first man on the moon ( 1901 ).
• Delicacy of the Gods ( 1904 ).
• Kipps ( 1905 ) was his first family novel.
• The war in the air ( 1908 ).
• Tono-Bungay ( 1909 ) is a notable satire on English society at the end of the 19th century and the emergence of the nouveau riche.
• Ana Verónica (Ann Verónica) ( 1909 ), in which she addresses the issue of women’s liberation.
• The History of Mr. Polly ( 1910 ).
• The Story of Mr. Polly (1910).
• The new Machiavelli ( 1911 ).
• Marriage ( 1912 ); novel where the lives of humble people are described.
• The Liberated World ( 1914 ), in which he describes a European war carried out with atomic bombs and radioactivity.
• Brief History of the World and Outline of Universal History, (2 volumes, 1920 ), are historical works, the latter becoming immensely popular.
• The Things of the Future ( 1933 ).

He also wrote encyclopedic essays such as The Profile of History ( 1919 ) or The Open Conspiracy ( 1922 ) and, although he never gave up in his attempt to create a more just and supportive world, his last writings The Destiny of Homo Sapiens ( 1939 ) and The Mind on the Edge of the Abyss ( 1945 ) are marked by a pessimism resulting from contemplating a humanity that, out of ambition and hatred, destroys itself.

Other of his works

• The Chronic Argonauts ( 1888 ).
• Textbook of Biology ( 1893 ).
• Honors Physiography (1893).
• Select Conversations with an Uncle (now extinct) ( 1895 ).
• The Wonderful Visit (1895).
• The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents (1895).
• The Argonauts of the Air (1895).
• Under the Knife ( 1896 ).
• In the Abyss (1896).
• The Island of Doctor Moreau.
• The Red Room (1896).
• The Wheels of Chance: A Bicycling Idyll (1896).
• The Sea Raiders (1896).
• The Crystal Egg ( 1897 ).
• The Star (1897).
• A Story of the Stone Age (1897).
• The Plattner Story, and Others (1897).
• Certain Personal Matters ( 1898 ).
• The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1898).
• When the Sleeper Wakes ( 1899 ).
• Tales of Space and Time (1899).
• A Story of the Days to Come (1899).
• Love and Mr Lewisham: The Story of a Very Young Couple ( 1900 ).

Hall of Fame

In 1997 , Herbert George Wells was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in recognition of his pioneering work in the genre. His influence has also been recognized in many other events, such as him being reviewed in the 1997 Locus poll as one of the best science fiction authors of all time.