Perhaps we should not be surprised, then, that the inhabitants of the moon in this novel bear a strong resemblance to the insect colonies of Earth. For this author, the most scary enemies are the depersonalized ones. The hordes, the unnamed masses, the mobs—these are what frighten H.G. Wells. Yet he portrays his lunar society with such a sensitivity to its inner logic, that one surmises that the novelist was both repelled and attracted by what he was describing.
This emotional conflict is played out in human terms in the final stages of Wells's plot. Our author's two protagonists take different paths, one returning to Earth and the other staying on the Moon. Normally this parting of the ways would indicate the conclusion of the story, but Wells add a section in which Bedford, now back on terra firma, receives messages from Cavor from across the void. This coda feels disconnected to the previous part of the book, but it does give Wells more scope to mull over issues of social and political structure that he could hardly have developed in the earlier chapters, where the conflicts and rapid pacing of the narrative hardly allowed time for such musings.
Soon after its release, this book was criticized for the implausibility of its scientific claims—by Jules Verne among others. The Frenchman asked Wells to produce this mysterious flying metal that defied the law of gravity. Yet if we made such demands on all science fiction novels, there would be few left to delight and astound us. For novelists, there is a more important force than Newton’s laws—the power of the imagination. On this scale, Wells stands out today, just as he did a century ago. He gave us a story that, long after real men went to the real moon, still exerts a gravitational pull of its own on countless readers.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy
I happen to have a 1934 collection of Wells' stories - with an introduction by the author himself.
In the introduction he explains very clearly that what wrote was not science at all, but a human story toyed with in one particular way to change things just a tad. He called it science fantasy that was designed to get you as involved in it as you would in good gripping dream. He credits Vernes as writing real science fiction, because the emphasis is on science in all of his novels. He is generous enough not to criticize Vernes on his character development in his own novels. Wells said that this collection did not include the "Autocracy of Mr. Parham", (or sumthin' like that) which he described as a comedy that never struggled through to a soft-cover edition. Writing in 1934, he asked "why should people read my invented fantasies when they can see the real actions of Mr. Hitler instead?"
Sometimes having a real old book with comments by the author is damned helpful.
2 - roger nowosielski
Ted,
Looked at your "100 Books" list; since you mentioned Invisible Man near the top, I invite you to look at Mr. Horace Mungin's short piece "Phantom Culprit," in the Politics section, May 12, 2009.
I'm certain you'll enjoy it.
Roger