H. G. Wells : the novels : 1900-11

Abstract

The problem with writing about a writer as prolific as Herbert George Wells is how to encapsulate the salient characteristics of his work whilst escaping the inevitable danger of the essay becoming too much of a generalisation - the author's works merely referred to by name, vaguely illustrating some characteristic mentioned in the rush or putting too much material into too little space. An anchor was needed. Some central volume of work which would, on detailed examination, throw light not just on itself, but on what preceded and what followed it as well. For this reason I finally settled on the novels Wells published in the period between 1900 and 1911. Personally I do not like to make clear-cut distinctions within an author 's body of work, using the years of writing or publication as criteria, but for critical convenience an anchoring device such as the grouping' into periods (as one talks of the Augustans, the Romantics, etc) is a necessity. In the case of H.G. Wells, the period from 1900 to 1911 is important because it is one of major transition in his literary career. The novels he published at this time - eleven in all may be categorized by genre into various sections so that why this is a period of transition is made evident. It was at this time that Wells was publishing the last of his scientific romances the likes of which had. comprised his major output in the preceding years; he was writing his social comedies, which are central to this period of his career; and he was just beginning what may be called his "novels of ideas", on which he was to concentrate for the remaining thirty-odd years or his life.