Henry James and H.G. Wells (1958)
The commentary contrasts H.G. Wells's socially aware, humorous writing with Henry James's pretentious style, arguing Wells's novels explore human relationships while James's characters lack authenticity and depth.
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The commentary on Henry James and H.G. Wells highlights the contrasting literary styles and social perspectives of the two authors. H.G. Wells is portrayed as a socially aware and humorous writer, adept at critiquing societal pretensions, while Henry James is depicted as a pretentious snob, overly concerned with the manners of the upper class. The author argues that Wells's novels, often mischaracterized as social reformist, actually delve into the complexities of human relationships and the struggles of individuals to connect meaningfully. In contrast, James's works are criticized for lacking authentic characters, as they are seen as mere representations of societal archetypes rather than real people. The review also touches on the personal lives of both authors, suggesting that Wells's open lifestyle and disregard for societal norms contributed to his reputation as an outsider, while James's adherence to upper-class conventions rendered him somewhat disconnected from genuine human experiences. Ultimately, the commentary asserts that Wells's literary contributions are more relatable and insightful than James's, which are burdened by social pretensions.
- H.G. Wells is characterized as a socially aware and humorous writer, while Henry James is seen as pretentious.
- Wells's novels explore human relationships rather than serving as social reformist literature.
- James's characters are criticized for lacking authenticity and being mere societal archetypes.
- The personal lives of both authors reflect their differing attitudes towards societal norms.
- The review suggests that Wells's works are more relatable and insightful compared to James's.
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7 commentsDream boldly and build responsibly - https://onepercentrule.substack.com/p/hg-wells-dream-boldly-...
The science fiction novels for which Wells is best known form a small part of his fiction output, and are from early in his career. Most of his ca. 50 novels are "social", propagandistic and dull, and known mostly to literature professors.
As for Wells' non-fiction work, all I can say is don't confuse "opinionated" with "knowledgeable". Wells was a prolific writer but not a careful scholar. He was at one point failed out of college.
'It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance, for our consideration and application of those things, and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of the process.'
I haven't read enough of either author to have an opinion on their relative literary merit, but James is right about that, at the very least.
It includes a pretty amusing mockery of Henry James's style, which is very very very inwardly focused:
> The gist is that Mr. Blandish wants a house to live in and that he has an idea of the kind of house he wants. And the chapter, the long, unresting, progressing chapter, expands and expands; it never jumps you forward, it never lets you off, you can’t skip and you can’t escape, until there comes at last a culminating distension of statement in which you realize more and more clearly, until you realize it with the unforgettable certainty of a thing long fought for and won at last, that Mr. Blandish has actually come upon the house and with a vigour of decision as vivid as a flash of lightning in a wilderness of troubled clouds, as vivid indeed as the loud, sonorous bursting of a long blown bladder, has said ‘This is it!’ On that ‘This is it’ my chapter ends, with an effect of enormous relief, with something of the beautiful serenity that follows a difficult parturition.
> “The story is born.
> “And then we leap forward to possession.
> “‘And here he was, in the warmest reality, in the very heart of the materialization of his dream——’ He has, in fact, got the house. For a year or so from its first accidental discovery he had done nothing but just covet the house; too fearful of an overwhelming disappointment even to make a definite inquiry as to its accessibility. But he has, you will gather, taken apartments in the neighbourhood, thither he visits frequently, and almost every day when he walks abroad the coveted house draws him. It is in a little seaside place on the east coast, and the only available walks are along the shore or inland across the golf-links. Either path offers tempting digressions towards it. He comes to know it from a hundred aspects and under a thousand conditions of light and atmosphere….
Henry James's _The Golden Bowl_ and a few other of his late novels are kind of a miracle of art, as in it's miraculous that they exist and nothing else really resembles them outside of maybe Proust!
Oh, yes, of course, of course. <slowly slides away and looks for a corner to stand in>
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