H. G. Wells

Beresford, J. D. (John Davys), 1873-1947Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 104K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.H. G. Wells by J. D. BeresfordAuthor: Beresford, J. D. (John Davys), 1873-1947,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 13, 2005

Editor's review

This is a critical biography of H. G. Wells by J. D. Beresford, from a public-domain Project Gutenberg ebook. Its value lies not in offering the latest research findings but in presenting a contemporary novelist's view of Wells: Beresford was himself a novelist working in the same British literary milieu, so the text carries a firsthand perspective that helps readers understand Wells's multiple roles as a science fiction writer and social commentator. It is best read as literary-historical material rather than a complete biography: the book is brief and focused on assessment rather than detailed life events. Readers of Wells can use it to place works such as The Time Machine and The Outline of History back into the intellectual and publishing context of the time. The electronic edition is easy to search for names and titles, making it suitable for supplementary course reading or as an introduction to author studies.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of Wells who want to know how his contemporaries judged him
Students of English literature who need supplementary material on author biographies
Science fiction fans interested in the literary standing of early science fiction writers
Readers able to read the English original who want more literary-historical background

Not a good fit for

Researchers who need a detailed chronology of his life and the latest scholarly findings
General readers who read only Chinese translations and are not used to English originals
Readers expecting textual analysis or plot interpretation of Wells's works

Reading tips

Read one or two of Wells's major works first, then return to this critical biography for a deeper understanding.
While reading, list Beresford's main judgments about Wells and compare them with later criticism.
Note the titles mentioned in the biography and choose Wells's originals according to your interests.
It can be read alongside chapters on Edwardian writers in a history of English literature.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this autobiography written by Wells himself?

No. The author is J. D. Beresford, a British novelist and contemporary of Wells. The book is a critical biography of Wells, offering a contemporary observer's perspective; it is not Wells's autobiography.

Which of Wells's works should I read before this critical biography?

The source material does not specify required reading. Generally, reading a few of Wells's representative science fiction novels or social commentaries first will build a basic impression and make Beresford's main points easier to understand.

Is this critical biography suitable for academic citation?

It can be cited as early critical material to show how Wells's contemporaries viewed him. However, the source material does not indicate that it contains the latest scholarly findings; for in-depth research, it should be used alongside authoritative biographies and academic papers.

Comments

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About the author

Beresford, J. D. (John Davys), 1873-1947 Author

J. D. Beresford (John Davys Beresford, 1873–1947) was an English novelist whose biography is sparsely documented, and whose personal details remain little known to general readers. Seven of his works are held in this collection, spanning science fiction, social satire, and supernatural tales. Early works such as The Hampdenshire Wonder and The Wonder centre on precocious children and explore the predicament of exceptional intellects in an ordinary society, with a distinctly speculative bent. Goslings imagines survival after the collapse of social order and is often placed in the tradition of disaster and dystopian fiction. The Jervaise Comedy leans toward social comedy, light in tone yet ironic. He also wrote a critical study of H. G. Wells, indicating his intellectual ties to a leading figure of contemporary science fiction, while The Psychical Researcher's Tale - The Sceptical Poltergeist and similar pieces venture into the supernatural. Overall, his writing combines scientific imagination with social observation in a cool, restrained style.