Another very strange book by the almost visionary HG Wells - in a nutshell a man falls asleep Rip van Winkle-like for 200 yrs in 1898 and wakes up in a very changed future with slightly more than a fuzzy head from too much sleep and overdue library books!!. Like "War in the air" published later in 1908 ( this was published in 1899) Wells makes fantastically real predictions for the modern society his sleeper awakes in. Not only does he foretell TV and Radio but mass media and the undesirable effects of it in shaping almost instantly public opinion, if we throw in Aeroplanes and a scarily modern sounding consumer society it makes for quite surprising reading always keeping in mind the actual state of the world when it was written. His vision of a modern domed city with skyscraper walkways has been used in Sci Fi throughout the 20th century - surely his vision was the basis for Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" , pollution and chemical poisoning of workers feature too.
But it is a dystopia into which the main character has awakened - a world ruled by a strange all-powerful council. Used as a pawn in a power struggle the main character is torn between the council and the weirdly named Ostrog, leader of a workers uprising that has promised the people freedom "when the sleeper awakes". Without spoiling the plot the sleeper has awakened to find himself almost de-facto ruler or owner of the world. But it has become a nightmare and Wells explores a modern consumer society that consigns many of its population to servitude whilst an elite few enjoy a life of luxury - but all the time appearing to promise the underclass riches just around the corner. Wells does try hard with many of his scientific and social predictions and many hit the mark especially now in the early 21st century, possibly more so than say in the 1950's. It must always be kept in mind the times when this was written and this is partly the entertainment value in the novel. Obviously his vision of aeroplanes is quite different from what we know now as is his vision of TV's etc but as I said this is all part of the fun. The plot is a little muddled and it is not by any stretch his best work - at the time it didn't sell well - sometimes it gets all a little muddled. The Victorian views of the world are all too apparent unpleasantly in some places. It must be remembered that European nations had massive colonial empires at that time with colonial thinking to go with it. The view of the African peoples in the novel isn't pleasant but along with the amazing predictions it must all be seen as a whole - a novel foretelling the future written in 1899. My copy published by Everyman came with a chronological history of the times Wells wrote in and several critical essays that were very interesting. Well worth a look.
But it is a dystopia into which the main character has awakened - a world ruled by a strange all-powerful council. Used as a pawn in a power struggle the main character is torn between the council and the weirdly named Ostrog, leader of a workers uprising that has promised the people freedom "when the sleeper awakes". Without spoiling the plot the sleeper has awakened to find himself almost de-facto ruler or owner of the world. But it has become a nightmare and Wells explores a modern consumer society that consigns many of its population to servitude whilst an elite few enjoy a life of luxury - but all the time appearing to promise the underclass riches just around the corner. Wells does try hard with many of his scientific and social predictions and many hit the mark especially now in the early 21st century, possibly more so than say in the 1950's. It must always be kept in mind the times when this was written and this is partly the entertainment value in the novel. Obviously his vision of aeroplanes is quite different from what we know now as is his vision of TV's etc but as I said this is all part of the fun. The plot is a little muddled and it is not by any stretch his best work - at the time it didn't sell well - sometimes it gets all a little muddled. The Victorian views of the world are all too apparent unpleasantly in some places. It must be remembered that European nations had massive colonial empires at that time with colonial thinking to go with it. The view of the African peoples in the novel isn't pleasant but along with the amazing predictions it must all be seen as a whole - a novel foretelling the future written in 1899. My copy published by Everyman came with a chronological history of the times Wells wrote in and several critical essays that were very interesting. Well worth a look.