A country: Great Britain
Was born: September 21, 1866
Died: August 13, 1946

H.G. Wells(Herbert George Wells)- English writer and publicist. Born September 21, 1866 in Bromley, Kent, UK. Author of famous science fiction novels “The Time Machine”, “The Invisible Man”, “War of the Worlds”, etc. Representative critical realism. Supporter of Fabian socialism. He visited Russia three times, where he met with Lenin and Stalin.

His father, Joseph Wells, and mother, Sarah Neal, worked in the past as a gardener and maid on a wealthy estate, and later became the owners of a small china shop. However, trade brought almost no income, and basically the family lived on the money that the father, being professional player cricket, earned money by playing. Wells's career may have been determined by an accident - as a child, at the age of eight, he broke both legs, and spent all his time at home, thanks to which he read a lot.

At the same age, H.G. Wells entered Mr. Thomas Morley's Commercial Academy, which was supposed to prepare him for the profession of a merchant. However, when Herbert turned thirteen, his father broke his hip and cricket was over; Herbert had to start an independent life.

He was educated at King's College, University of London, graduating in 1888. By 1891 he received two academic titles in biology, and since 1942 he has been a doctor of biology.

Wells lived in London and the Riviera, gave frequent lectures and traveled widely.

He was married twice: from 1891 to 1895. to Isabella Mary Wells (divorced), and from 1895 to 1928. - on Amy Katherine (nicknamed Jane) Wells (nee Robbins, died of cancer), about whom he himself wrote: “I can’t imagine what I would be without her.” The second marriage produced two sons: George Philip Wells and Frank Richard.

In 1920, Wells met Maria Ignatievna Zakrevskaya-Budberg (there is reason to consider her an NKVD agent), who became his mistress. The connection was renewed in 1933 in London, where she emigrated after breaking up with Gorky. M. Budberg's close relationship with Wells continued until the writer's death; he asked her to marry him, but she decisively rejected this proposal.

Welles became famous with his first work, The Time Machine, in 1895. Shortly after the publication of this book, Wells wrote the following: The Island of Doctor Moreau (1895); "The Invisible Man" (1897), and his most famous work: "The War of the Worlds" (1898).

Over the years, Wells began to worry about the fate of human society in a world where technology and scientific development are moving very quickly. During this period he was a member of the Fabians (a group of social philosophers in London who advocated caution and gradualism in politics, science and public life). Wells wrote less now science fiction, A more work in Social Critical Analysis.

After the First World War, Wells published several scientific works, among them " Short story of the World" (1920), "The Science of Living" (1929-39), written in collaboration with Sir Julian Huxley and George Philip Wells, and "Experiments in Autobiography" (1934). During this time, Welles became a popular celebrity, and continued to write prolifically. In 1917 he was a member of the Study Committee of the League of Nations and published several books on world organization. Although Wells had many doubts about the Soviet system, he understood the broad goals of the Russian Revolution, and had a rather pleasant meeting with Lenin in 1920. In the early 1920s, Wells was a Labor candidate for Parliament. Between 1924 and 1933 Wells lived
way in France. From 1934 to 1946 he was international president of PEN. In 1934 he had conversations with Stalin, who disappointed him; and Roosevelt, trying, however, unsuccessfully, to offer him his scheme for preserving peace. Wells was convinced that Western socialists could not compromise with communism, and that best hope for the future lies in Washington. In The Holy Terror (1939), Wells described the psychological development of the modern dictator, illustrated by the careers of Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler.

Wells lived throughout the Second World War in his Regent's Park, refusing to leave London, even during the bombing. His last book"A Mind on the Edge" (1945), expressed pessimism about the future prospects of humanity. Wells died in London on August 13, 1946.

A short film from Youtube.com about the life and work of H.G. Wells

Bibliography

Herbert Wells. Cycles of works

Anticipations and Mankind in the Making
The future. Technology and science in the future of humanity / Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Human Progress upon Human Life and Thought [= Anticipations about the impact of the progress of mechanics and science on human life and thought; A Foresight Concerning the Effect of Technological and Humanitarian Progress on Human Life and the Development of Thought] (1901)
Mankind in the Making (1903)

Herbert Wells. Novels

Herbert Wells. Stories

1888 The Chronic Argonauts
1897 It Was in the Stone Age / A Story of the Stone Age [= Stories of the Stone Age; 50 thousand years ago. A story from the stone age; 50 thousand years ago. Tales of the Stone Age; In the Stone Age; Stone Age; At the dawn of humanity; A story about the Stone Age; Stone Age Tale]
1899 A Story of the Days to Come [= Days to Come; From times to come; Under the power of love; A story from times to come]
1936 The Croquet Player [= Fear Possession on Cain's Marsh]
1937 The Camford Visitation
1938 The Brothers
1940 All Aboard for Ararat
1945 The Happy Turning: a Dream of Life

Herbert George Wells was born and raised in the suburbs of London. In the family of a shopkeeper and a professional cricketer and a housekeeper. Herbert began reading at the age of eight; at this age he broke his leg, and having nothing else to do, he took and studied books from his father’s library. The writer received his education at King's College, University of London (graduated in 1888). Three years later, Wells already had two academic degrees in biology.

Having tried himself in many fields of activity: from a dry goods merchant to a pharmacist, Herbert realized that he did not like it all. Only in 1893 did he take up journalism professionally.

First piece of art- The novel “The Time Machine” was published in 1895, it tells the story of an inventor who traveled into the future. Wells became a “legislator” of fantastic themes, for example, in “The Time Machine” the author said that our reality is four-dimensional space-time. In Men Like Gods (1923), H. G. Wells first introduced science fiction Parallel Worlds. In The First Men on the Moon (1901), Herbert discussed antigravity. All these topics were later touched upon, but, unfortunately, by other authors. However, these ideas are not the author’s goal; against the background of these problems, Wells reveals less noticeable and global subtopics.

H. G. Wells had two wives: Isabella Mary Wells (married 1891, divorced 1927) and Amy Catherine Robbins. In his second marriage, the writer had two children. It was also known that he was a member of love affair with Mura Budberg ( common-law wife Maxim Gorky).

In total, Wells's creative baggage includes more than 40 novels, several volumes of stories, and more than a dozen essays. And his works have been translated into many languages. More than a dozen films based on the novels of H.G. Wells have also been made.

"Evening Moscow" invites you to remember the most famous works H.G. Wells.

1. "Time Machine"(“The Time Machine”, 1895) - a science fiction novel.

The book describes the journey of the inventor of a time machine into the future. The basis of the plot is the fascinating adventures of the main character in a world located 800 thousand years later, in describing which the author proceeded from the negative trends in the development of his contemporary capitalist society, which allowed many critics to call the book a warning novel. In addition, the novel describes for the first time many ideas related to time travel, which will not lose their attractiveness for readers and authors of new works for a long time.

2. "War of the Worlds"(“The War of the Worlds”, 1897) - science fiction.

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One day, several capsules-projectiles, which were fired from a huge Martian cannon, fell one after another onto the territory of the United Kingdom. The earthlings' attempt to open them turned into a nightmare. And the War of the Worlds began. The book by H.G. Wells first told the inhabitants of the Earth about what the Red Planet really is, and after English writer The theme of the War of the Worlds has captured the minds of millions of people...

3. "The First Men on the Moon"(The First Men in the Moon, 1901) - science fiction.

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Mr. Bedford and the eccentric inventor Mr. Cavor fly to the moon in a ball made of cavorite, a substance invented by him. They will have many adventures, and only Mr. Bedford will be able to return from there...

4. "People are like gods"(“Men Like Gods”, 1923) - science fiction novel.

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A group of people are suddenly transported to a utopian alternate world, where they end up causing the inhabitants there big trouble, and they think about the dilemma - either kill the visitors, or send them back to the familiar earthly world.

5. "War in the Air"(The War in the Air", 1908) - science fiction.

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When the production of aircraft is put on stream, the military sector constantly makes itself felt. As soon as states acquired large air forces, their potential was tested in a world war. People built flying bomb carriers and flying dreadnoughts with cannon armament. Countless air fleets attack and sink warships, the German armada led by the flagship Vaterland turns New York into ruins, and Europe is devastated by the invasion of the Japanese and Chinese, who travel in single-seater aircraft with machine guns, and then land on the terra firma and use swords.

English writer and publicist Herbert George Wells was born on September 21, 1866, died on August 13, 1946. Known not only for books written in the fantasy genre, but also for works about ordinary people and their problems. Wrote 40 novels, a huge number of stories, occupying several volumes, philosophical works, books for children.

Parents

Father and mother worked as servants on a rich estate. Later they purchased a small porcelain store that was not generating any income. The family largely lived off the money Wells Sr. earned as a professional croquet player.

Early years

Since childhood I loved to read. This was facilitated by a broken leg, which he was “lucky” to receive at the age of 8 years. In 1874 he entered the Commercial Academy. His father dreamed of his son becoming a businessman. However, the young man was not able to complete the course. .

The head of the family broke a rib and had to give up playing croquet, and with it his education. At the age of thirteen, Herbert earned his own living as a delivery boy in a pharmacy. Only the desire to work as a teacher forced him to continue his studies and he busily began preparing for college exams.

At London College, Herbert became interested in biology, anatomy and physiology. In 1891, he already had several degrees in biology. In 1893 he became a professional journalist. Then he wrote his first books.

Personal life

Wells was married twice. His first wife was Isabella, with whom he lived for four years, after which they divorced. His second wife, Amy Catherine, with whom he lived for more than 30 years, died of cancer. His third and last love was Maria Zakrevskaya-Budberg, an emigrant from Russia. He lived with Maria in a civil marriage until his death.

Death

While still a student at London College, Wells suffered from tuberculosis. Against this background, he had health problems. The writer had a stroke several times. Died from improper metabolism. His sons, in accordance with their father's will, cremated the remains and scattered the ashes over the English Channel.

Some advances in science that Wells predicted in his works

• Radioactive substances . This topic was first discussed in the book.
• Bacteriological weapons . In the novel, the aliens died from simple bacteria. Indeed, scientists and military personnel have worked on developments in this area.
• Gas attacks and heat (laser) beams . They are written about in.
• Invention atomic bomb . In the work, the author suggested that scientists could split the atom, which, unfortunately, happened.

LECTURES ON FOREIGN LITERATURE

twentieth century

Part one

Literary magazine "Buzovik"

Herbert Wells. Man is invisible.. 5

James Joyce. Ulysses.. 12

Marcel Proust. Towards Swann.. 40

Hermann Hesse. Glass bead game.. 43

Franz Kafka. Transformation.. 49

Franz Kafka. Process.. 55

Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A little prince.. 62

Albert Camus. Notebooks.. 67

Albert Camus. Caligula.. 71

Jean-Paul Sartre. Nausea.. 74

Agatha Christie. Ten Little Indians.. 84

Teffi. Stories.. 92

Gaito Gazdanov. Hawaiian guitars.. 97

Vladimir Nabokov. Invitation to execution.. 102

Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita.. 116

Ernest Hemingway. The old man and the sea.. 127

Graham Greene. Tenth.. 131

Colin McCullough. Singing in the thorn bushes.. 135

Ray Bradbury. 451 degrees Fahrenheit.. 143

Ray Bradbury. Stories.. 150

Umberto Eco. Name of the rose.. 155

James Hadley Chase. It would be better if I remained poor.. 168

Kobo Abe. Those who entered the ark... 171

Nathalie Sarraute. Childhood.. 173

Stephen King. Fog.. 178

Stephen King. Langoliers.. 190

Roger Zelazny. Fred Saberhagen. Turns.. 197

Douglas Copeland. Generation X.. 203

INTRODUCTION
Real literature, true masterpieces, are literature that is accessible to the reader, literature that is “within walking distance.” Best example hers are detective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, written in last decades nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In order to understand their meaning and plot, as well as try to solve their mysteries on their own, the reader does not need to pick up criminology textbooks, sit in the library, or make extracts from tomes. All this is already presented in finished form in the form of a story, with its unique combination of narrative elements, its unique plot.

him, they sell absolutely everything there: meat, groceries, linen, furniture, clothes, even paintings. It’s more of a giant labyrinth of all sorts of shops than one store.” It’s quite cozy here (the Invisible Man settles down on a pile of mattresses), warm, and there is food. In a diner after the store closes, he finds cold meat and some coffee in the coffee pot. The Invisible Woman lights the gas and heats it up. “In general, I settled in pretty well,” he sums up. This is perhaps the brightest moment in all of Griffin's adventures. In the confectionery department, he finds a whole pile of chocolate and candied fruit, “which he almost ate too much of.” After this, he feels in a state of complete serenity and, as he says, looks into the future with optimism. However, at night he dreams horrible dream- he sees the grave of his ancestor, the vicar pronounces “parting words”, and then scary voice says to Griffin: “And you.” After this verdict, the Invisible Man is grabbed by creatures just as invisible as he is and dragged to the grave. Griffin desperately resists, but they throw him into the “door on the ground” and begin to cover him with earth. At the same time, people not only do not see Griffin, but also do not hear him - his requests for help are to no avail. Griffin, in his words, “began to flounder convulsively - and woke up.”

Here the theme of the father, whom Griffin renounced, appears again in the novel; it predetermines the author’s attitude towards the Invisible Man and the ending of the story, which is not joyful for its hero.

Griffin wakes up to find two department store employees approaching him. Griffin is dressed - but people don’t see his face (at that time Griffin had not yet figured out to hide it behind a wig, sideburns and a false cardboard nose). Griffin runs away from them, scaring the boy along the way. Griffin's destructive talent is revealed for the first time in the store. He throws a lamp at his pursuers and flower pots, which causes quite a stir in the store. As a result, he manages to take off all his clothes and escape.

Outside, Invisible Man catches a cold. But he manages to penetrate and settle in the house of the shop owner, whom he stuns and throws down the stairs. Griffin had to leave this house dressed; it is precisely this circumstance that explains his unusual act. He finds in the house clothes, a travel bag, powder, rouge and a plaster, as well as a mask, sideburns and a wig.

The theme of the story “The Invisible Man” is continued in Wells’s stories “The Newest Accelerator” and “The Country of the Blind.” In the story “The Newest Accelerator,” the hero’s friend Professor Gibbern, “famous among physiologists for his work on the effects of drugs on the nervous system,” like Griffin, makes a unique discovery, which he calls “The Newest Accelerator.” Before starting to sell it (the professor says that he has the right to count on “a decent bribe” and exclaims: “After all, why should some sausage makers get all the best from life!”), the professor will try the drug contained in a small green bottle, on yourself and on your friend. The hero tries the drug (together with the professor) and finds out that it actually increases the speed of processes in the body by at least a thousand times. Everything around the heroes seems to slow down. Thus, the glass released from the professor’s hands does not break, but hangs questioningly in the air.

“Roughly speaking,” explains Gibbern, “in our latitudes, a falling object flies sixteen feet in the first second. The same thing is happening now with my glass... But it didn’t even have time to fly by even a hundredth of a second” (H. Wells, 1981, 465).

This glass slowly lowers, and then the hero realizes that time around him seems to have slowed down. Just like the hero of the story “The Invisible Man,” the heroes of the story pass along the street past a stopped omnibus, frozen, motionless passers-by and carriages completely unnoticed - they simply move too fast for anyone’s eye to see them. They see a bee slowly flapping its wings, flying through the air, then winking at the girls young man(and his eye is positively scary), an orchestra, with a tense look, blowing out individual sounds. Among those sitting motionless on the lawn, Gibbern discovers his neighbor with a lapdog, who annoys him by “always barking.” Gibbern decides to take revenge on his neighbor, grabs the dog and rushes with it to the rocky shore. And the fate of the poor dog would have been unenviable if the hero had not discovered that the effect of the drug was already running out. Thus, revenge also fails here. Gibbern is content to throw the dog into the air.

She plops down on the umbrella of one of the ladies, which distracts everyone's attention from the unexpected appearance of the story's heroes on the lawn. In a kind of epilogue to the story, the hero notices that the story of the “Newest Accelerator” also has not exhausted itself and may have a continuation. The reader is informed that soon “Accelerator for nervous system"Dr. Gibbern's will be sold in any pharmacy store and its three degrees of acceleration: 1: 200, 1: 900, 1: 2000, will correspond to multi-colored labels - yellow, pink and white.

In the story "Country of the Blind" we're talking about about a mysterious mountain valley supposedly lying in the very wilderness of the Ecuadorian Andes - the Country of the Blind. About the attempt of a group of Englishmen to climb Parascopotel, their guide named Nunez “disappears”. He is destined to become the hero of the story. Nunez, who rolled head over heels down a vast slope, remained alive and discovered a meadow with houses where the blind lived. Nunez descends into the green meadow and examines the houses and irrigation streams of its inhabitants. He sees three inhabitants of the valley, shouts to them, waves his arms, but his waves do not at all attract the attention of the blind people. "Fools! Are they blind or what?” - the first thought that comes to the hero’s mind.

Nunez meets the blind, and they accept him - in accordance with their level of education - as a spirit emerging from the rocks. But when they hug and touch the hero, they are convinced that he is a person.

For the blind, Nunez is a “strange creature,” a “monster.” He has coarse hair, “like a llama,” and his chin is “rough.” The blind people decide to take Nunez to the local authorities - the elders.

Nunez says he came from the city of Bogota. The blind people, due to their naivety, take the name of the city for the name of the hero. From now on they call it exclusively Bogota.