Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
Great story somewhere between science fiction and horror. What does Mr Cave (an antiques dealer at Seven Dials, London) see in that mysterious crystal egg a prospective customer offered five pounds for? What about the whereabouts of the egg later on in this tale? Brilliant tale by a real master storyteller. Absolutely enjoyed the prose and the setting in London. Highly recommended!
ENGLISH: One year before writing , in 1897, Wells made his first attempt at a short story based on the existence of intelligent life in Mars, although the kind of life he envisioned here was somewhat different from that in the longer novel.
In this case the Martians do not invade Earth, just send a "spy," a crystal egg that lets them see what's happening on the Earth. I read this story first as a part of the collection , which I have reviewed elsewhere.
ESPA脩OL: Un a帽o antes de escribir "La guerra de los mundos", en 1897, Wells hizo el primer intento de contar una historia basada en la existencia de vida inteligente en Marte, aunque el tipo de vida que imagin贸 aqu铆 era algo diferente al de la novela larga.
En este caso, los marcianos no invaden la Tierra, solo env铆an un "esp铆a", un huevo de cristal que les permite ver lo que est谩 sucediendo en la Tierra. Le铆 por primera vez este cuento como parte de la colecci贸n "Lost Mars", que he revisado en otro lugar.
Meu primeiro Wells e fiquei levemente desapontada.
O conto gira em torno de um ovo de cristal que fascina dois homens: o dono de uma loja e um professor. Eles t锚m experi锚ncias interessantes com o tal ovo e conjecturam bastante sobre sua origem.
Pra mim, h谩 falta de desenvolvimento e alguns questionamentos importantes n茫o respondidos
An excellent short story which describes a mysterious crystal egg which allows the individual in possession if not to glimpse a strange alien landscape in its depths.
This short story left me wondering..."What happened next? Is that it?" . This story had an interesting premise, but left the reader with more questions than answers. This story felt like it abrubtly ended and was incomplete.
Penguin books, 2007. The language is very scenic, marvelous in it's world building, an astonishingly vivid text. The narrator is heterodiegetic and omnipresent. The story itself is so creative and queer ( in the semantic sense of bizarre), it falls into the metamaniristic zeitgeist of The world is a dream, The dream is a world. I expected at first a connection with another dimension, not a Martian connection. The best H.G. Wells's short story, and after the Island of doctor Moreau; the best H.G. Wells's literarie work. A must read! Hasta luego mis murci茅lagos!
Qu茅 relato tan interesante, muy original. Al inicio me cost贸 engancharme pero vali贸 la pena continuar. Trata la obsesi贸n, curiosidad, miedo a lo desconocido y con un final sin explicaci贸n del prop贸sito de 茅ste objeto, me encant贸 personalmente.
Me lo escuch茅 en audiolibro, duraba 40 minutos, it was fun. Al principio no entend铆a qui茅n de los 3 hombres era Mr. Cave, pero despu茅s ya fui entendiendo. (*spoiler* ) Luego de la descripci贸n del lugar, yo primero pens茅 que era 脕frica, despu茅s cre铆 se trataba del Salto 脕ngel en Venezuela, o las pir谩mides Maya. Los animales como escarabajos pens茅 que era armadillos o algo as铆. Para mi sorpresa despu茅s describi贸 una gente con rasgos como de lib茅lula, which was very odd. La teor铆a de la verdadera locaci贸n (descrita en el libro) hace mucho sentido en relaci贸n a las inquietudes de la 茅poca, pero evidentemente es otra interpretaci贸n de este lugar lejano y desconocido, con habitantes a juego. Overall, estuvo entretenido. Lo recomiendo si quieren una historia con un par de giros muy estilo Wells, coincidencias tr谩gicas y objetos fascinantes.
C贸mo ha dicho m铆 coordinador, podemos encontrar grandes similitudes con el Aleph de Borges. Ser谩 con el hecho de ver un nuevo mundo o todo el universo en un huevo de cristal o en la esquina de un s贸tano. El relato no fue algo que haya llamado notoriamente m铆 atenci贸n (tal vez m铆 traducci贸n) pero lo historia en si misma es sumamente interesante. El anticuario podr铆a pasar por loco si llegase a contar el descubierto de un nuevo mundo o la conexi贸n entre dos mundos a sus pares, mismo nosotros como lectores lo tomaremos solo como ficci贸n. Pero el mundo tiene tantos misterios que no podemos negarnos a escucharlos
It starts in Mr. Caves store, a couple men want to buy a crystal egg sitting in the window of his establishment. He doesn't want to sell it even though his wife, thinking of the money to be gained from the sale, wants him to. Eventually we find out why he doesn't want to part with it, it is what he sees in it! This is a short story, easily read in a short time. It takes us to a world in the mind of Wells. I love stories like this, in the end we are left to believe what our own imagination thinks. I am reminded of some of the stories from The Twilight Zone.
do nada me aventurei a procurar livros em promo莽茫o e me dei de cara com esse que era curtinho e do h.g. wells, j谩 que nunca tinha lido nada dele foi uma op莽茫o. at茅 que a leitura foi legal, r谩pida e levemente surpreendente. mas nada que me capturasse de uma forma abrupta, sabe? mas foi legal para passar o tempo.
Um conto interessante, mas deixa a desejar se n茫o levarmos em conta a 茅poca em que foi escrito. Assim como ler Jules Verne sem considerar o contexto em que o autor se inseria, precisamos relevar certos deslizes de Wells nessa hist贸ria.
Un curioso racconto, che giustamente pi霉 di un critico ha considerato uno spunto per il romanzo dello stesso autore. Come audiolibro ho dovuto riascoltarne alcuni brani perch茅 non mi pareva scorresse troppo bene. Direi due stelle, ha il sapore dell'incompiuto.
This is a very mysterious short story that kept me in suspense throughout the entire book. I want to know more. What is the egg showing? What happened to Mr. Cave? So many questions...
Muito bom, gostei da forma objetiva em que os acontecimentos foram escritos. O diferencial desse conto 茅 o modo em que os marcianos s茫o retratados, diferente do livro "Guerra dos Mundos", mostra seu cotidiano e sua terra natal. Por茅m, h谩 algo de abrupto na escrita do autor que me incomoda. Tanto neste conto quanto no livro posterior, me incomoda a falta de explica莽玫es (ou explica莽玫es das quais o leitor n茫o acha muito convincentes), de forma que o autor usa esse recurso para dar um "happy ending" para a hist贸ria. Talvez a hist贸ria do cristal poderia ter sido mais explorada, trazendo maior riqueza para este universo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.