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.
1897 idea of life in the 21st century includes a London with 33 million people (the second sf novel to predict this for me within a month! Actual population in 2016 : 8.9 million) and books being a thing of the past, everyone now listening to books on phonograph records � well, ok, that’s partly true, kind of - and family life has now disintegrated so that everyone lives in gigantic hotels, no private houses anymore, but you know, a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is still a sigh and � yes, it must be allowed that amidst the 50mph moving pavements and completely depilated bodies the fundamental things still apply in HG’s downright peculiar 21st century.
It’s a right daft story and some of those sentences you could break your jaw on but there’s still a lot of fun to be had with even minor HG stuff from his Golden Decade of Hits.
A great novella (about the same length as "The Time Machine") that still to this day (it was first published in 1897) reads well. The story is tight and filled with many ideas that were not standards in speculative fiction for another thirty to forty years: Moving sidewalks, cities that are densely populated by the millions and living in large complexes with common dinning rooms serving amber jello while the county is nearly abandoned. The fact that books are commonly read in the form of phonograph records and there is wide use of the telephone, clearly shows the cutting edge of technology of the time this was written, but even so, it holds up pretty well a century after it was written. Apparently, it is not an easy book to find, but well worth it if you do. I read the 1976 UK Corgi edition, but it was also published in the "Tales of Space and Time" short story compilation.
ENGLISH: In this 70-page novella, published in 1899, Wells fantasizes about life in the year 2100. In some ways, this is an imaginative story; in other ways, it shows very little imagination.
Cities, for instance, are few and huge: London has over 30 million inhabitants, and resembles the "caves of steel" of Asimov's novel. Land transportation is made by means of large ground-cars running at 200 miles per hour. Agriculture is performed wholesale and almost automatically.
But city-dwellers amuse themselves mainly through gramophone and cinematography (in the same way as people in 1899); young girls are chaperoned and find a way of life in marrying; infant mortality is unavoidable and ineradicable; and hypnotist is a recognized profession, carried out by people who can twist the subconscious of their patients to make them forget that they had ever seen their lovers.
This story falls in the same pessimistic view of the future as . In fact, chapter 4 shows the first step in the separation of what in the far future would become two distinct human species: Morlocks and Eloi.
ESPAÑOL: En esta novela corta de 70 páginas, publicada en 1899, Wells fantasea sobre la vida en el año 2100. En algunos aspectos, es un cuento imaginativo; en otros muestra muy poca imaginación.
Las ciudades, por ejemplo, son pocas y enormes: Londres tiene más de 30 millones de habitantes, y se parece a las "cavernas de acero" de la novela de Asimov. El transporte terrestre se realiza mediante grandes vehículos que circulan a 300 kilómetros por hora. El trabajo agrícola se realiza al por mayor y de forma casi automática.
Pero los habitantes de la ciudad se entretienen principalmente con el gramófono y el cinematógrafo (igual que los que vivían en 1899); las jóvenes llevan carabina y se ganan la vida con el matrimonio; la mortalidad infantil es inevitable, imposible de erradicar; y el hipnotismo es una profesión reconocida, realizada por personas que pueden retorcer el subconsciente de sus pacientes para hacerles olvidar hasta la memoria y el rostro de sus enamorados.
Esta historia se inscribe en la misma visión pesimista del futuro que . De hecho, en el capítulo 4 muestra el primer paso en la separación de lo que en un futuro lejano se convertiría en dos especies humanas distintas: los Morlocks y los Eloi.
All that is old is new again in A Story of the Days to Come, by H.G. Wells, which I can only really safely recommend if you are simultaneously a fan of cyberpunk dystopias and old Victorian romantic dramas. Set in the still distant 22nd century, Wells portrays a love story tested by elaborate class conflict, poverty, oppression and the melancholy of modern indoctrination. The social commentary is sharp and startlingly prescient, portraying a future civilization made up entirely out of large cities connected by elaborate motor-ways and populated by a nearly nonexistent middle class sandwiched between a domineering but vacant upper class and an underground, freedom-less, working lower class. The story, such as it's told, takes our heroes from every social position a couple in this society can be, generally in a downward motion.
I read this because it is supposedly set in the same time period and civilization as The Sleeper Awakes (or When the Sleeper Wakes), and wasn't sure exactly what I would find. While engaging enough from a narrative perspective with drama, meddling and tragedy interspersed with humor, commentary and the occasional action setpiece, the story can drag in spite of its tiny length. The romance itself is believable but a bit thin. I applaud some of Wells' character work here, but there's not a lot to go off of in terms of our heroes' undying devotion toward each other. That being said it doesn't come across as contrived or unbelievable. They both share a love of nostalgic, faux-Victorian culture -- something probably meant to endear them to the at-the-time late Victorian audience -- and by the end of the story have endured so much hardship and trauma together that I buy their emotional bond. However, the story overall is more concerned with using their romance as a mechanism to drive the commentary forward, rather than the other way around.
The commentary itself can also be a bit underdeveloped. I absolutely loved the worldbuilding, and the cross-section of social/systemic oppression, highly developed technology -- general criticism and cultural critique of the modern day by the means of a speculative representation of a future city -- even a touch of transhumanism by way of hypnosis and its effects on individuals... all of this is where I get off calling this a cyberpunk dystopia -- despite of the novella being over 120 years old, and 85 years older than the coinage of the term "cyberpunk" itself! The writing is efficient and evocative, giving you an intriguing sense of the scope of the future city. It's excellent and engaging worldbuilding of a world that is both peculiar and, in some modern ways, mundane. I mean that, in practice, so many of Wells' predictions came true rather earlier than he anticipated; much of the "high-tech" speculations were invented by now, so it often loses its science-fiction aura when read in modern day.
But the impressiveness of that statement alone... I mean think about it. Not only did Wells accurately predict much of the modern world in 1899, he predicted it so authentically that it barely feels notable or out of place! Among the more outlandish predictions: the field of medicine being only barely advanced, hypnotism essentially replacing clinical psychology, small towns and cities being completely abandoned as the world became made up entirely of large cities, absurd fashion accessories like fake, inflatable muscles and hair that changes color and contour according to the individuals outfit, etc...
I think the ending however, although relatively satisfying and understandably built up to, is a bit toothless. In my opinion some of the prior commentary is undone by it, but I won't give anything away. There were definitely more devastating things that could have been done but the ending is fairly tame.
All in all, A Story of the Days to Come is a fascinating little forgotten novella from one of the early masters of science-fiction. Blending yet-to-be invented genres with some of the oldest literary conceits, it's a grippingly anachronistic read, guaranteed to thrill and inspire anyone open for its particular, scattered elements. Don't miss out on this one if you, like me, had never heard of it.
Overall a good book. In parts an excellent book to read. It began very strong and very well, the descriptions in 'The Cure for Love' and 'The Vacent Country' seemed oddly prophetic. Wells stated "By the year 2000 railways and roads had vanished althogether', seemed rather odd and strange now we have reached this marker. Saw the idea of mans need for ever increasing speed rather accurate.
A very good underlying tone/ comment on the few controlling the majority of money and power, the class system and how we seemingly degenerate in a lower class system.
However, a story based in a couple, love, romance in the future, very poor.
Not at all what I was expecting. I think I was expecting something along the lines of the films Things to Come (William Cameron Menzies, 1936). This novella is really a romantic drama about a couple struggling to make it a world they don't quite fit within. But it is also, as Wells was well known for, a commentary on social injustices and class struggle.
An entertaining read, and interesting, too, if only to see how weirdly prescient Wells was, in terms of both real technological advancements and also just the general tropes you'll see in Science Fiction. An overreliance on phones, a constant barrage of advertisements, a massive amount of people with no job opportunities, and the dissolution of the middle class were surprisingly astute. Furthermore, the use of hypnosis felt reminiscent of the kind of brainwashing/reprogramming you'd see in a more contemporary SF story. All very cool to experience, considering when this was written.
It actually never occurred to me how funny he is, as a writer. This novella is often darkly comedic, especially in the final chapter where Bindon is being benevolently urged to kill himself. It was bleak and hilarious and I hadn't really expected that kind of humor at all. I was also surprised by what a biting critique of capitalism it happened to be - one line that stuck out to me is how even religion has become a business.
Zaman Makinesi'nden sonra okuduğum ikinci HG Wells romanı oldu. Zaman Makinesi gayet ilginç bir uzak gelecek tasviri yaparken Gelecek Günlerin Hikayesi'nde 22. yüzyıldayız ve temelinde bir aşk hikayesi aslında, sadece gelecekte geçiyor ve felsefik birtakım monologlar içeriyor. Aslında detaylarına Cesur Yeni Dünya, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 gibi diğer distopya klasiklerinin aksine hakim olmasak da kitaptaki gelecek de bir distopya olarak nitelendirilebilir. Keskin şekilde iki sınıfa ayrılmış insanlar, yok olmuş bir orta sınıf, ya en diptesin ya da gerçek anlamda yukarılarda yaşıyorsun. Yazarın o günden yakın geçmişe dair öngördüğü bazı şeyler hiç tutmasa da gelecekteki yollar ve taşıtlar için öngördüğü şeyler gerçekten ilginç. Örneğin yazar 2000 yılına gelindiğinde demir yolları kalmadı ve 2013'te duman çıkaran bir ateş tutuşturmak yasaklandı diyor. Yollar ise taşıtların hızlarına göre 3 kademeli oluyor ve araçlar gerçekten büyük taşımalar, kitapta da fazlasıyla geçen ve yazarın gelecek öngörülerinden en çok bahsedilen bu teknolojik yeniliği günümüzde dahi anlamakta zorlandım açıkçası. Zaman Makinesi'nden genel olarak daha çok keyif aldığımı söyleyebilirim. Bu kitabın da giriş kısımları çok ''münasip'' bir şekilde eğlenceli idi. Yazarın gerçek anlamda bir hikaye anlatıcı olması yani okurken bize varlığını sürekli hatırlatması da eğlenceli oluyor kanımca. Lakin hikayenin içine dalmayı da bir tık zorlaştırıyor sanırım. Elbette yazar kendi yaşadığı dönem üzerinden olayları değerlendirecek ama Sanayi Devrimi'ne özel bir ilgim olsa ve AC: Syndicate'i de aşırı zevk alarak oynasam da geleceğe dair her şeyin de 19. yüz yıl üzerinden okunması, 21. yüz yılda yaşayan biri olarak beni kitaptan biraz kopardı sanırım. Diğer HG Wells klasiklerini de aldım, sci-fi'ı yaratan kişilerden biri olan yazarı okumaya devam...
Distopyanın ilk örneklerinden olan bu kitapta Wells 22. yüzyıl Londra'sını betimlemeye çalışmış. Bulunduğu dönemin teknolojik durumunu düşününce, benim, öngörüleri dolayısıyla çok etkilendiğim bir kitap olmuştu. Anlatımı akıcı olduğu için rahat okunan kitaplardan biriydi. Bir de merakla ve zevk alarak okuyorsanız bir solukta bitireceğiniz kitaplardan.
Kitabı okurken sık sık içinde bulunduğumuz zamana başka bir gözle bakmamı sağladı yazılanlar. (Spoiler sayılabilir altta yazacaklarım.) Örneğin baş karakter, günümüzdeki rezidans kavramını anımsatan gökdelenlerden birinde yaşıyor, küçücük yaşam alanına direkt ulaşan asansör ile giriş yapıyor ve sosyal alanlarda yemeğini yiyor, arkadaşıyla görüşüyor. Bu sahneyi okuduğumda doğadan kopuk, camların ardında süren hayatın boğuculuğundan etkilenmiştim. Ama düşünecek olursak ışıl ışıl avmlerde geçen hafta sonlarında kimse kendini yeterince mutlu hissetmiyor ama mutsuz olduğunu da düşünmüyor... Yaşarken farkına varılmadığından olsa gerek.
Yine bir başka dikkatimi çeken unsur üç şeritli yollarda şeritlerin hız sınırlarına göre ayrılmış olmasıydı. Günümüzdeki otoban tanımına bire bir uyan bu tip detayları yakalamak beni hem heyecanlandırdı hem de çokça düşündürdü.
Tabii bir de insan ilişkileri, bireyler, sınıf ayrılıkları ve toplumsal yaşama bakış var. Teknolojinin gelişmesiyle camların ardına gizlenen, gökyüzünü unutan insanoğlunun mutsuzluğu da ifade edilmiş. Günümüz insanında sıkça gözlemlediğimiz üzere.
29.08.2019
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
(Spoilers) I'd never heard of this story before, just read it in a collection of short stories that were offered freely as a free ebook. The plot is alright, but the ideas are very interesting, especially in the latter half when Elizabeth and Denton are forced to descend from their privileged lives to join the laboring underclass of their society. I especially enjoyed reading the high falutin thoughts of the character Bindon in the last story.
I was pretty surprised to read that this was published in 1899; a lot of the ideas he talks about in the speeding up of society, people having devices that would have electronic clocks, calendars, engagement reminders as well as the news (parallel to our modern smartphones of course), and other things.
خلصته في فترة قصيرة وكنت أقرأ بمتعة وأنتظر النهاية لأني حبيت الشخصيتين الرئيسيّة، وهذه إيجابية مهمة لأن كثرة الشخصيات تشتتني في القصص.. وارتبطت معهم من خلال كثير اقتباسات لكن بصراحة مو فاهمة المغزى من الكتاب بالضّبط. ماكانت الأحداث تفصيلية ولا الحوارات عميقة وكثيرة عشان أعتبرها قصة فلسفية أو خيال علمي، مو عارفة أحدد موقفي لكنها مقبولة.
La historia mejor desarrollada es "Una historia de los tiempos venideros", que narra un matrimonio en los años 2000. Amo cómo Wells inicia este relato (que para mí tiene la extensión suficiente para considerarla una novela corta) con una breve biografía sobre el señor Morris, un ancestro del protagonista, y utiliza a este ancestro de ejemplo para comparar las mentalidades de épocas tan distintas como la victoriana y la del nuevo milenio.
Acerca de los demás cuentos, no hay mucho que decir: dejan mucho que desear.
"Los piratas del mar" y "El caso de Pattner" tienen premisas muy interesantes. "Los piratas del mar" trata sobre un naufragio ocurrido supuestamente por criaturas marinas gigantes y "El caso de Pattner" trata sobre el señor Pattner, un hombre famoso por varias particularidades en su vida, especialmente la misteriosa desaparición suya después de una explosión en la escuela donde él trabaja. El problema con estos dos cuentos es que empiezan bien, pero después se tornan confusos.
"En el abismo" es lo contrario. No entiendes nada de la trama hasta llegar al final, un final bastante bueno, en mi opinión.
" حسنا، يخيل لي أنها انكبت على قراءة مثل هذه الروايات الخيالية التاريخية في افراط شديد.. في إفراط شديد. حتى لقد ضربت عرض الحائط بفلسفتها وراحت تحشو عقلها بترهات ما أنزل الله بها من سلطان حول الحرب. حول جنود يتقاتلون، لا أدري من هم، هل هم الاترسكيون؟ - لا بل المصريون القدماء. - المصريون أغلب الظن. سيوف يلوحون بها وغدارات وأشياء من هذا القبيل. دماء تراق في غزارة يا للبشاعة! وشبان مغامرون يركبون قذائف الطوربيد ليتفجروا قطعا وأشلاء متناثرة.. أظنهم الأسبان.. إلى غير ذلك من ضروب المغامرة الهوجاء. " ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ سلسلة روايات عالمية تصدر عن دار الكاتب العربي للطباعة والنشر المؤسسة المصرية العامة للتأليف والنشر وزارة الثقافة ترجمة: رمزي عبده جرجس ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶــــــــــ يا لبؤس دنتون موريس واليزابيث موريس القرن الثاني والعشرين! لقد عثرا على شغفهما، وعشقا أصالة وحرية الماضي الجميل، ولكن جهامة وقسوة مستقبل (لندن) الضخمة، جعلا من شغفهما جحيما وحزنا ومكابدة، ولكنهما في النهاية نجيا عبر منجاة (هربرت جورج ويلز) التي استقاها من أسلوب الإله من الآلة، ورجعا لعالم الدعة والراحة.
Uma verdadeira surpresa!! A historia decorre no século XXII onde a população se concentra em cidades super protegidas com cúpulas que permitem a estabilização do clima e a proteção das pessoas. A sociedade está dividida em castas onde as capas azuis suportam o trabalho árduo necessário ao estilo de vida da classe media e alta. Tudo é futurista, não há carris mas sim plataformas é um cenário de preocupação ambiental muito grande mas socialmente duvidosa. O plote principal é um clichê de romance entre duas personagens de classes diferentes que terão as suas aventuras e muitas desventuras. Mas simpatizei com as personagens é adorei as descrições tecnológicas que wells imaginou, só queria que a realidade além das cúpulas fosse mais explorada, mas é uma novela por isso. Contudo vale a pena. De ressaltar que li a versão portuguesa
" قد يتأتى للمرء تحت قبة السماء أن يحلق عالياً ويبلغ حالة من الاتكال والصبر ، ولكنه لن يلبث طويلاً حتى ينهار تحت وطأة الحياة اليومية ، فينتابه سخط وقنوط ثم ضروب أخرى من الحالات النفسية البغيضة ... أما عن السماحة فهي لا تحتل من نفوسنا غير جانب يسير ، إنها حادث طارئ أو مرحلة عابرة حتى أن معشر القديسين أنفسهم الذين ظهروا في سالف الزمان كانوا أسبق من غيرهم إلى الفرار من هذا العالم ، كما لم يكن لدنتون واليزابيث بقادرين على الفرار من عالمهما ، فلم تعد هناك مسالك مفتوحة تفضي إلى أصقاع مجهولة ليس لها من مالك أو صاحب ، توفر للإنسان حياة حرة طليقة ، وإن انطوت على مشقة وعنت ، حيث يكفل لروحه السلام والأمن ... فقد التهمت المدينة بني البشر أجمعين . دنتون & اليزابيث 👈 ❤❤� ...
No sabía de la existencia de este libro hasta que llegó a casa. “Una historia de los tiempos venideros� es una historia extraordinaria que mezcla a la ciencia ficción con elementos distópicos. Quedé completamente fascinada por la división que hizo Wells del género humano creo que a otro nivel esa división se ve en nuestra sociedad. Esta novela corta tiene tan solo 120 páginas, no se la pueden perder. Este libro también cuenta con 5 cuentos en su interior los cuáles también son de ciencia ficción. Este libro pertenece a la colección de Wells y por el momento no se encuentra disponible por separado.
Some priceless ideas in here, such as the description of large-screen, eye-catching advertising everywhere and the equally visionary idea that some people would walk past it a thousand times and never notice it, because they are so trained to tune it out. I loved the clueless innocence of the characters and the implied grand scale ignorance of us all. Classic Wells but somehow one I'd missed before.
Una historia muy básica. Me pareció una historia muy antigua, o muy repetitiva en los ciclos de todos los tiempos, así que ya esperaba a como acabaría. Rescato las últimas historias cortas que relatan en el final, me parecieron muy interesantes
I didn't like the story. The narrator had pronounced beautifully the words but he didn't make a huge distinction between the voice of the different characters.