Get Started On The History Of Mr. Polly Narrated By H.G. Wells Released As Paper Edition
through the to the end of the book was a grind, Not funny not even a little, I've always enjoyed his science fiction novels but this was dreary and tedious, and then some,
I've read articles and reviews about this book, So I understand the intention of the novel and what other people find amusing about it, But for me I kept on wanting to reply, "Yes, yes, I get it, Mr Wells, Mr Polly is an idiot, The people around him are idiots, and a good proportion of them are unpleasant and grasping, But good grief, will this book ever come to an end, "
Reading this book was a trial and tribulation, Something to be avoided. A really good listen of one of the lesser known H, G. Wells classic novels. An aimless Mr. Polly drifts into the trade of Gentlemen's Outfitter when an unexpected inheritance prompts him into life as a businessman and he marries a cousin Miriam, Life is not a happy one as he seeks a way out so that he can wander the world, well the south and south east of England.
This is the history of his life and adventures, whether you like Mr, Polly or think him a cad and a bounder, this is an enjoyable performance to lighten your day, Narrated well by Paul Shelley,
A goodstar audible book, I have to say that “The History of Mr, Polly” took me on a bit of a roller coaster ride, Not because of any action in the narrative, there is precious little of that until the lastor so pages, but more how my feelings about Mr.
Polly shifted throughout the story,
We first meet him as he finishes an unappetising meal from what we can gather is a quite unappealing wife, Mr. Polly goes outside and just starts moaning to himself about how his life has come to this sorry state of affairs, How sorry Wells then takes us back to Pollys younger days where it all started and oh myto say he was unambitious would be an understatement, As Polly himself readily admits, life has always been something that just happens to him, Anything of note has just snuck up on him by chance and by sheer force of not wanting to exert any energy one way or the other, just accepts it.
As someone with a tendency to want to lay about just reading all day like Polly does, I could sympathise but still, he takes it to a whole new level of apathy.
So through school, work, and his marriagethe wedding scene is one of the funnier sequences Ive read in a long time he just is,
Then we get to those lastor so pages and things happen where I think I know this guy by this point but then realise, maybe I dont.
He makes some shockingly bad choices I suppose any choice was a step up for him that turn out to somehow be not so bad after all, depending on your perspective.
In the end I almost came to respect and like this character,
Overall, I loved Wells writing here, Polly and the people around him speak in a slang that is difficult to follow at times but you eventually get used to, and even like, Polly in particular loves to make up his own nonsense words, for lack of anything else to do with his time, and peppers his conversations with them.
Examples
How about: “I was sitting there in my melancholy rectrospectatiousness”
Or: “Whoa, my friskiacious palfry”,
Which to be fair is actual English apparently, but still, wow.
The book has its flaws but looking at it in rectrospectatiousness, it was definitely a lot of fun,.stars
I had never heard of this book before I stumbled upon it in an antique store, I don't like antique stores, but my husband does, so while I wait for him to finish shopping, I check out the disorganized shelf or two of books you can usually find in these places.
Something about this book drew my eyemaybe the combination of an author I'd heard of and a title I hadn't, I read the introduction by Sinclair Lewis and decided I should probably buy the book, never mind that my toread list is well over, and that I don't often buy books.
I'm very glad I picked it up, because it was a lovely way to find out that H, G. Wells is my kind of writer, I must get to know him better,
Mr. Polly isn't a particularly interesting character at first, aside from his propensity to mispronounce and make up words, He's not really admirable either, The first few decades of his life are lived passively, or as he puts it later
I've never really planned my life or set out to live.
I happened things happened to me,
Wells makes no apology for his protagonist, saying toward the end of the book
This is a history and not a glorification of Mr.
Polly, and I tell things as they were with him,
There arelong chapters in this book, I think of them more as sections, and I admit I was not enamored of the story at the beginning as much as I was with the clever writing.
The story gets better as it builds up steam, and I loved theth chapter, which I thought had the funniest passages, There were times the descriptions sounded a bit like P, G. Wodehouse, and I dearly love Wodehouse, This one is probably the best examplea description of ducklings in the garden,
They were piping about among the vegetables, . . and as he and the plump woman came down the garden path, the little creatures mobbed them, and ran over their boots and in between Mr, Polly's legs, and did their best to be trodden upon and killed after the manner of ducklings all the world over,
I'm curious about the author's motivation for writing a novel about a character like Mr, Polly. He never really reforms as much as finds a habitat that suits him, The character's path to achieving this must have been controversial back when this was written,
Regardless of what was behind it, this was a swell book, and I look forward to reading more by this author, sitelinkThe History of Mr, Pollyis a wonderful little novel
sitelinkH, G. Wellsis now most remembered as a pioneer of science fiction e, g. sitelinkThe Time Machine, sitelinkThe Island of Dr, Moreau, sitelinkThe Invisible Man, and sitelinkThe War of the Worldshowever in his Edwardian era heyday he was also known for a wide variety of different genres, including as a writer of major social novels of the period.
Today's readers are probably only vaguely aware of such titles as sitelinkKipps, sitelinkTonoBungay, sitelinkLove and Mr, Lewisham, sitelinkAnn Veronica, and this one, sitelinkThe History of Mr, Polly.
This is the first book I have read by sitelinkH, G. Wells until now my only exposure to him in print came when I read sitelinkRebecca West: A Modern Sibyl by sitelinkCarl Rollyson, sitelinkRebecca West and sitelinkH, G. Wells had a long term relationship and a child together Anthony West,
sitelinkThe History of Mr, Polly is an absolute gem with Mr, Polly an unlikely hero. Mr. Polly, loosely based on Wells himself, cleverly subverts Edwardian propriety and society's expectations, There's a plethora of lovely period insights however this is also a timeless and surprisingly modern tale, Mr. Polly might lack selfawareness however, in his own quiet way, he is a revolutionary with life lessons to impart that still ring true,
There are so wonderful scenes to enjoy: a superbly written funeral scene capturing the confusion, claustrophobia, pettiness etc of the occasion, Theres also a wedding, a dramatic fire, and a dangerous, life threatening conflict, The plot packs a lot into its modestpages,
Its amusing too, Mr Polly has an idiosyncratic and unique vocabulary which is very funny, and often confusing to those he encounters, and there are some funny set pieces,
sitelinkThe History of Mr, Pollyis a wonderful little novel, I hope to read more literary novels by sitelinkH, G. Wells soon.
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ThePan edition I read contains an interesting two page biography of sitelinkH, G. Wells which is followed by an introduction by his son Frank Wells,
This is the
lovely cover of thePan edition that I read,
.