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Ad Astra, v. 1, issue 5, January 1940
Page 19
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AD ASTRA Page 19 AD ASTRA H. G. WELLS (an open letter) by [[underline]]Joseph Gilbert[[end underline]] My dear Mr. Wells:- Do you remember that preface, to your book, "Seven Famous Novels" in which you wrote: "These tales have been compared with the works of Jules Verne and there was a disposition on, the part of literary journalists at one time to call me the English Jules Verne. As a matter of fact, there is no literary resemblance whatever between the anticipatory inventions of the great Frenchman and these fantasies. His work dealt almost always with actual possibilities of invention and discovery, and he made some remarkable forecasts. The interest he invoked was a practical one; he wrote and believed, and told that this or that could be done, which was not at that time done. He helped his reader to imagine it done, and to realize what fun, excitement or mischief could ensue. Many of his inventions have "come true". But these stories of mine collected here do not pretend to deal with possible things; they are exersises of imagination in a quite different field.....My early, profound and lifelong admiration for Swift, appears again and again in this collection, and it is particularly evident in a predisposition to make the stories reflect upon contemporary political and social conditions." In other and fewer words,Verne was looking forward to greater mechanical changes,while your own stories[?] reflected social predictions and views. But is that what made"The Time Machine"one of the most enjoyable and forceful books in all literature? Is that the reason that the "Invisible Man", "In the Days of the Comet", "The Island of Dr. Moreau" ,and my own favorite, "The Food of the Gods", can be read equally enjoyed by garage mechanic and college professor alike? Is that the reason that "The War of the Worlds" can be made into a broadcast, forty-two years after its writing, and still convule a nation into hysterics? The real explanation,Mr. Wells is that you told a story .and told it with an enthralling realism, a force, and a vividness that has never been equalled. Sure, the sociology was there. But it was underneath, and not forced down the throat of the reader. These magnifitales of Time and Space, had a deep, underlying-thought, but to the casual reader, they were merely, mightily entertaining "escape". As imaginative escape they are unexcelled,and probably will remain so. They had a sheer realism,a power to convince that was almost unbelievable. If you wanted to go beneath the surface, fine and good, but if only wanted to read truly great stf., then the reflection on the surface was there, for your admiration, too. But things were evolving, Mr. Wells. You blazed a trail, and such was the novelty of the trail that it could not long avoid exploitat on. A magazine of imaginative fiction was started by a shrewd publisher, with more imagination than scruples. Its success exceeded everyone's dreams, and, thus stf. came into the world as a regular, profitable enterprise. Its earlier days saw some splendid [[underline]]literature[[end underline]] published in this field. But today----? You're right! The real situation that developed, and which concerns you,though, was the fact that the writers of these pulps, had no real foundation to build on, no precedent to follow,outside of the obvious one of that of a novelist by the name of Wells. So follow
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AD ASTRA Page 19 AD ASTRA H. G. WELLS (an open letter) by [[underline]]Joseph Gilbert[[end underline]] My dear Mr. Wells:- Do you remember that preface, to your book, "Seven Famous Novels" in which you wrote: "These tales have been compared with the works of Jules Verne and there was a disposition on, the part of literary journalists at one time to call me the English Jules Verne. As a matter of fact, there is no literary resemblance whatever between the anticipatory inventions of the great Frenchman and these fantasies. His work dealt almost always with actual possibilities of invention and discovery, and he made some remarkable forecasts. The interest he invoked was a practical one; he wrote and believed, and told that this or that could be done, which was not at that time done. He helped his reader to imagine it done, and to realize what fun, excitement or mischief could ensue. Many of his inventions have "come true". But these stories of mine collected here do not pretend to deal with possible things; they are exersises of imagination in a quite different field.....My early, profound and lifelong admiration for Swift, appears again and again in this collection, and it is particularly evident in a predisposition to make the stories reflect upon contemporary political and social conditions." In other and fewer words,Verne was looking forward to greater mechanical changes,while your own stories[?] reflected social predictions and views. But is that what made"The Time Machine"one of the most enjoyable and forceful books in all literature? Is that the reason that the "Invisible Man", "In the Days of the Comet", "The Island of Dr. Moreau" ,and my own favorite, "The Food of the Gods", can be read equally enjoyed by garage mechanic and college professor alike? Is that the reason that "The War of the Worlds" can be made into a broadcast, forty-two years after its writing, and still convule a nation into hysterics? The real explanation,Mr. Wells is that you told a story .and told it with an enthralling realism, a force, and a vividness that has never been equalled. Sure, the sociology was there. But it was underneath, and not forced down the throat of the reader. These magnifitales of Time and Space, had a deep, underlying-thought, but to the casual reader, they were merely, mightily entertaining "escape". As imaginative escape they are unexcelled,and probably will remain so. They had a sheer realism,a power to convince that was almost unbelievable. If you wanted to go beneath the surface, fine and good, but if only wanted to read truly great stf., then the reflection on the surface was there, for your admiration, too. But things were evolving, Mr. Wells. You blazed a trail, and such was the novelty of the trail that it could not long avoid exploitat on. A magazine of imaginative fiction was started by a shrewd publisher, with more imagination than scruples. Its success exceeded everyone's dreams, and, thus stf. came into the world as a regular, profitable enterprise. Its earlier days saw some splendid [[underline]]literature[[end underline]] published in this field. But today----? You're right! The real situation that developed, and which concerns you,though, was the fact that the writers of these pulps, had no real foundation to build on, no precedent to follow,outside of the obvious one of that of a novelist by the name of Wells. So follow
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