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A review by nwhyte
Tono-Bungay by H.G. Wells
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3551778.html
This is Wells' best-known non-sf novel. I say that despite the following points:
- Most of the plot revolves around a magical potion, Tono-Bungay. But Tono-Bungay is a complete fake, and sells well because of marketing, not because it actually does any good.
- There is a miraculous mineral which would have transformed the plot, indeed the world, if it came into play. But all supplies are lost, so it becomes a narrative hook for an unsuccessful journey instead.
- The hero flies an aeroplane to France, in a novel published (and mostly set) in 1908, something that didn't actually happen until 1909. But in 1908 it was clearly going to happen pretty soon - in October, the Daily Mail offered a prize of £500 for a cross-channel flight made before the end of the year.
- Anyway the hero's aeronautical experiments turn out to be a dead-end, and he abandons them and is designing warships by the end of the book.
But most of all, the point of the book isn't the change to human society offered by transformative technology, it's about society and social mobility in the very first years of the twentieth century in England. The tech bits are decorative rather than fundamental, and I think it's less sfnal than the Lovejoy books where he supernaturally differentiates real antiques from fakes.
So, the story is actually about our narrator and his uncle; his uncle starts the book by becoming bankrupt, but very quickly becomes fabulously rich thanks to Tono-Bungay. His nephew helps him manage the business (and does well out of it) but fails three times to find true love, his emotional life reported in much more realistic terms than I think was normal for fiction of the day - for this alone I think it's a memorable book, avoiding romantic cliches. The mineral expedition is a slightly silly adventure, but I think redeems itself as a literary device by failing to bring home the goods.
There are unfortunately still plenty of other cliches. I never quite got the feeling that we were meant to take the uncle and aunt seriously; clearly the posh folk of Surrey think they are getting above themselves and I sensed that the author thinks so too. The French scenes are a little bit in that direction too. But overall it's a very engaging and interesting novel, and I feel with some confidence that I can work through the rest of Wells.
This is Wells' best-known non-sf novel. I say that despite the following points:
- Most of the plot revolves around a magical potion, Tono-Bungay. But Tono-Bungay is a complete fake, and sells well because of marketing, not because it actually does any good.
- There is a miraculous mineral which would have transformed the plot, indeed the world, if it came into play. But all supplies are lost, so it becomes a narrative hook for an unsuccessful journey instead.
- The hero flies an aeroplane to France, in a novel published (and mostly set) in 1908, something that didn't actually happen until 1909. But in 1908 it was clearly going to happen pretty soon - in October, the Daily Mail offered a prize of £500 for a cross-channel flight made before the end of the year.
- Anyway the hero's aeronautical experiments turn out to be a dead-end, and he abandons them and is designing warships by the end of the book.
But most of all, the point of the book isn't the change to human society offered by transformative technology, it's about society and social mobility in the very first years of the twentieth century in England. The tech bits are decorative rather than fundamental, and I think it's less sfnal than the Lovejoy books where he supernaturally differentiates real antiques from fakes.
So, the story is actually about our narrator and his uncle; his uncle starts the book by becoming bankrupt, but very quickly becomes fabulously rich thanks to Tono-Bungay. His nephew helps him manage the business (and does well out of it) but fails three times to find true love, his emotional life reported in much more realistic terms than I think was normal for fiction of the day - for this alone I think it's a memorable book, avoiding romantic cliches. The mineral expedition is a slightly silly adventure, but I think redeems itself as a literary device by failing to bring home the goods.
There are unfortunately still plenty of other cliches. I never quite got the feeling that we were meant to take the uncle and aunt seriously; clearly the posh folk of Surrey think they are getting above themselves and I sensed that the author thinks so too. The French scenes are a little bit in that direction too. But overall it's a very engaging and interesting novel, and I feel with some confidence that I can work through the rest of Wells.