Wells, H. G. Tono-Bungay. 1909. Penguin, 2005.
H. G. Wells, through George, his protagonist in Tono-Bungay, proclaims himself to be a rationalist, a socialist, and a man interested in improving society as much as he can. But what makes this novel so fascinating is that at every critical juncture, George acts in ways that violate all these principles and make him instead the kind of man he most despises. He studies science, but he abandons it at the first opportunity to take part in his Uncle’s patent medicine scam. He is critical of the injustice of the economic system represented by the English aristocracy, but if the aristocratic Beatrice would marry him, he would jump at the chance. His dreams of improving society and making a mark in the world end, but as he says, early in the novel, he discovers that it is the world that does things to him. All his ventures ultimately involve products that kill people, including a fictional compound called quap, “the most radioactive stuff in the world.” He occasionally sounds like Joseph Conrad, who admired Wells enough to dedicate a book to him, and perhaps he shares some of Conrad’s sadder-but-wiser romanticism.