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A review by venerablemonster
The World Set Free by H.G. Wells
3.0
For all the foresight that Wells seemed to have in respect to the destructiveness of man, it's a laughable second half that shows his utter naivety and ignorance. It was an amusing moment when he brought up Candide. I had, in fact, been thinking of Voltaire's piece for a bit before that point. Voltaire, for his part, I believe would have lambasted Wells for this utopian (honestly distopian/totalitarian) nonsense should their timelines have aligned.
How Wells addresses the council and remakes the world is really telling of his laughable views. Add in the gratuitous narrative of Karenin on gender in the final chapters, and this book really shows its 1913 origins.
My greatest curiosity is really regarding what Wells would say when confronted with the world that had become in the last century since this publishing. What would he have to say.
That all being said, that's not to say that this book isn't worth reading. I believe it is. But one needs to use analytical thinking and look beyond the atomic context that everyone seems to be hung up on.
How Wells addresses the council and remakes the world is really telling of his laughable views. Add in the gratuitous narrative of Karenin on gender in the final chapters, and this book really shows its 1913 origins.
My greatest curiosity is really regarding what Wells would say when confronted with the world that had become in the last century since this publishing. What would he have to say.
That all being said, that's not to say that this book isn't worth reading. I believe it is. But one needs to use analytical thinking and look beyond the atomic context that everyone seems to be hung up on.