Abstract
MANY writers of fiction have gathered material from the fairy-land of science, and have used it in the construction of literary fabrics, but none have done it more successfully than Mr. H. G. Wells. It is often easy to understand the cause of failure. The material may be used in such a way that there appears no connection between it and the background upon which it is seen; it may be so prominent that the threads with which it ought to harmonise are thrown into obscurity; or (and this is the worst of all) it may be employed by a writer whose knowledge of natural phenomena is not sufficient to justify his working with scientific colour. Mr. Wells makes none of these mistakes. Upon a groundwork of scientific fact, his vivid imagination and exceptional powers of description enable him to erect a structure which intellectual readers can find pleasure in contemplating.
The War of the Worlds.
By H. G. Wells. Pp. 303. (London: William Heinemann, 1898.)
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G., R. The War of the Worlds. Nature 57, 339–340 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/057339a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/057339a0
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