Christina Alberta's Father [Import] [Paperback]

H. G. Wells (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Hogarth Press; New Ed edition (1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0701205792
• ISBN-13: 978-0701205799
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,685,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching, Emotion-stirring Novel, April 9, 2005

By 

A Reader "A reader" (Zembla) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christina Alberta's Father (Unbound)

I'm probably the only person under 30 whose read as much of the non-science fiction novels of H.G. Wells as anyone since the 1920s. [After all, he was considered a titan by such authors as Somerset-Maugham, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald--and not for his early sci-fi stuff. But for his commanding literary novels. This is largely forgotten today in the amnesia brought about by hack literature professors or lacking Fiction courses.] Nevertheless, anyone who stumbles upon his literary works realizes what a disservice is done him by the unthinking who have unfairly marginalized him and relegated him to sci-fi purgatory. Among his best literary novels [and ones that actually were best-sellers at the time] are "Ann Veronica," "The Passionate Friends," "Love and Mr. Lewisham" and "Tono Bungay". As for myself, I am becoming quite a connoisseur of Wells' work. As such, I was curious to see what he was doing in his later years. "Christina Alberta's Father" was written in the exhaustion following his famous non-fiction work "Brief Outline of History". It was a major international bestseller. So "Christina Alberta" was a quiet return to novels. At first I was leery. [After all, it's about a girl whose father starts to wonder if he's not the reincarnation of Sumerian king, Sargon the Great.] It seemed too comic, too flippant, too . . . in a word: humorous. But I kept reading. By the end of the novel--such was its depth and range of emotion--that I found myself weeping. [I won't spoil the end for you--even though I *will* confide that it's sad.] Suffice it to say: It was so human, so touching, so well-crafted that I came away from it feeling enriched that I'd been brought so close to these characters. Novels aren't written like this anymore: So complex and filled with a range of complicated emotions.

5.0 out of 5 stars Christina Alberta's Father by H.G. Wells, January 27, 2012

By 

Patricia R. Gerard - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christina Alberta's Father (Hardcover)

This work came to my attention though a brief mention within the text of a book on psychology and so began my love for the many forgotten works of H.G. Wells. The characters are surprising in the extent of their modernity of thought and practices, especially the women. The dichotomy of mysteries behind Christina Alberta's father are subtle and intriguing and are solved in quite a satisfactory manner. Each character comes alive, vividly portrayed. And if reading a masterful storyline is not enough, the underlying commentary on the 1920's treatment for the insane and insightful reasoning behind Mr. Premby's fantasy are strikingly astute. A wonderful read for anyone interested in drama, mystery, romance, history, cultural practices, or the working of the human mind. Even if you're not Sargon the Great, you might be!