Men Like Gods [Hardcover]

H. G. Wells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

The hero of the novel, Mr. Barnstaple, is a depressive journalist in the newspaper "The Liberal." At the beginning of the story, Mr. Barnstaple, as well as a few other Englishmen, are accidentally transported to the parallel world of Utopia. Utopia is like an advanced Earth, although it had been quite similar to Earth in the past in a period known to Utopians as the "Days of Confusion." Utopia is a utopian world: it has a utopian socialist world government, advanced science, and even pathogens have been eliminated and predators are almost tamed.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born Herbert George Wells in Kent in 1866, H. G. Wells was an outspoken socialist and pacifist, whose works caused some controversy. He is more widely known as a science fiction writer for the novels that he published between 1895 and 1901: The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes and The First Men in the Moon. All, except for When the Sleeper Wakes, have been made into films. Along with Jules Verne, H. G. Wells is also known as 'the Father of Science Fiction'. His later novels were more realistic and he wrote many genres, including contemporary novels, history and social commentary. H. G. Wells died in 1946. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus Ltd (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755104137
• ISBN-13: 978-0755104130
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,472,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a bit of a revelation..., April 30, 1999

By 

GeoX "GeoX" (Men...Of...The...Sea!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Men Like Gods (Library Binding)

If all you've read of Wells is The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Island of Dr. Moreau, you're not getting the full story. This novel--writen some twenty-five years after the aforementioned works--shows the author's more philosophical side; there's less of the straight SF romance aspect to it; it's also, in my estimation, a considerably more gripping read.

In short, it's about a group of people who are inadvertantly drawn into an alternate dimension, which turns out to be a paradisiacal version of Earth thousands of years in ahead of contemporary society. There's some action involved, but it's more a book of moral philosophy than anything else, as it explores issues of what humanity should be and be striving for. I liked it a lot, and you should try to find a copy and read it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uncommon and Worth the Read, August 18, 2009

By 

Christy B (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: MANKIND IN THE MAKING (UPDATED w/LINKED TOC) (Kindle Edition)

Almost everyone knows of H. G. Wells' other works like The Time Machine, but this book, never as popular and certainly mentally deeper, is really the way to get a look into this renowned author's mind.

As another has mentioned, this isn't so much a high science romance but rather a story that incorporates social philosophy. It is a social philosophy almost entirely 180 degrees out from my own. And just to get it out and over with, yes; there are a lot of misconceptions regarding evolution, biology and science. To enjoy the story, it is necessary to make the same exceptions for those misconceptions as we happily make for errors regarding electricity while reading Frankenstein.

Our main character is what we would refer to as a typical middle class working stiff. He suffers the same discontentment that many today do with children growing up not exactly the way we would wish for them, a spouse that is less than exciting after all these years, a boss he doesn't respect and a job he detests going to. Sound familiar? An impromptu holiday winds up quickly as an accidental push into a sort of parallel dimension with all the others who traveled the road near the same time. Their cars simply wind up in a new place after a bit of a jolt.

In this new place, the people are all perfectly formed, beautiful, supremely intelligent and telepathic. The story, which I won't ruin further by detailing, revolves around the inevitable clash of the "modern" human in a place that has eschewed all the things we consider worthwhile and made themselves infinitly superior. Needless to say, our hero develops the appropriate appreciation and awe and eventually returns home a different man. Should I detail further, I will certainly ruin the action that isn't at all sparse in the story.

I'll admit that I was very surprised by the book. I had pictured the author in different ways, as far as his ideas and opinions, but never like this. This is the socialist and communist dream made manifest. Of course, the problem with that delves down into our deepest pre-history and evolution but he couldn't know that. As primates who "collected" as our evolutionary advantage, we can no more leave behind the desire for personal property and the safety of objects than our need for oxygen to fuel our bodily processes. It is part and parcel of who we are.

The largely unspoken, but occassionally obvious use of eugenics and denial of parentage to achieve these aims is a bit frightening and may be difficult for modern sensibilities, but it was an openly discussed topic during that era and should be considered in that light.

Reading this book is a great idea for anyone who has an interest in H. G. Wells and his marvelous works because it does help to round out his viewpoints in other works. It's also a less P.C. work that allows a reader to pause and think of their own opinions as the story moves along and various philosophical points are brought to light by the action.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More realistic than some of his utopias..., October 26, 2010

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Men Like Gods (Classic Science Fiction) (Paperback)

You end up in a new world - because of magic or hypnosis or some kind of accident. You learn about the native lifestyle and come back to your normal world, wiser, with knowledge to help all mankind.
Boring, seen in a hundred other books. But this is slightly different. Slightly more realistic than even some of Mr. Wells' own versions of utopia.
Because in this one the Earthlings bring illness and evil ideas to Eden. Yes, the flawed Earthlings bring death and destruction to Utopia and what are the goodie-goodie natives going to do about it?
I also love how Wells hints at the fact that while the people of utopia are well meaning and nice, they do seem to treat the Earthlings as lower creatures. After all they ARE Superior. By the end of the book, in fact, only the flawed or the very young show any interest in the main character from Earth. They have moved beyond us, to the point where even some of the ideas they have do not translate, and they see us as early examples of flawed humans. Like we may look at a pet ape.
Unlike his work, A Modern Utopia (Forgotten Books), this just feels more realistic and, sometimes, even has a touch of humor. This is just how people would act if they were dropped into a utopia. Sad to say I feel this hits our soul and ideals, or lack of them, right on the nose.
Enjoy!