Customer Reviews

The Undying Fire

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H.G. Wells struggled with the issue of "what man can make of man" in the course of his many novels and other writings. In The Undying Fire, Wells give us an updated Book of Job, focusing on the tribulations of an actual descendant of the biblical Job. The various characters from the Biblical narrative are all there, in updated (circa World War One) form. This allows Wells the freedom to move around and speak from different perspectives and to explore the issue of humanity and its relation to the deity. This is a generally optimistic treatment, but the hints of Wells' eventual frustration are evident as well. A very well-written book.

Alright, well, i started reading this book a few days ago. I was going to read it for a book talk/paper thingy....but since it dwells upon relgion, and i just got a new LA teacher in the middle/near end of the school year, i went with another H.G Wells book. (this book is so captivating though, there is no way im gonna stop reading it) This means that im not finished with it...but i want to encourage anyone who stumbles across this book to pick it up. (i'll do a much better review when im done with the book, never fear)
Alright, so like i said, this book is based upon religion. At first i was cautious at buying this...because it does deal with the christian god, and i myself follow no religion. And personally, i didnt want to get stuck reading a bunch of stuff that i have already deemed irrelevant and end up wasting my money. Nothing of the sorts has happened, and let me tell you why.
1) i had faith in Wells. I wouldnt call myself a huge science fiction fan and i certainly do not take to most book well. The style in which he writes is just....breath taking, i love it, if thats a strong enough word.
2) I decided to buy this book, because i do believe Wells wasnt a 100% christian. He believed in the christian god, but he had his own viewpoints, which i very much wanted to see.
3) the convos had in the story are....truly insightful. Many a times have the same thoughts run through my head, have i argued with myself, and only to return emptyhanded. No matter which side you take on the story, the arguements are supported to the fullest. Its like sitting down to a meal that feeds your eternal hunger. Not much in this world can satisfy that hunger.
4)When i started reading this, i tried to keep an open mind...just because i dont believe in a god does not mean there is nothing worthwhile in this book. If people never review their beliefs and try to understand the other viewpoint, they are just as ignorant as the next.
4) alright, i know i really didnt do well in this review, but please, if the thoughts of life have ever trickled through your mind, grab this book: i can assure you that regrets you'll have none, i know i didnt.

and i'll leave off with a quote (which was very hard to choose...theres so many of them....i write down page numbers as i read, just so i can go back and reread some of them...)
"It is a commonplace of pietistic works that natural things are perfect things, and that the whole world of life, if it were not for the sinfulness of man, would be perfect. Paley, you will remember, Sir Eliphaz, in his 'Evidences of Christianity,' for which we have both suffered, declares that this earth is manifestly made for the happiness of the sentient beings living thereon. But i ask you to consider for a little and dispassionately, whether life through all its stages, up to and including man, is not rather a scheme of uneasiness, imperfect satisfaction, and positive miseries...."

okay, heres what Job is saying right before he says that.....i like it so much, i have to add it, heh.
"...I have thought of many things that men in their days of prosperity are apt to dismiss from their minds; and i am no longer sure of the goodness of the world without us or in the plan of Fate. Perhaps it is only in us, within our hearts that the light of God flickers- and flickers insecurely. here we had thought a God, somehow akin to ourselves, ruled the universe, it may be there is nothing but black emptiness and a coldness worse than cruelty."

Did you read any H.G Wells books growing up ? IF you enjoyed the War of the Worlds, Time Machine or the Invisible Man, then get ready for another classic.

Job suffered pain and sickness, the death of his sons and daughters, everything he had was lost. Ever try to console anyone with troubles bigger then your own ? Ever try to find the answers for lifes problems ? Ever wondered what life is about or your purpose or destiny ?

God has a plan for all of us, only most don't care to hear that and choose not to believe. It is the result of our own choices and decisions that create the situations we are in. Some find out and others will resist and never find out.