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H. G. Wells

John Norwood Fago

Food Of The Gods Mass Market Paperback – September 15, 1976

by H.G. Wells (Author)

48 ratings

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Language

English
Publisher

Berkley
Publication date

September 15, 1976
Dimensions

7 x 1 x 5 inches
ISBN-10

0425033759
ISBN-13

978-0425033753
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H.G. Wells
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (September 15, 1976)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425033759
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425033753
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 5 inches

Customer Reviews:
48 ratings

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H. G. Wells
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The son of a professional cricketer and a lady's maid, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) served apprenticeships as a draper and a chemist's assistant before winning a scholarship to the prestigious Normal School of Science in London. While he is best remembered for his groundbreaking science fiction novels, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau, Wells also wrote extensively on politics and social matters and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of his day.
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John Norwood Fago
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

48 global ratings

5 star		73%
4 star		10%
3 star		7%
2 star		6%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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John McAlexander III

Somewhat interesting....??!?!?!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 2, 2022

Verified Purchase

I first read this novel about 25-30 years ago. It is an interesting take on H.G. Wells. There was a B-movie
that came out when I was in high school by the same
name, basically just dealing with the portion of the book
having to do with Giant Rats. If you like Wells, you might give this look see.

Helpful

Michael Valdivielso

The Human Society is about to change...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2006

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Many of H.G. Wells books deal with what we call science fiction. Such as The War of The Worlds, The Time Machine or the Invisible Man he likes to write about wonders brought about by new technology or alien ways. He loved a good What-if-this-happened? Yet there was also a social scientist within him. With such novels as The Island Of Dr. Moreau and The Food Of The Gods he also explored the human condition and how fixed or flexible it could become.

In the Food Of The Gods two men, Mr. Bensington and Professor Redwood put their knowledge together to make a chemical that allows an animal or plant continuous growth without need for it to stop to build up energy or material.

Soon mankind is dealing with giant wasps, chickens, grass and all kinds of harmless or very dangerous creatures. And soon babies are given the BoomFood to make them into giants. What should mankind do with the giants? Employee them? Bar them from the rest of civilization? Kill them?

The novel is full of humor, mostly pointed at the class system, scientists, the common man and society in general. There is even a slight hint that each new generation THINKS of itself as giants, as big minds with big ideas.

The funny part was the slow change of the characters' impressions on me, as I started to think of the normal sized humans as pigmies near the end and the giants as the normal sized humans. This was done mostly by allowing them to become the major characters, shifting the point of view, so we started to see more of the giants, their way of life, their problems and less of the normal humans. Also, the normal humans seemed to whine a lot.

Clearly this novel has effected many other books and many, many sci-fi B-movies. THEM just to name one. Get it used or new.

2 people found this helpful

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pete

Pretty decent story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2014

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I was hoping there would be more in the book about giant bugs, and insects, and rats causing all kinds of problems. And it was about that to a point. Then it kind of switched to a story about a couple of giant humans which wasn't as much fun. Giant wasps are cooler than giant humans (IMO). Still a good book. Wells rocks.

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Amazon Customer

The joy of my past and love of the classic comics

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 24, 2018

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H. G. Wells great story in pictures, is a good grounding to want to read the book.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 13, 2012

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Received the book about a week after ordering. Great, speedy service. I'm looking forward to reading it soon. I've seen the movie version, which didn't do H.G. Wells justice. Having read a number of Wells' works and enjoying them, this should be a good change of pace.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

This should be made into a film! With today's CG it would make an interesting Adventure film.

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A classic story of man vs science

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2002

Ever the visionary, H.G. Wells here presents the reader with a study of the classic conflict between Science and Man. I could never really figure out where Wells stands on this issue in these pages, and perhaps he sits on the fence, providing convincing arguments on both sides of the struggle. Interestingly, the book begins with a number of biting, satirical remarks about science and scientists; they are called men of "obvious littlenesses" who cannot see outside the bounds of the narrow world they live in; their "greatness" only inspires dislike among their peers and translates not at all to the masses. I was in fact rather shocked to see Wells characterize men of science in such a forcible way. In terms of the story, two scientists discover the recipe for a growth agent which they see as a great benefit for the future life of man on earth--food sources can be grown in exceedingly abundant numbers, thus providing for the welfare of all men. They set out to experiment by purchasing a small farm and feeding the new food, spontaneously dubbed Food of the Gods, to a number of hens. Unfortunately, the pair hired to see after the farm are quite inefficient, and the food finds it way to a number of unfortunate locations. Huge wasps appear to terrify the local community; the hens eventually escape and run amuck, gigantic creeping plants begin to take over various areas of land, and then gigantic rats torment the local population. The farm and its creations are forcibly cleaned up, but the story by no means ends there.
The two scientists continue work on the food with the intent of controlling its use, but a neighboring doctor forces his way into their lives and launches a public campaign for their product. This, plus the fact that the food continues to find its way to different places (with the resulting consequences of huge new pests and pestilences) contributes to a growing public reaction against the food, a movement that will eventually place a "giant-killer" in political control of the country. Meanwhile, for reasons I never really understood, the sons of the scientists (as well as a few more children) are given the food and eventually grow in excess of forty feet tall. The story actually becomes quite powerful when describing the lives of these young giants. While some are totally isolated and, for a time, "controlled," others actually attempt to do things for the "pygmies," such as building houses, creating reservoirs, generating electrical power. In every case they are chastised by the people, who complain about property rights, zoning laws, and other things that the giants simply don't understand. The giants look at the population and see homelessness, perpetual drunkenness, poverty, and other social ills, and they want to help; sadly, every attempt to serve is met with more consternation and increased restraints on their movements. Eventually, the anti-giants league takes power and sets out to rid their world of the giants through either exile or war. Their first victim is a poor young giant who tired of the perpetual work he was compelled to perform and set out to see the life he had been hidden from. He cannot understand humanity at all, and his questions about normal life are ignored; his end is tragic and frankly a sad indictment on mankind. The novel does not end very satisfactorily--the lines have been drawn, but the ultimate outcome of the struggle is left unanswered. To have continued the story would have required Wells to take a stand on the issue, and I don't think he was confident enough in his own opinions to do so.
The novel begins in an almost humorous tone but ends quite seriously and tragically. Both sides of the scientific argument are given a full say in matters, and the great tragedy is that no one wins in this story. The most innocent victims are the giants themselves; they alone seem to recognize society's ills and make an effort to improve the lives of their fellow men despite the harsh treatment they receive for their efforts.

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Top reviews from other countries

colin michael harbinson

Perfect

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 5, 2019

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I am a great fan of Wells and have a modest collection of his work in audiobook form. Modest because there are so many poorley narrated productions of his wonderful stories it is hard to find a jem among the rubble. This is a jem.

Amazon Customer

A good novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 12, 2020

Verified Purchase

Really enjoyed this novel would recommend it.