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The Croquet Player
Something is horribly wrong in the remote English village of Cainsmarsh. An elderly woman stiffens in dread at her own shadow; a terrified farmer murders a scarecrow; food prepared by others is eyed with suspicion; family pets are bludgeoned to death; loving couples are devoured by rage and violence. A spirit-corrupting evil pervades the land, infesting the minds of those...more
Paperback, 112 pages
Published
October 1st 2004
by Bison Books
(first published 1936)
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This is an interesting work from an author whom readers most closely associate with science fiction. Most reviews and summaries describe the novella as a “ghost story,” although there is no ghost, only an ambiguous fear of impending war and the cruelty of which humankind is capable. Wells does a surprisingly good job in writing a story about essentially nothing. There is no direct action, only the men telling their stories to the croquet player as they sit on the terrace, and the precise nature...more
Pretty powerful stuff--though inchoate; almost got the feeling it was too short or too long--but looking at it I don't really see how he could've done it differently. More or less a "Twilight"-type mood piece; especially with WWII upcoming. Liked the following snippets: "High and noble convictions, no doubt, as they professed them. But what they really wanted to do was to fight. They wanted to be at each other's throats." And: "He was striding up and down now like a Hebrew prophet. It may look a...more
Quite an interesting book, and one that brings many thoughts to mind. Yes, a thoughtful book. Poorly named, by the way. The title makes it sound boring. It's not actually about The Croquet Player at all, he's just the one listening to a man's story.
Basically, this Croquet Player finds a man who tells him about Cainsmarsh, a place where people seem to get infected by fear. He himself had gotten the bug, and tells of his journy in trying to figure out what it means.
If you want to know what it mean...more
Basically, this Croquet Player finds a man who tells him about Cainsmarsh, a place where people seem to get infected by fear. He himself had gotten the bug, and tells of his journy in trying to figure out what it means.
If you want to know what it mean...more
I picked up a copy of this (much older edition, actually) in a resale shop because the title did not seem possibly related to HG Wells. It's a strange little book about a happy-go-lucky croquet player (ie, idle rich) whose entire perspective on life is hopelessly changed by a chance encounter with a man claiming to have fled a haunted "evil" village. It's not much in the way of a ghost story, but it does have some relevance to modern life even though it was written in the late 30s, if I remember...more
There were these ghosts of cave men and this crazy guy and his psychologist and the end of the world; and I'm not really sure what happened, but it was awesome. Kind of like Space Mountain at Disney World, where you can't see where you're going, but it's, like, totally cool and kind of inspiring. After reading this book, I'm all about world peace now.
I saw a tiny little book called The Croquet Player by H.G. Wells at the library, so I snatched it up because I like Wells and had never heard of this one before. The Croquet Player is astoundingly badly named (the story has little to do with the titular character and even less to do with croquet), and was a mildly entertaining tale but certainly nowhere near as good as Wells’ novels or even as his other short stories that I’ve read. It’s short enough that you won’t feel like you’ve wasted any ti...more
Compelling and very unique little story. Primordial and almost Jungian at its core, it seeps into you from the inside out. Fascinating also as a voice from its era and as a societal critique, and a very entertaining narrator voice from the first line.
I enjoyed this allegory of tension that was building in Europe in the mid 30's. My husband, who is a history buff, was excited when I wanted to talk about what England's foreign relations police was in 1936.
Not one of the masters best.
A very curious little novella by H.G. Wells. On the surface, very much like a Poe story, this is a stimulating weird tale about a village, or possibly a single man, overcome by an irrational fear and hatred. Under the surface, we get an equally ambiguous commentary on man's spiraling descent into violence and madness, or the panic over such a fallacy. Very odd, but quite enjoyable.
Sep 26, 2008
Frank
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
alfredo garcia
Beginning as a simple ghost story, this narrative turns into an anthropological nightmare with a prophetic tone for the future of mankind's psychological condition.
Jun 24, 2009
Erik Graff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Wells fans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
literature
As an allegorical satire, this didn't work for me--perhaps because I was too ignorant at the time of the socio-political circumstances of Europe in 1936.
neanderthal ghosts?! Interesting premise, I guess. Would've been crap if not written by Wells.
May 15, 2013
Natalie Kroczek
marked it as to-read
view all 3 comments
May 15, 2013
Dennis Johansson
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2013
K Smith
marked it as to-read
Feb 25, 2013
William Alan Ritch
added it
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Herbert George Wells, better known as H. G. Wells, was the third son of a shopkeeper. After two years' apprenticeship in a draper's shop, he became a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School and won a scholarship to study under T. H. Huxley at the Normal School of Science, South Kensington. He taught biology before becoming a professional writer and journalist.
Wells is most famous today for his s...more
More about H.G. Wells...
Wells is most famous today for his s...more
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