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120th out of 247 books
—
258 voters
The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth (Dover Value Editions)
by
H.G. Wells
Two scientists devise a compound that produces enormous plants, animals — and humans! The chilling results are disastrous. First published in 1904, this gripping, newly relevant tale of science fiction combines fast-paced entertainment with social commentary as it considers the ethics involved in genetic engineering.
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
December 27th 2005
by Dover Publications
(first published 1904)
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Original post at Book Rhapsody.
***
Intro
I really don’t know what came to me. Maybe it was the series of heavy books that I read in a row. Orwell? Golding? All those -topia books. Anything that had to do with the society.
And Wells. It is indeed a good follow-up for such books like 1984 and Lord of the Flies. But this book is not one of his more popular ones. I think it is underrated. I think it is not as well-read as his other books. Well, what are his other books?
Oh, The War of the Worlds. I have...more
***
Intro
I really don’t know what came to me. Maybe it was the series of heavy books that I read in a row. Orwell? Golding? All those -topia books. Anything that had to do with the society.
And Wells. It is indeed a good follow-up for such books like 1984 and Lord of the Flies. But this book is not one of his more popular ones. I think it is underrated. I think it is not as well-read as his other books. Well, what are his other books?
Oh, The War of the Worlds. I have...more
My misconceptions:
--Wells’ novels are for teenage boys.
--They are hopelessly antiquated.
--Every title I know has come from a movie adaptation and I have actually never read any of his books.
My reaction:
--I was having difficulty reading a new novel (‘2030, The Real Story of What Happens in America’) and searched my Kindle for some free titles for a diversion. There, I found all the H.G. Wells novels in public domain. What the hell… no price is the right price.
My revelation:
--This book is good! No...more
--Wells’ novels are for teenage boys.
--They are hopelessly antiquated.
--Every title I know has come from a movie adaptation and I have actually never read any of his books.
My reaction:
--I was having difficulty reading a new novel (‘2030, The Real Story of What Happens in America’) and searched my Kindle for some free titles for a diversion. There, I found all the H.G. Wells novels in public domain. What the hell… no price is the right price.
My revelation:
--This book is good! No...more
Of all the many books written by H G Wells, this is not one that usually springs to mind. However this is a good, if rather overlooked, scientific romance that is worthy of your attention.
The tale is fairly straightforward. Two scientists, Mr Bensington and Professor Redwood, create a miracle chemical that they call (rather unpronounceably) Herakleophorbia IV. This chemical element accelerates physical growth and creates animals that are much bigger than normal.
Thinking that they are Advancing S...more
The tale is fairly straightforward. Two scientists, Mr Bensington and Professor Redwood, create a miracle chemical that they call (rather unpronounceably) Herakleophorbia IV. This chemical element accelerates physical growth and creates animals that are much bigger than normal.
Thinking that they are Advancing S...more
Not Wells' most tightly-written work, nor his most interesting, Food of the Gods is still worth reading for any fan of his novels. Stylistically, it begins somewhere between Dickens and Barbara Pym, a peculiar narrative tone that sits uneasily with the rest of his books. Coupled with a cast of almost trivial comic caricatures and a few embarrassingly hackneyed accents, it isn't a promising start. About two-thirds of the way through, however, the tone changes, and you realise that the trite, home...more
This work is one of H.G. Wells' more obscure titles, if my previous lack of familiarity with it is any indication. This was mildly entertaining but not particularly well written by today's standards. The novel's structure was poorly laid out, and the plot really feels like several separate stories grafted onto one another. Most of the characters are undeveloped and one-dimensional. The ending does not resolve any of the conflict nor tie up any loose threads. The few bright spots: like many of We...more
I picked this book off the library shelves having only once heard the title before, and that connected to a cheesy horror film from the 70s, about giant rats.
The introduction to the book actually apologizes for Wells' more "casual" tone to the story, and the lack of the "lyrical" style he brought to the War of the Worlds or the Time Machine. With those two things in mind, I dove it, with my nose held.
This book was #$%@ing fantastic. Couched in the realm of science fiction, Wells produced one of...more
The introduction to the book actually apologizes for Wells' more "casual" tone to the story, and the lack of the "lyrical" style he brought to the War of the Worlds or the Time Machine. With those two things in mind, I dove it, with my nose held.
This book was #$%@ing fantastic. Couched in the realm of science fiction, Wells produced one of...more
There's no doubt that Herbert George Wells is one of the fathers of science fiction. And in "War of the Worlds," "The Time Machine" and "The Invisible Man" he produced a triumvirate of works that could be listed amongst the best books ever produced in the genre
Unfortunately, "Food of the Gods" is a case of "even Homer nods". This rather silly plot, about a substance that makes anything that consumes it grow, might have worked as a short story, but massive vegetables and farm animals are not real...more
Unfortunately, "Food of the Gods" is a case of "even Homer nods". This rather silly plot, about a substance that makes anything that consumes it grow, might have worked as a short story, but massive vegetables and farm animals are not real...more
Not as good or compelling as The War of the Worlds. Giant rats and wasps probably make better movie monsters than they do books; it was difficult at times to understand the scale of how big the insects and rodents and people had grown. The latter half of the book about the growth of the children was clearly a metaphor for something - I thought probably the growth of the lower and middle classes in England through education and political power and the eventually clash between the classes. That se...more
Aug 26, 2009
Audrey
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
food-politics,
enviro-fiction
Two scheming scientists think they will achieve fame - and do good for the world - by making animals and plants grow super fast. They accidentally create a generation of giants - from rats and chickens and morning glories, to fifty-foot-tall human children. Classic case of "they knew they could, but didn't ask if they should."
The book's a hundred years old and thus the plot is super foresightful (e.g. reminiscent of the current proliferation of GMOs) - unfortunately, though, I just don't like H....more
The book's a hundred years old and thus the plot is super foresightful (e.g. reminiscent of the current proliferation of GMOs) - unfortunately, though, I just don't like H....more
Despite being horribly voiced in this audiobook, I ate this story up. The majority of the book isn't quite character driven. It's one of the only books I know of in that respect. The premise is simple. 2 scientists researching growth come up with a food that creates tremendous growth in the consumer. I was surprised to get a gamut of emotions content from this. Throughout is the intrigue of the premise, but scary scenes, sad scenes, and funny scenes were a surprise. Who/what actually consumes th...more
Part Nietzchien allegory and part socialist allegory, Wells’s novel is strange. It also contains his usual distrust of science, which is not as ill-founded as I would like to believe. Still, anyone can spin a fiction to make philosophical or social points, but fiction is not fact, so his novel has no persuasive power. The beauty of these Pocket Classic editions is that these allegorical connections are largely abridged and so do not annoy. The story is left to enjoy, or not. Unfortunately in thi...more
An amusing satire of the smallness of scientists and government officials, set against the giant implications of their actions and discoveries. I like the narrative voice, calmly narrating what happens when two 19th century scientists happen upon a concoction that induces living things to grow exponentially in advance of their average rate. A story of giants and small men, set in England. The ending, however, leaves mostly everything unresolved, which presents somewhat of a problem given the str...more
May 22, 2012
Dr. Awkward
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Science fiction readers
A unique, somewhat negative projection of the common scifi theme of gigantism. Wells, as usual, managed to create in this novel a rather different rendering of the procession of events when one segment of population grows well out of proportion to its neighbors.
A bit different than typical Wells -- maybe somewhat darker, but still a gripping a fairly light read.
Starts off slowly, but commences quickly, and by halfway through there's no putting it down until you're done.
Overall, highly recommende...more
A bit different than typical Wells -- maybe somewhat darker, but still a gripping a fairly light read.
Starts off slowly, but commences quickly, and by halfway through there's no putting it down until you're done.
Overall, highly recommende...more
This is an excellent example of early sci-fi. It was interesting. It was written at a time when language was still quite formal, and had a quaint "old world" feel to it, but the story structure was much more modern and contemporary. It was kind of a weird mesh of old and new that was a little unsettling at first, but once I found the rhythm of the book, I found it to be a quite enjoyable read. If you've not read it, I should warn you that modern readers might find the ending rather abrupt, but I...more
Recently re-printed in a hardback on the S.F. Masterworks series, I was compelled to buy it. The other H.G. Wells which I have read are Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and Island of Dr Moreau. This is written in the same style, with a Victorian feel throughout the pages. I am starting to feel that H.G. Wells had a definate distrust for science (scientists), whilst having an imagination of science that far surpassed those of the scientific profession at the time. This story seems like a warning...more
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Two scientists, Mr. Bensington and Professor Redwood, who devise a compound they call Herakleophorbia IV which, when fed to animals, causes them to grow in size. Bensington and Redwood hope this will solve the problem of world hunger. They hire a married couple, the Skinners, to help maintain their experimental farm consisting of giant chickens and other huge animals.
Unfortunately the Skinners accidentally allow the compound to end up in the local food chain. Soon the countryside is plagued with...more
Unfortunately the Skinners accidentally allow the compound to end up in the local food chain. Soon the countryside is plagued with...more
Just to be upfront about it, the only reason I picked up this book was because I had rather liked the cheesy Food of the Gods movie adaptation (the 2nd one). I already had known it won't be anything close to the movie and I was right. The movie sort of just took the idea of the Food and the giant rats and made it into a monster movie.
I found the prose to be rather antiquated and I had to read some sentences carefully. As the foreword mentioned, it's unfortunate that the prose didn't age well.
The...more
I found the prose to be rather antiquated and I had to read some sentences carefully. As the foreword mentioned, it's unfortunate that the prose didn't age well.
The...more
Jul 11, 2008
Matt
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of intellectual science fiction, if they want to see where it started
Shelves:
literature,
science-fiction
I find the works of H.G. Wells to be remarkable in several ways. Although stories that bear the marks of the modern science fiction genera include Shelley's Frankenstein and the imaginative works of Jules Verne, its HG Wells that really set the stage for modern science fiction. Additionally, Wells is one of the first modern wargamers, and his publication of 'Floor Games' and 'Little Wars' sparked the wargaming movement that would eventually set the stage for both Role Playing Games and video gam...more
I've read most of Wells' social' fiction, and most of his science fiction - and this book is a bit of both. It really is a book of two halves - the first half is funny, full of quirky characters (don't tell me Dahl didn't use the Skinners) and the science is more of the Tono-Bungay sort. The book then turns very serious indeed. Wells' prescience is frightening - all manner of 20th century horrors are prefigured. I don't know why this is so little known among his work, thanks to my brother for re...more
Well, the first two sections are the sci-fi and horror of giant animals unleashed on the earth because of a poorly managed experiment. Typical HG Wells. The third book gets into the philosophy of the transition/evolution of humanity from the pygmies to the giants. HG Wells' philosophy on the meaning of life (per young Caddles, "What's is tall for?" presented in this story is revealed in the final pages. Just substitute Aryan for Giant in the final pages, and its quite disturbing.
Some might think this is a bitter or pessimistic story since it's the story, in some sense, of the mortality of our generation/civilization: a new synthetic growth hormone gets everywhere and our giant descendants will inevitably displace us. Well, we'll be inevitably displaced by history, says Wells (author of a very popular textbook on history), but that's not a bad thing--maybe what comes next will be better.
Jul 11, 2010
Sara
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
slipstream-sci-fi,
read-this
So many parts of this book are predictable, but this doesn't matter. The sentences are amazing. Wells's descriptions of setting are incredible. Magic food, giant babies, and the hunt for monstrous rats keep the story moving so fast you will barely notice all his pretensions. Probably isn't right to enjoy the characters of the Skinners as much as I did, but I couldn't help myself. Great book.
Aug 23, 2007
Lane
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fromfantastictoweirdtosci-fietc
Feels like cheating, but I listened to an audio version of this while I worked alone in a library on weekends.
The voices the reader used for the characters were especially obnoxious.
As far as the actual story, it was fairly enjoyable when the focus was on giant rats and wasps, but once it shifted to the giant children I found myself bored. There just wasn't much of an arc to the story. You'd think rising tensions and a possible war between giants and little people would be more interesting, but...more
The voices the reader used for the characters were especially obnoxious.
As far as the actual story, it was fairly enjoyable when the focus was on giant rats and wasps, but once it shifted to the giant children I found myself bored. There just wasn't much of an arc to the story. You'd think rising tensions and a possible war between giants and little people would be more interesting, but...more
What started out cute and funny is slowly morphing in to complete horror unchecked. I am finding that HG Wells has a knack for making these stories completely believable. Probably due to the fact that there are 1 part science and 2 parts fiction in his stories...
Story ended rather abrupt. There really should have been a sequel book as there really was no resolution or closure...
Story ended rather abrupt. There really should have been a sequel book as there really was no resolution or closure...
May 28, 2011
Todd
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Classis SF fans
I enjoyed this book and would rate it 3-1/2 stars. It is well worth the reading time.
Not an action driven SF adventure, instead, the focus is on the ethics of new discoveries and on the way that societies react (or fail to react) to change.
To most men the new things came little by little and day by day, remarkably enough, but not so abruptly as to overwhelm.
Not an action driven SF adventure, instead, the focus is on the ethics of new discoveries and on the way that societies react (or fail to react) to change.
To most men the new things came little by little and day by day, remarkably enough, but not so abruptly as to overwhelm.
قد يكون البت شائكا جدا في القيمة الفعلية لهذا الكتاب لما يحمله من فكر اباحي لحد ما اتجاه المخدرات واثرها الفعلي على الانسان.ان الهوجة الاعلامية التي تقودها السياسة لتحريم وتقنين المخدر جهرا وترويجه سرا الاثر الاكبر لهذا الاعتقاد.عموما الكتاب يشرح كل ما اردت معرفته عن المخدر بكل انواعه من قديم التاريخ ويتحدث عن اماكن تواجده كما يشرح عن التاثيرات السلبية والايجابية لكل انواع المخدرات .كتاب قيم لان مادته قليلة البحث
Somewhat amusing tale of humanity unfortunately getting what they thought they wanted. The ensuing ecological disaster becomes a trial to the inventors and many others. Both utopian in desire and dystopian in result, H G Wells shows his sense of humor.
Where imagination of the impossibles are concerned Wells never had an equal. When it came to telling his imagined story in a very crisp and concise manner he was simply the best.
This is one of the finest ScFi novels I have ever read.
This is one of the finest ScFi novels I have ever read.
Classic SF. In the public domain, with a free electronic copy here.
An amazing book. Funny, insightful, superbly written, and entertaining. I can see why one might be disappointed from a purely "science fiction" perspective but from a literary perspective, wow, what a great read.
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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
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