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The British Barbarians
"The British Barbarians" from Grant Allen. Canadian science writer and novelist (1848-1899).
- GenresScience FictionFiction
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1895
About the author
Grant Allen
1,263 books32 followersCharles Grant Blairfindie Allen (February 24, 1848 – October 25, 1899) was a science writer and novelist, and a successful upholder of the theory of evolution.
He was born near Kingston, Canada West (now incorporated into Ontario), the second son of Catharine Ann Grant and the Rev. Joseph Antisell Allen, a Protestant minister from Dublin, Ireland. His mother was a daughter of the fifth Baron of Longueuil. He was educated at home until, at age 13, he and his parents moved to the United States, then France and finally the United Kingdom. He was educated at King Edward's School in Birmingham and Merton College in Oxford, both in the United Kingdom. After graduation, Allen studied in France, taught at Brighton College in 1870–71 and in his mid-twenties became a professor at Queen's College, a black college in Jamaica.
Despite his religious father, Allen became an agnostic and a socialist. After leaving his professorship, in 1876 he returned to England, where he turned his talents to writing, gaining a reputation for his essays on science and for literary works. One of his early articles, 'Note-Deafness' (a description of what is now called amusia, published in 1878 in the learned journal Mind) is cited with approval in a recent book by Oliver Sacks.
His first books were on scientific subjects, and include Physiological Æsthetics (1877) and Flowers and Their Pedigrees (1886). He was first influenced by associationist psychology as it was expounded by Alexander Bain and Herbert Spencer, the latter often considered the most important individual in the transition from associationist psychology to Darwinian functionalism. In Allen's many articles on flowers and perception in insects, Darwinian arguments replaced the old Spencerian terms. On a personal level, a long friendship that started when Allen met Spencer on his return from Jamaica, also grew uneasy over the years. Allen wrote a critical and revealing biographical article on Spencer that was published after Spencer was dead.
After assisting Sir W. W. Hunter in his Gazeteer of India in the early 1880s, Allen turned his attention to fiction, and between 1884 and 1899 produced about 30 novels. In 1895, his scandalous book titled The Woman Who Did, promulgating certain startling views on marriage and kindred questions, became a bestseller. The book told the story of an independent woman who has a child out of wedlock.
In his career, Allen wrote two novels under female pseudonyms. One of these was the short novel The Type-writer Girl, which he wrote under the name Olive Pratt Rayner.
Another work, The Evolution of the Idea of God (1897), propounding a theory of religion on heterodox lines, has the disadvantage of endeavoring to explain everything by one theory. This "ghost theory" was often seen as a derivative of Herbert Spencer's theory. However, it was well known and brief references to it can be found in a review by Marcel Mauss, Durkheim's nephew, in the articles of William James and in the works of Sigmund Freud.
He was also a pioneer in science fiction, with the 1895 novel The British Barbarians. This book, published about the same time as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, which includes a mention of Allen, also described time travel, although the plot is quite different. His short story The Thames Valley Catastrophe (published 1901 in The Strand Magazine) describes the destruction of London by a sudden and massive volcanic eruption.
Many histories of detective fiction also mention Allen as an innovator. His gentleman rogue, the illustrious Colonel Clay, is seen as a forerunner to later characters. In fact, Allen's character bears strong resemblance to Maurice Leblanc's French works about Arsène Lupin, published many years later; and both Miss Cayley's Adventures and Hilda Wade feature early female detectives.
Allen was married twi
He was born near Kingston, Canada West (now incorporated into Ontario), the second son of Catharine Ann Grant and the Rev. Joseph Antisell Allen, a Protestant minister from Dublin, Ireland. His mother was a daughter of the fifth Baron of Longueuil. He was educated at home until, at age 13, he and his parents moved to the United States, then France and finally the United Kingdom. He was educated at King Edward's School in Birmingham and Merton College in Oxford, both in the United Kingdom. After graduation, Allen studied in France, taught at Brighton College in 1870–71 and in his mid-twenties became a professor at Queen's College, a black college in Jamaica.
Despite his religious father, Allen became an agnostic and a socialist. After leaving his professorship, in 1876 he returned to England, where he turned his talents to writing, gaining a reputation for his essays on science and for literary works. One of his early articles, 'Note-Deafness' (a description of what is now called amusia, published in 1878 in the learned journal Mind) is cited with approval in a recent book by Oliver Sacks.
His first books were on scientific subjects, and include Physiological Æsthetics (1877) and Flowers and Their Pedigrees (1886). He was first influenced by associationist psychology as it was expounded by Alexander Bain and Herbert Spencer, the latter often considered the most important individual in the transition from associationist psychology to Darwinian functionalism. In Allen's many articles on flowers and perception in insects, Darwinian arguments replaced the old Spencerian terms. On a personal level, a long friendship that started when Allen met Spencer on his return from Jamaica, also grew uneasy over the years. Allen wrote a critical and revealing biographical article on Spencer that was published after Spencer was dead.
After assisting Sir W. W. Hunter in his Gazeteer of India in the early 1880s, Allen turned his attention to fiction, and between 1884 and 1899 produced about 30 novels. In 1895, his scandalous book titled The Woman Who Did, promulgating certain startling views on marriage and kindred questions, became a bestseller. The book told the story of an independent woman who has a child out of wedlock.
In his career, Allen wrote two novels under female pseudonyms. One of these was the short novel The Type-writer Girl, which he wrote under the name Olive Pratt Rayner.
Another work, The Evolution of the Idea of God (1897), propounding a theory of religion on heterodox lines, has the disadvantage of endeavoring to explain everything by one theory. This "ghost theory" was often seen as a derivative of Herbert Spencer's theory. However, it was well known and brief references to it can be found in a review by Marcel Mauss, Durkheim's nephew, in the articles of William James and in the works of Sigmund Freud.
He was also a pioneer in science fiction, with the 1895 novel The British Barbarians. This book, published about the same time as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, which includes a mention of Allen, also described time travel, although the plot is quite different. His short story The Thames Valley Catastrophe (published 1901 in The Strand Magazine) describes the destruction of London by a sudden and massive volcanic eruption.
Many histories of detective fiction also mention Allen as an innovator. His gentleman rogue, the illustrious Colonel Clay, is seen as a forerunner to later characters. In fact, Allen's character bears strong resemblance to Maurice Leblanc's French works about Arsène Lupin, published many years later; and both Miss Cayley's Adventures and Hilda Wade feature early female detectives.
Allen was married twi
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 23, 2023
Entertaining British listening 🎶🔰
This is a free kindle e-book novella from Amazon by Grant Allen.
Oh how I love 💘 those free books 📚. However this novella was not for me but that is life.
I would recommend that you give it a try it may work for you. 2023 😀👒👑🏰
I will try other books 📚 by this author.
Happy Holidays Season 😀🎅
This is a free kindle e-book novella from Amazon by Grant Allen.
Oh how I love 💘 those free books 📚. However this novella was not for me but that is life.
I would recommend that you give it a try it may work for you. 2023 😀👒👑🏰
I will try other books 📚 by this author.
Happy Holidays Season 😀🎅
November 22, 2010
There is no doubt that Wells was first with “The Time Machine”, but it is interesting that Grant Allen’s “The British Barbarians” was published the same year, and also deals with time travel. Both novels make a comment on society, though Allen reverses the direction of the time travel, by having a man, Mr. Bertram Ingledew, visit modern (i.e. 1895) England from the 25th century. The two novels are not particularly similar, so the coincidence of time travel could easily be overlooked as significant, but the unusual relationship between Wells and Allen doesn’t end there. Wells second novel, “The Wonderful Visit” is very similar in many ways to “The British Barbarians”. Some have accused Wells of plagiarism, both here and in some other stories, but it seems far more likely that he and Allen shared ideas. What is certain is that they knew each other, as they were known to take cycling trips together a few years after these novels were published.
I prefer this work slightly to Wells “The Wonderful Visit”, though neither one is a great book. Wells writing is better than Allen, but Allen does a better job of exploring the situations and creating a more reasonable story. Wells’ story is more comic, but one can better imagine Allen’s characters behaving the way they do. One key difference is that Wells reveals the nature of the visitor to the reader at the start of the story, while Allen keeps the origins of his visitor a mystery until near the end of the book. The climactic reveal works well, and better serves the story, though obviously such a device is less needed in a humorous story.
Both stories deal with the class division in English society, and land ownership, both in very similar ways. It is largely due to these two sections that one finds it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that Wells and Allen didn’t share ideas (or Wells plagiarize). An important difference though is that Mr. Bertram Ingledew becomes romantically interested in Frida Monteith, and that this relationship is allowed to develop, and results in the climax of the story.
Grant Allen delivers a much more complete story with “The British Barbarians” than Wells did with “The Wonderful Visit”, but Wells writing is much preferred in my opinion. This results in my giving both stories the same rating of 2 stars. Neither of these stories is significant enough on their own to be remembered by the larger community of Speculative Fiction fans, but both are interesting footnotes in the history of the genre. “The British Barbarians” is interesting both because of its Time Travel element published in the same year as Wells seminal “The Time Machine”, and also due to its similarity to Wells second, and often forgotten, novel, “The Wonderful Visit”.
I prefer this work slightly to Wells “The Wonderful Visit”, though neither one is a great book. Wells writing is better than Allen, but Allen does a better job of exploring the situations and creating a more reasonable story. Wells’ story is more comic, but one can better imagine Allen’s characters behaving the way they do. One key difference is that Wells reveals the nature of the visitor to the reader at the start of the story, while Allen keeps the origins of his visitor a mystery until near the end of the book. The climactic reveal works well, and better serves the story, though obviously such a device is less needed in a humorous story.
Both stories deal with the class division in English society, and land ownership, both in very similar ways. It is largely due to these two sections that one finds it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that Wells and Allen didn’t share ideas (or Wells plagiarize). An important difference though is that Mr. Bertram Ingledew becomes romantically interested in Frida Monteith, and that this relationship is allowed to develop, and results in the climax of the story.
Grant Allen delivers a much more complete story with “The British Barbarians” than Wells did with “The Wonderful Visit”, but Wells writing is much preferred in my opinion. This results in my giving both stories the same rating of 2 stars. Neither of these stories is significant enough on their own to be remembered by the larger community of Speculative Fiction fans, but both are interesting footnotes in the history of the genre. “The British Barbarians” is interesting both because of its Time Travel element published in the same year as Wells seminal “The Time Machine”, and also due to its similarity to Wells second, and often forgotten, novel, “The Wonderful Visit”.
June 27, 2014
Pros - Good points on how stupid some customs are. Humorous when the man from the future gets one over on someone, or if the uptight brother is made fun of.
Cons - Author doesn't seem to like Scottish people, is a bit odd or old fashioned himself about women.
Cons - Author doesn't seem to like Scottish people, is a bit odd or old fashioned himself about women.
September 1, 2011
Whereas Allen at times offers social commentary of astonishing subtlety, the opinions expounded in The British Barbarians are about as subtle as a train wreck. This is essentially a two-hundred page sermon on the evils of a society in which the author apparently found little worthy of praise. While many of the points he makes are worth considering, the manner in which he makes them bears so much resemblance to a fair boxing of the reader's ears as to render them a good bit irritating and empty of much lasting impact.
This is considered a work of science fiction (which in my opinion is a questionable notion), but Allen's past as a failed publisher of scientific non-fiction comes painfully to the fore in a great many places. Add to this the extremely doubtful qualifications of Bertram Ingledew as a social scientist of any kind (the character not only disregards the fourth wall but engages actively throughout the book in an attempt to tear it down), and the suspension of disbelief, such an indispensable element in the reading of sci-fi of any kind, becomes fairly impossible.
In a word, preachy and haughtily superior in almost every way. One tends to agree with a critic of Allen's "hilltop novels" that this one, at any rate, is an exercise in so much self-righteous manure artfully fashioned into the form of a rose...
This is considered a work of science fiction (which in my opinion is a questionable notion), but Allen's past as a failed publisher of scientific non-fiction comes painfully to the fore in a great many places. Add to this the extremely doubtful qualifications of Bertram Ingledew as a social scientist of any kind (the character not only disregards the fourth wall but engages actively throughout the book in an attempt to tear it down), and the suspension of disbelief, such an indispensable element in the reading of sci-fi of any kind, becomes fairly impossible.
In a word, preachy and haughtily superior in almost every way. One tends to agree with a critic of Allen's "hilltop novels" that this one, at any rate, is an exercise in so much self-righteous manure artfully fashioned into the form of a rose...
February 6, 2014
For about three-quarters of this book I thought I might be reading some lost classic -- a time travel novel that fell into obscurity simply because it came out a couple months after Welles' The Time Machine, a social satire forgotten because it was too far ahead of its time -- but then the author remembered books are supposed to have plots instead of being a loose collection of amusing vignettes. While a lesser author like Douglas Adams would've simply tossed in an arbitrary final scene and so produced a comedy classic, Allen had to get all literary about it and add a romantic tragedy that the story like a polar bear in a flock of sparrows.
January 7, 2010
Athiestic yet quotes scripture? Sci Fi-ish, predictable and offensively preachy. Tries to be feminist, yet Frieda's character is hardly memorable. Future Man, Bertram, is supposed to be some kind of 25th cen anthropologist, yet spends most of the novel criticizing rather than observing and learning about his subjects. Apparently he repeatedly aggressively tries to force his ideals of moral behavior, which are, of couse, superior, on these "primitive" and "barbaric" societies. The author fails to consider the impact this may have on his own future...
A total waste of time and paper.
A total waste of time and paper.
December 7, 2012
I was severely disappointing with this book. I expected more of a humorous commentary on society as in "Miss Caily's Adventures" (a brilliant and far better read by Grant Allen) and even with the slight humor in this book with the oddity of the characters the ending chapters ruined it all. It felt rushed and it was utterly strikingly depressing.
June 24, 2022
The introduction mentions that the author forgoes serialization to publish the book directly ( giving up a tidy part of his remuneration ). This is even further explained that he, kind of, self published this book, because it many magazine and publisher thought it not acceptable subject.
It wholeheartedly points out many of societal ills, prejudices, etc. This book still rings today.
It wholeheartedly points out many of societal ills, prejudices, etc. This book still rings today.
June 6, 2020
Questi barbari inglesi”, traduzione di “The British Barbarians”, di Grant Allen, edito da Marchetti, apre la collana “Dodo d’oro”, formata da opere in lingua inglese che, per vari motivi, sono scomparse della memoria culturale e quindi non sono mai state tradotte in italiano prima d’ora.
Come afferma l’autore stesso nella prefazione, “Questi barbari inglesi” mira a “rappresentare punti di vista (…) nella narrativa romantica piuttosto che in saggi ponderati”. E il romanzo, in effetti, è una commistione di tre generi: blanda fantascienza, narrativa sentimentale e pamphlet. In realtà, propende verso la terza via, le altre due sono solo dei pretesti per rendere più accattivante la materia.
Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen è nato in Canada nel 1848 ed è vissuto tra Stati Uniti, Francia e Gran Bretagna. Vicino di casa di Arthur Conan Doyle, agnostico e socialista, amico di Spencer, sostenitore dell’evoluzionismo di Darwin e delle teorie antropologiche di Frazer, molte delle sue opere, a partire da The Woman Who Did – che narra la vicenda scandalosa e drammatica di una ragazza madre – sono animate da un prepotente spirito critico nei confronti della società britannica, inquinata dal culto della rispettabilità a tutti i costi e dal moralismo ipocrita dei borghesi sepolcri imbiancati.
Nella Londra vittoriana, piomba dal nulla l’affascinante e compito Bertram Ingledew, a sconvolgere la vita di Philip Christy, di sua sorella Frida e del cognato. Per evitarvi lo spoiling, cioè l’anticipazione del finale, diciamo solo che Herbert George Wells si è ispirato a questo romanzo per il suo celeberrimo La macchina del tempo, uscito nello stesso anno, il 1895, e cita proprio Allen. Il tema del “mondo perduto”, o dei viaggi nel tempo, era molto in voga all’epoca, ricordiamo anche Un americano alla corte di re Artù di Mark Twain, del 1889.
Bertram Ingledew considera i costumi inglesi come quelli di una qualsiasi società primitiva, si comporta da antropologo, analizzando con distacco scientifico (ma anche con un pizzico di disgusto) l’ossessione per l’onorabilità, misero feticcio, e per le regole della buona società, opprimente tabu.
Allen mette a fuoco le incongruenze di una società che basa tutto sulla reputazione, nascondendo il marcio sotto il tappeto. Vittime di questo sistema etico sono soprattutto le donne. Da una parte è vietata loro la libera espressione della propria sensualità, di sentimenti svincolati e puri, dall’altra esse vengono sfruttate come prostitute, costrette ad una vita abietta, a indigenza e malattie, proprio da quegli stessi uomini che le usano per mantenere illibate (e represse) le loro future mogli. Verso la prostituzione, e il suo utilizzo da parte di borghesi e nobili votati al culto del “buon costume”, Allen mostra una vera e propria idiosincrasia.
Sia in The Woman Who Did che in Questi barbari inglesi non c’è lieto fine, perché la spinta libertaria - ed il ribaltamento dell’etica a favore di emozioni cristalline, della ventata fresca che si respira solo dalla “sommità della collina” - comporta conseguenze tragiche, somiglianti, anche solo inconsciamente, ad una punizione. La società non è pronta per accogliere un nuovo concetto di morale, per scambiare l’aria viziata e malsana dei salotti bene con passioni che sono etiche solo in virtù della loro autenticità.
Il romanzo, o meglio il racconto lungo, è scorrevole e anche divertente. Spassoso il modo in cui sono descritti gli inglesi, con quel loro sentirsi centro indiscusso dell’universo e non concepire nemmeno l’esistenza di luoghi e culture alternative. Si notano, però, dei difetti nel testo che, forse, l’hanno reso poco celebre, insieme al fatto di essere antibritannico e propalare idee non convenzionali e trasgressive. Risente del fatto di essere più un saggio che una narrazione vera e propria ed ha una costruzione lacunosa. La prima parte si presenta come satira sociale, la seconda vira verso il dramma, sempre intriso, però, di teorie filosofiche. Il personaggio di Philip Christy, ad esempio, che serve a introdurre in modo comico, per contrasto, la figura di Bertram Ingledew - incarnando a tutti gli effetti i pregiudizi vittoriani e l’autocompiacimento inglese - sparisce quasi dalla metà del libro ed è sostituito dall’odioso marito di Frida. In realtà i due cognati, ottusi e gretti, fanno da contraltare alle figure di Bertram e Frida, lui limpido nella sua saggezza quasi sovrumana, lei intelligente, viva, pronta a recepire i nuovi concetti, a svilupparsi intellettualmente e spiritualmente, elevandosi al di sopra della stolta morale perbenista. Quello che succede a Frida è proprio quello che l’autore vorrebbe accadesse a tutte le giovani donne dopo la lettura della sua opera. “Soprattutto”, afferma ancora nella prefazione, “si dovrebbe suscitare il loro vivo interesse quando sono ancora giovani e plasmabili, prima che si siano cristallizzate e indurite nelle convenzionali marionette della buona società. Farle pensare quando sono ancora giovani, far loro provare sentimenti quando sono ancora sensibili.”
Una molto godibile via di mezzo, insomma, fra ragione e sentimento, “sense and sensibility”, illuminismo e romanticismo, libello e romanzo d’amore.
Come afferma l’autore stesso nella prefazione, “Questi barbari inglesi” mira a “rappresentare punti di vista (…) nella narrativa romantica piuttosto che in saggi ponderati”. E il romanzo, in effetti, è una commistione di tre generi: blanda fantascienza, narrativa sentimentale e pamphlet. In realtà, propende verso la terza via, le altre due sono solo dei pretesti per rendere più accattivante la materia.
Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen è nato in Canada nel 1848 ed è vissuto tra Stati Uniti, Francia e Gran Bretagna. Vicino di casa di Arthur Conan Doyle, agnostico e socialista, amico di Spencer, sostenitore dell’evoluzionismo di Darwin e delle teorie antropologiche di Frazer, molte delle sue opere, a partire da The Woman Who Did – che narra la vicenda scandalosa e drammatica di una ragazza madre – sono animate da un prepotente spirito critico nei confronti della società britannica, inquinata dal culto della rispettabilità a tutti i costi e dal moralismo ipocrita dei borghesi sepolcri imbiancati.
Nella Londra vittoriana, piomba dal nulla l’affascinante e compito Bertram Ingledew, a sconvolgere la vita di Philip Christy, di sua sorella Frida e del cognato. Per evitarvi lo spoiling, cioè l’anticipazione del finale, diciamo solo che Herbert George Wells si è ispirato a questo romanzo per il suo celeberrimo La macchina del tempo, uscito nello stesso anno, il 1895, e cita proprio Allen. Il tema del “mondo perduto”, o dei viaggi nel tempo, era molto in voga all’epoca, ricordiamo anche Un americano alla corte di re Artù di Mark Twain, del 1889.
Bertram Ingledew considera i costumi inglesi come quelli di una qualsiasi società primitiva, si comporta da antropologo, analizzando con distacco scientifico (ma anche con un pizzico di disgusto) l’ossessione per l’onorabilità, misero feticcio, e per le regole della buona società, opprimente tabu.
Allen mette a fuoco le incongruenze di una società che basa tutto sulla reputazione, nascondendo il marcio sotto il tappeto. Vittime di questo sistema etico sono soprattutto le donne. Da una parte è vietata loro la libera espressione della propria sensualità, di sentimenti svincolati e puri, dall’altra esse vengono sfruttate come prostitute, costrette ad una vita abietta, a indigenza e malattie, proprio da quegli stessi uomini che le usano per mantenere illibate (e represse) le loro future mogli. Verso la prostituzione, e il suo utilizzo da parte di borghesi e nobili votati al culto del “buon costume”, Allen mostra una vera e propria idiosincrasia.
Sia in The Woman Who Did che in Questi barbari inglesi non c’è lieto fine, perché la spinta libertaria - ed il ribaltamento dell’etica a favore di emozioni cristalline, della ventata fresca che si respira solo dalla “sommità della collina” - comporta conseguenze tragiche, somiglianti, anche solo inconsciamente, ad una punizione. La società non è pronta per accogliere un nuovo concetto di morale, per scambiare l’aria viziata e malsana dei salotti bene con passioni che sono etiche solo in virtù della loro autenticità.
Il romanzo, o meglio il racconto lungo, è scorrevole e anche divertente. Spassoso il modo in cui sono descritti gli inglesi, con quel loro sentirsi centro indiscusso dell’universo e non concepire nemmeno l’esistenza di luoghi e culture alternative. Si notano, però, dei difetti nel testo che, forse, l’hanno reso poco celebre, insieme al fatto di essere antibritannico e propalare idee non convenzionali e trasgressive. Risente del fatto di essere più un saggio che una narrazione vera e propria ed ha una costruzione lacunosa. La prima parte si presenta come satira sociale, la seconda vira verso il dramma, sempre intriso, però, di teorie filosofiche. Il personaggio di Philip Christy, ad esempio, che serve a introdurre in modo comico, per contrasto, la figura di Bertram Ingledew - incarnando a tutti gli effetti i pregiudizi vittoriani e l’autocompiacimento inglese - sparisce quasi dalla metà del libro ed è sostituito dall’odioso marito di Frida. In realtà i due cognati, ottusi e gretti, fanno da contraltare alle figure di Bertram e Frida, lui limpido nella sua saggezza quasi sovrumana, lei intelligente, viva, pronta a recepire i nuovi concetti, a svilupparsi intellettualmente e spiritualmente, elevandosi al di sopra della stolta morale perbenista. Quello che succede a Frida è proprio quello che l’autore vorrebbe accadesse a tutte le giovani donne dopo la lettura della sua opera. “Soprattutto”, afferma ancora nella prefazione, “si dovrebbe suscitare il loro vivo interesse quando sono ancora giovani e plasmabili, prima che si siano cristallizzate e indurite nelle convenzionali marionette della buona società. Farle pensare quando sono ancora giovani, far loro provare sentimenti quando sono ancora sensibili.”
Una molto godibile via di mezzo, insomma, fra ragione e sentimento, “sense and sensibility”, illuminismo e romanticismo, libello e romanzo d’amore.
June 30, 2024
Grant Allen's satirical novel, "The British Barbarians," opens with the civil servant and image-of-propriety, Philip Christy encountering an interesting though enigmatic gentleman named Bertram Ingledew, who explains his ignorance of England's social norms by saying that he is "an Alien", which Christy presumes to mean that he is an emigrant.
Ingledew takes an intense interest in what he refers to as England's taboos and fetishes, which he assumes is the justification for proprieties and regulations that have no basis (in Ingledew's view) to rational social order.
When Christy introduces the Alien to his sister, Frida Monteith, she is immediately attracted to the ingenuous and interesting creature, who is the opposite of her parochial husband. The relationship between Frida and Ingledew develops in a series of episodes that are meant to critique English customs regarding currency, recreation, fashion, property, marriage. Gradually, a romance of sorts develops between Frida and Ingledew as she is enlightened to the constraints of her society and marriage.
The problem with the book, which has a fairly amusing first half, is that with each of Ingledew's encounters with a custom whose logic he questions, there is an overly long discussion between the English natives who explain its background and Ingledew who relates how it would be viewed in the more primitive societies with which he is unusually familiar. This dilutes, rather than highlights the satire, and I was left thinking that it was a no more than fair novel that could have been a genuinely clever short story. Often compared to H G Wells' "The Wonderful Visit" which was published in the same year.
Ingledew takes an intense interest in what he refers to as England's taboos and fetishes, which he assumes is the justification for proprieties and regulations that have no basis (in Ingledew's view) to rational social order.
When Christy introduces the Alien to his sister, Frida Monteith, she is immediately attracted to the ingenuous and interesting creature, who is the opposite of her parochial husband. The relationship between Frida and Ingledew develops in a series of episodes that are meant to critique English customs regarding currency, recreation, fashion, property, marriage. Gradually, a romance of sorts develops between Frida and Ingledew as she is enlightened to the constraints of her society and marriage.
The problem with the book, which has a fairly amusing first half, is that with each of Ingledew's encounters with a custom whose logic he questions, there is an overly long discussion between the English natives who explain its background and Ingledew who relates how it would be viewed in the more primitive societies with which he is unusually familiar. This dilutes, rather than highlights the satire, and I was left thinking that it was a no more than fair novel that could have been a genuinely clever short story. Often compared to H G Wells' "The Wonderful Visit" which was published in the same year.
August 14, 2018
Amusing at first, but eventually I got tired of the digs at social norms that the author doesn't like, ones that aren't as horrible as the author paints them. The author falls into the regular trap of discounting and making fun of anything not "rational," "reasonable," or that can be proven with the senses. The author regularly slams religion, etc. (when there is rational and reasonable and even objective evidence as to the validity of Christianity).
The main character comes into England, ostensibly to study the culture (the "taboos and fetishes") - the social prohibitions and customs that made England what it was to him: the most advanced of barbarian people. But he seems to be unable to stop himself from trying to change the behaviours and thinking of those around him, when a true scientist or anthropologist wouldn't do that, but would respect the culture one is studying. Or else I'm too much of a Star Trek fan and a fan of its "prime directive". ;)
Thinking it's right and almost a DUTY to tear apart a family simply because one spouse doesn't "love" the other (what is love, anyway? Feelings come and go) - and using out of context Scripture references to justify it - doesn't seem like part of any advanced civilization to me. It seems more the misguided agenda of the author.
The main character comes into England, ostensibly to study the culture (the "taboos and fetishes") - the social prohibitions and customs that made England what it was to him: the most advanced of barbarian people. But he seems to be unable to stop himself from trying to change the behaviours and thinking of those around him, when a true scientist or anthropologist wouldn't do that, but would respect the culture one is studying. Or else I'm too much of a Star Trek fan and a fan of its "prime directive". ;)
Thinking it's right and almost a DUTY to tear apart a family simply because one spouse doesn't "love" the other (what is love, anyway? Feelings come and go) - and using out of context Scripture references to justify it - doesn't seem like part of any advanced civilization to me. It seems more the misguided agenda of the author.
August 27, 2020
I found this book quite annoying. Early SF has a fine record for shining a light on the absurdities of contemporary society through the medium of an objective traveller. However, this book does so with a very sneering, inverse-snobbish attitude towards middle England which I found a real turn off. This is embodied by the central character who I found totally unlikable as he patronisingly points out the flaws of the 'barbarians' around him. The introduction to the book suggests that the author and the central character share essentially the same view of English society.
It's not very well written either. Characters are very two dimensional and much of the 'plot' simply entails the traveller denouncing the foibles of the people around him. While this book no doubt effectively satirises some British colonial attitudes, the irony is that some of the views espoused would themselves be frowned upon today.
It's not very well written either. Characters are very two dimensional and much of the 'plot' simply entails the traveller denouncing the foibles of the people around him. While this book no doubt effectively satirises some British colonial attitudes, the irony is that some of the views espoused would themselves be frowned upon today.
June 25, 2025
Interesting, but pedantic, and drags.
A small point not yet noted in other comments is how unpleasantly passive Freda is. Bertram speaks of her as a free agent and an independent thinker. Yet they don’t converse. Instead, he speaks and she listens - not with a brain but with only utter and yielding adoration. She looks to him to tell her her answers and her future, knowing she will accept whatever answers he will provide. For all Allen's talk, in his idealization the male remains the only source of judgment of what is right and wrong.
A small point not yet noted in other comments is how unpleasantly passive Freda is. Bertram speaks of her as a free agent and an independent thinker. Yet they don’t converse. Instead, he speaks and she listens - not with a brain but with only utter and yielding adoration. She looks to him to tell her her answers and her future, knowing she will accept whatever answers he will provide. For all Allen's talk, in his idealization the male remains the only source of judgment of what is right and wrong.
January 11, 2026
Amusing in the beginning, less so once the main theme—adultery—became clear. And even less so the implication that the Alien had so changed Frida’s thinking that she was willing to commit suicide and leave her children to follow him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2022
I found this story quite humorous at times and enjoyed the story over all.
March 26, 2024
Not bad for 1895.
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