The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories

by H.G. Wells

Hard to find

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Fantasy, Horror, Anthologies

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.

He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.

More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...

http://www.online-literature.com/well...

http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

Reviews

[E. G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographical Note
Introduction
Further Reading
Note on the Texts

--The Lord of the Dynamos
--The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes
--The Moth
--A Catastrophe
--The Cone
--The Argonauts of the Air
--Under the Knife
--A Slip under the Microscope
--The Plattner Story
--The Story of the late Mr Elvesham
--In the Abyss
--The Sea Raiders
--The Crystal Egg
--A Story of the Stone Age
--The Star
--The Man who could work Miracles
--A Dream of Armageddon
--The New Accelerator
--The Truth about Pyecraft
--The Country of the Blind
--The Empire of the Ants
--The Door in the Wall
--The Wild Asses of the Devil

Appendix: H. G. Wells's Introduction to 'The Country of the Blind and Other Stories'
Wells's London and Surrounding Region
Glossary
Notes

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being universally recognized as one of the founding fathers of modern science fiction, H.G. Wells' fame rides largely on just four books - The Time Machine, Island of Dr. Moreau, War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man - published within a period of just three years, (1895-1898).

And now I know why.

This collection of short stories contains some clever ideas and a few interesting tales - most famous (probably) the title story - but in general they haven't aged all that well, (or at least not the dozen or so that I read before tossing in the towel). That said, I may at some point read his later novel, First Men In the Moon, since I have a copy of it in my massive Barnes & Noble anthology, H.G. Wells: Seven Novels, and I'm oddly curious to find out just why this is called "In" the Moon and not "On"the Moon. But otherwise, I think this is probably it for me and ol' H.G.

That said, though - pretty amazing three years, right??

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim little collection, quick and fun, done before I got tired of them. I've never read Wells before (I know! <>), and I was pleasantly surprised. There is a little bit of adjustment required (style so different from modern writing....), but once I settled in I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

There's a good chance I'll pick up some more Wells in the future. Holds up remarkably well given the date of origin!

[Deanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good stories, and some not so good. Did like the country of the blind, not overly long though it could have been made into a novel. There are hints of themes and ideas in his later and longer works.
Have to admit I prefer his longer works.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. The Jilting of Jane 2⭐
II. The Cone 4⭐
III. The Stolen Bacillus 5⭐
IV. The Flowering of the Strange Orchid 4⭐
V. In the Avu Observatory 3.25⭐
VI. Æpyornis Island 4.5⭐
VII. The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes 4⭐
VIII. The Lord of the Dynamos 4.25⭐
IX. The Moth 4⭐
X. The Treasure in the Forest 4.25⭐
XL The Story of the late Mr. Elvesham 5⭐
XII. Under the Knife 3.25🌟
XIII. The Sea Raiders 5⭐
XIV. The Obliterated Man 3.5⭐
XV. The Plattner Story 3.5⭐
XVL The Red Room 5⭐
XVII. The Purple Pileus 2.5⭐
XVIIL A Slip under the Microscope 3.5⭐
XIX. The Crystal Egg 4.25⭐
XX. The Star 5⭐
XXI. The Man who could work Miracles 5⭐
XXII. A Vision of Judgment 4.5⭐
XXIII. Jimmy Goggles the God 4⭐
XXIV. Miss Winchelsea's Heart 3.5⭐
XXV. A Dream of Armageddon 4⭐
XXVI. The Valley of Spiders 4.25⭐
XXVII. The New Accelerator 5⭐
XXVIII. The Truth about Pyecraft 3.5⭐
XXIX. The Magic Shop 3.5⭐
XXX. The Empire of the Ants 5⭐
XXXI. The Door in the Wall 5⭐
XXXII. The Country of the Blind 5⭐
XXXIII. The Beautiful Suit 4⭐

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Jilting of Jane" (1894) • An unrequited romance.

"The Cone" (1895) • A jealous ironworker seeks revenge on his wife’s lover.

"The Stolen Bacillus" (1894) • An Anarchist steals a bacteriologist’s vial with plans to use it for terrorism.

"The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" (1894) • An introverted orchid collector has an adventure with a mysterious orchid.

"In the Avu Observatory" (1894) • An astronomer in Borneo is attacked by unknown animals.

"Æpyornis Island" (1894) • A man stranded on an island has a strange relationship with a large, exotic bird.

"The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes" (1895) • A man has vision at a distance, i.e., he sees the sights of an island half a world away.

"The Lord of the Dynamos" (1894) • A racist story of a man who begins to worship an electric generator.

"The Moth" (1895) • An entomologist’s feud with a rival extends into the supernatural when the rival dies.

"The Treasure in the Forest" (1894) • Two racist treasure hunters are undone by their greed.

"The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham" (1896) • Did Mr. Elvesham really transfer his mind into the body of young Mr. Eden?

"Under the Knife" (1896) • A man experiences an out-of-body tour of the universe while sedated for a surgical operation.

"The Sea Raiders" (1896) • Tentacled monsters from the deep terrorize a seaside community.

"The Obliterated Man" (1895) • A new drama critic’s personality is affected by the actors he writes about.

"The Plattner Story" (1896) • A man is transported to an Other-World for nine days where he can see but not be seen, then just as mysteriously returns, albeit inverted, like a reflection from a mirror.

"The Red Room" (1896) • A man dares to spend a night in a haunted room.

"The Purple Pileus" (1896) • In this sexist story, a meek man gains the courage to stand up to his uncontrolled wife by self-medicating with wild mushrooms.

"A Slip Under the Microscope" (1896) • A college student wrestles with conflicts of class, politics, and relationships with his classmates.

"The Crystal Egg" (1897) • An antiques dealer uses a crystal to remotely view a strange world that might be Mars.

"The Star" (1897) • When a giant comet comes perilously close to Earth, will anyone survive?

"The Man Who Could Work Miracles" (1898) • Mr. Fotheringay realizes that miracles sometimes have unintended consequences.

"A Vision of Judgment" (1899) • Several people face the judgment and infinite mercy of God.

"Jimmy Goggles the God" (1898) • A racist tale of a seafaring treasure hunter who is mistaken for a god by a primitive tribe.

"Miss Winchelsea's Heart" (1898) • Mis Winchelsea, a snobbish young woman for whom appearances are everything, is unjustly jealous of her girlfriend’s new boyfriend.

"A Dream of Armageddon" (1901) • Are a man’s vivid dreams of love in a future war real or imagined?

"The Valley of Spiders" (1903) • Giant wind-borne spiders catch three horsemen in their webs, testing their courage.

"The New Accelerator" (1901) • A scientist develops a tonic that speeds up one’s metabolism a thousand-fold, but doesn’t anticipate some of the side effects.

"The Truth About Pyecraft" (1903) • An ancient weight-loss formula has more of an effect than Pyecraft bargains for.

"The Magic Shop" (1903) • Little Gip and his father enter a genuine, proper magic shop.

"The Empire of the Ants" (1905) • Intelligent ants threaten to conquer Brazil and then perhaps the rest of the world.

"The Door in the Wall" (1906) • Is the door real or a metaphor for an entry into a more idyllic life?

"The Country of the Blind" (1904) • In the Country of the Blind the one-eyed man is not necessarily king, and he must decide which is more important: sight or love.

"The Beautiful Suit" (1909) • Be sure to wear your beautiful suit for only the most important occasions!

[David Meditationseed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice edition!

Perhaps adaptability to the environment is not the only prerequisite for the survival of an individual, but indeed It is one of the most fundamental for species, or for any human society.

To the individual who questions himself about freedom and beauty, for example, adaptability can mean coercion, censorship and unbearable suffering and to escape or to break free of it there is always the possibility of self-sacrifice in relation to his ideal or his happiness, even if the price is high - paying with his own life - there are several examples of this in the history of humanity and literature.

This is a tale about an adventurer who arrives in a remote village completely protected where all its inhabitants are blind. Wells describes how from the adaptability of these people a whole culture was formed: the basis of belief, language, science and survival.

Parallel to the arrival of the adventurer to this almost supernatural place, between unreachable valleys and huge icy mountains, there are 5 challenging relations of adaptation between the characters and society: 1. The adventurer who thinks of dominating this society, repeating for himself "in the land of the blind who has an eye is king" 2. the adventurer who begins to reflect between freedom, compassion and choices of an individual 3. how the blind society "sees" the adventurer and his stories about the vision and how the world would be for those who can "see" with the eyes. 4. The prejudices that can arise from both sides. 5. The love that can arise by ways that defy reason and cognitive senses.

This is a beautiful tale that could be useful for discussion in anthropology, sociology, and philosophy classes.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the summer of 1962 my mother went home for the first time since marrying Dad in 1947. My brother, Fin, and I went with her by boat from Duluth/Superior to Bremenhaven, Germany, then by train to Bremen, by DC3 to Copenhagen and by Caravelle to Oslo's Fornebu airport to be greated by her parents and two sisters. I was ten.

Having refused to speak or respond to Norwegian since being humiliated in first grade by placed in special education--a misplacement they discovered when they met my heavily accented mother, my problem being English--I was a bit isolated overseas. Most everyone but Mormor spoke English, but that wasn't commonly spoken. During the many reunions of Mom's family and friends I turned, in boredom, to books.

Morfar had been raised in the States and was fluent in English, his brother being Dad's father. He also had a lot of English books in his library and was quite pleased to have me read them. One, I believe, was this Wells collection which set me off on a Wells orgy for the rest of the summer.

Frankly, I don't remember all of the stories from their titles. I do recall The Country of the Blind as, ah, a mind-opener in the sense of making me think new thoughts. What if other entities (I was already heavily into science fiction) regarded my sightedness like I regard ESP? What if someone with ESP tried to explain their clairvoyance to me?

[John Bladek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Country of the Blind is one of those "what if" stories that sci-fi is so great at. In this case the question is "what would you give up for love." The answer apparently is "not my eyes."

[Seppe Van den broeck · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 sterren omdat het precies toch niet echt mijn stijl is.
Ik weet niet of het aan zijn schrijfstijl of de verhalen zelf ligt maar om een of andere reden werd ik niet in het verhaal meegenomen.
Under the knife vond ik ffjes heel cool maar was me dan ook weer kwijt ergens tussen het midden en het einde.
.

[Jonah Twiddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wells is the master of armchair Sci-Fi, and these stories prove it. Not flashy, not overly cryptic, not obviously moralistic - just good, old fashioned, explorations of "what if?"

[Yaren · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️3.5/5
Tüm öyküler oldukça akıcıydı ve kolay okunuyordu. Yazarın kalemini genel olarak beğendim. Daha önce Dünyalar Savaşı romanını okuyup sevmiştim. Romanda olduğu gibi öykü yazarlığında da başarılı buldum.

En çok sevdiğim öyküler Kırmızı Oda, Çalıntı Beden, Derinliklerde, Merhum Bay Elvesham’ın Hikayesi ve Körler Ülkesi oldu. Bilinmeyen türde deniz canavarlarından tutun ruhlar aleminde beden çalmaya çalışan hayaletlere kadar dönemine göre çok yaratıcı kurgular vardı.

Önceki saydıklarıma göre biraz daha az sevdiklerim arasında Güve, Pollock ve Porolu Adam, Denizin Akıncıları, Tuhaf Orkidenin Çiçek Açışı ve Sihir Dükkanı’nı sayabilirim. Yine okuması keyifli kurgulardı.

Geri kalan beş öyküyü ise çok iyi bulmadım ancak yazarın hayalgücünü ve yazım tarzını sevdiğim için üç buçuk puan verdim.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty three short stories from H.G. Wells, written early on in the writing career of Herbert George. Wells was the quintessential Englishman and this Penguin Classic collection of stories, mostly with English settings are late nineteenth century creations. Even so, over a century later, they have a timeless quality that sustained my interest.
I'm not a great reader of fiction but 'The Country of the Blind & Selected Stories' are so very well written and concise that in these tales of mystery and imagination there is something of interest for most.
Wellsian characters, some glimpses of his later science fiction novels, futuristic visions, tales of horror, the fantastic and some purely tongue in cheek fun narrative.

[Iris Aurelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ama niye böyleydi? Hayat bu savaştan, bu kıyımdan ve sıkıntıdan ibaretse, neden hazza ve güzelliğe özlem duyuyoruz? Sığınacak, huzur bulacak yer yoksa, huzurlu yerleri düşlemek bile budalalıksa ve bir tuzaksa, neden böyle düşlerimiz var? Hiç şüphe yok ki bizi bu noktaya getiren bayağı arzularımız, bozuk niyetlerimiz değildi; bizi sevgi soyutlamıştı. Sevgi onun gözlerine girip, güzelliğine bürünüp hayatımdaki her şeyden daha ihtişamlı bir şekilde, hatta hayatın kendisi suretinde bana gelmiş, beni uzaklara çağırmıştı. Tüm sesleri susturmuş, tüm soruları cevaplamış, sonra da ona gelmiştim. Ama birdenbire, savaş ve ölüm dışında hiçbir şey kalmamıştı!"

[Anılbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Güzel kitap. Bazı fikirler

* Bilimsel olarak duyusal avantajını ifade edebilirdi bir şekilde
* Cahillik işte böyle birşey, bilimsel düşünceden uzak bir toplum böyle davranıyor
* Evrim bu kitabında da H.G. Wells in ele aldığı tema. Körlerin pek çok konuda üstün yetenek gösterecek şekilde evrilmesi durumundaki gibi.
* H.G. Wells yine invisible Man kitabında da olduğu gibi konuyu yönetimi ele geçirmek ve kral olmayı dile getirmiş. İki kitabında da çok güzel betimlemeler ve detayları ile yarattığı evreni anlatıyor. Sonrasında da konuyu birden bire gücü ele geçirmeye getirip beni şaşırtıyor :)

[Melike · Rating 5 out of 5]

İnsanı insan yapan özellikleri (yaramazlığı, korkusu, hırsı, şiddet merakı, dünyeviliği, cesareti, olay arayışı..) fantastik hikayelerin içine yedirerek anlattığı hikayelerden oluşan bir kitap. Öykülerin bileşimiyle oluşmuş kitapları okumayı sevmeyen benim için bile keyifliydi.

[Dish Wanderer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such wonderful stories. Delightful, delightful.

[Valerie]

This edition has a strangely truncated table of contents, so I'll have to expand it myself.

I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: (by the editor, who also wrote the Introduction).

II BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE: I wish I hadn't read this. I don't really want biographical information about an author, unless it's a literary biography, covering only the stories in the book, and the circumstances under which they were written.

III INTRODUCTION: (with footnotes). Again, most of this stuff seems to me to fall under the category of 'none of my business'.

IV NOTE ON THE TEXT: While this is a traditional part of 'classical' literature, I would say it was more than a little nitpicky.

V SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY: ? Is this edition intended as a class text? If it's not, why all the researcher's info?

VI A CHRONOLOGY OF H G WELLS: Here, too. Falls under the heading of 'too much background'.

VII YET ANOTHER (MORE DETAILED) TABLE OF CONTENTS

VIII THE JILTING OF JANE: This story at least admits the humanity of household servants. But it seems unable to recognize that there could come a time when nobody but the very rich would have any servants.

IX THE CONE: This is an ugly story, in many respects. It smacks of the style of architecture known as 'Brutalism', in which all the undergirdings are emphasized and outlined. Such techniques may have a sort of grandeur, but no true beauty. Endoskeleton on the INSIDE, please. Also, the murderer is a particularly cruel psychopath.

X THE STOLEN BACILLUS: More slander against anarchists. The 'terrorists' of their day, it was simply necessary to use the word 'anarchist' to stereotype all of the derogated class as unthinkingly violent, if not downright stupid.

XI THE FLOWERING OF THE STRANGE ORCHID: Audrey II?

XII IN THE AVU OBSERVATORY: At the time, it may have seemed plausible to posit unknown large vertebrates--in some parts of the world. Not so plausible nowadays, or course.

XIII AEPYORNIS ISLAND: So what's an AEpyornis? A now extinct (as of 1773) ratite bird, aka the elephant bird. The notion that it might not be quite as extinct as described isn't quite so farfetched as all that--or wasn't at the time. Now, with its native habitat of Madagascar losing soil at such a rate that from space, it seems to be hemorrhaging, it's rather less likely. As for whether the creature would be implacably violent...well, some ratites are known to be hostile, and some are not. In Australia, for example, I was told that an emu CAN kick you to death, and a cassowary WILL. Was the AEpyornis as aggressive as a cassowary? Maybe.

XIV THE REMARKABLE CASE OF DAVIDSON'S EYES: Was Davidson actually seeing a sunken ship--thousands of miles away? Personally I prefer Zenna Henderson's version, but then I usually DO prefer her version, if there is one.

XV THE LORD OF THE DYNAMOS: This is pure racist (and imperialist) propaganda.

XVI THE MOTH: Is the moth only Hawkins can see a vengeful ghost, an equally vengeful reincarnation, or just his own guilty conscience?

XVII THE TREASURE IN THE FOREST: Botaniphobia (the fear of plants) seems, for some reason, to be commonest in the British. Especially this is true, it seems, of the fear of TROPICAL plants.

XVIII THE STORY OF THE LATE MR ELVESHAM: Think Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin in All of Me. Except that in this case, the transmigration of souls is reciprocal--and is part of a plot for immortality.

XIX UNDER THE KNIFE: The sort of near-death experience one has varies, based on what is known. This astrogation story has not aged well, because we now know much more. But at the time, it would have made a handy little lesson in what was known astronomically.

XX THE SEA RAIDERS: I never have understood what people find so fearsome in cephalopods. There never has been, so far as I know, any authoritative account of violence against humans by octopoids. In fact, except for a few grainy photos and films, no one has ever even SEEN a living giant squid. Interesting sidenote--when I googled the supposed species name, one of the images was of a suspended sculpture I've walked under many times.

XXI THE OBLITERATED MAN: The man in question is in serious need of a shrink, I'd say. And fast, too.

XXII THE PLATTNER STORY: This is the story Dorothy L Sayers was referring to in her short story The Image in The Mirror. Plattner is said to have had his internal organs rearranged by travel through an alternate dimension. But where are the previous records?

XXIII THE RED ROOM: The Red Room is said to be haunted, and few observers disagree. But the question is, haunted by WHAT?

XXIV THE PURPLE PILEUS: "By golly, you were right! They ARE toadstools!". Or magic mushrooms, maybe? Note, by the way, that what's troubling the man is that the women are behaving like human beings, and not like footstools...

XXV A SLIP UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Talk about your high-stakes testing! A man makes a mistake, confesses it, and is ruined thereby.

XXVI THE CRYSTAL EGG: Is, it seems, a remote imaging device. But what if it's two-way?

XXVII THE STAR: A fairly implausible Doomsday scenario. Not that it couldn't happen, of course. Just that it wouldn't be a surprise: people would have known about it centuries ago, and would have had quite a bit of lead time to work out a solution. Now if it were an impactor--we're still cataloging the PHOs (Potentially Hazardous Objects), and there's still a substantial risk that we'd miss one. It only has to happen once, after all. Or a couple of times, for subcritical, Tunguska size objects.

XXVIII THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES: So why doesn't he just ask for what he needs--an understanding of what the consequences of actions are ahead of time?

XXIX A VISION OF JUDGEMENT: It's not the grand, destructive sins that cause people the trouble--it's the petty, embarrassing ones. Sigh. Anyway, Game Over--and let's try this one more time, okay?

XXX JIMMY GOGGLES THE GOD: I kept trying to make 'goggles' a verb. Another bit of racist, imperialist trash. I see this, and raise it with a picture I once saw: balloonists were making descensions into and ascencions out of sacred cenotes in northern South America. The local people had never seen a hot-air balloon--yet the children were coming out to act as ground crews: and they were wearing Incredible Hulk T-shirts.

XXXI MISS WINCHELSEA'S HEART: Miss Winchelsea is the leader of a village women's group from the UK who are traveling abroad on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. She's looking for romance, as well as Italian art. One out of two ain't bad, I suppose.

XXXII A DREAM OF ARMAGEDDON: A man dreams that a fatal battle is (or will be) his fault. Classic responsibility dream, I'd say. I often dream myself that the universe will end if I don't do something I'm not sure I can. Does this mean it's likely to happen? Well, it hasn't so far. As for the notion that a society civilized enough to have abolished war, but that still hasn't abandoned apparently meaningless relationship taboos, to the point where they will strip someone of influence and power if the transgressor fails to conform...I'd like to say I think that it's absurd. And it is, of course. But that doesn't necessarily mean it won't happen.

XXXIII THE VALLEY OF SPIDERS: Arachnophobia redux.

XXXIV THE NEW ACCELERATOR: Many of these stories are the sort of "It makes a hell of a mess, and we don't have to clean it up ourselves." type. Why SHOULD people take a drug that enables them to move much faster than before? Leaving aside the problems with navigation (All right, you can GO faster. You may even be able to THINK faster. But what about inertia and momentum?), what would be GAINED thereby? We're ALREADY doing things too fast, as it is.

XXXV THE TRUTH ABOUT PYECRAFT: This is much more about the emotional problems of the sadistic, fat-shaming narrator than anything about Pyecraft. Out of interest, if the narrator's family has an antigravity formula, why aren't they USING it for things like spacecraft?

XXXVI THE MAGIC SHOP: I'm less worried about the existence of the shop than about the judgmental attitudes of its keepers.

XXXVII THE EMPIRE OF THE ANTS: "Well, Kendrick, still think I'm an alarmist?". Actually, I do. About a dozen gorillas marching with clubs isn't really that scary, come right down to it. And in this story, army ants are already scary enough. But if they can communicate by gestalt, and develop into intelligent colonies--tell me again why that's sure to be a bad thing?

XXXVIII THE DOOR IN THE WALL: A boy begins having visions of a door in a wall. Except for the first time, he can't go through into the Elysian community on the other side of the door, because he has duties in our world. But finally, he chooses the door--right in the middle of a political campaign. The surprise ending isn't, much.

XXXIX THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND: In said country, the one-eyed man is a freak, of uncertain value. There are two versions of this story in this volume (the second is Appendix 2). In both versions it's argued that the natives of the Country of The Blind have lost something irreplaceable. Around the same time the original version came out, Tesla was arguing that intelligence is a product of light, because we learn about the cosmos (almost) SOLELY by means of sight. Tesla himself was a little uneasy about this argument, because after all, was Homer not intelligent? Was Helen Keller? Tesla was only tentatively able to resolve the conundrum by arguing that, all right, blind people CAN be intelligent--but only because they're the descendants of people who could see--not a particularly convincing argument. Cf Varley's Persistence of Vision, for example. And I myself realized pretty early on that people with hypersensitive perceptions might not be able to distinguish signal from noise--or at least, not easily. There's a story in that, but I've never been able to finish it.

The intolerance is not all on one side, of course. The inhabitants of the Country of The Blind ALSO don't seem to be able to tolerate difference.

XL THE BEAUTIFUL SUIT: The man who wears the beautiful suit seems to be a little less than fully topped up. He's fatally delusional--and I'm not so sure it matters whether he dies happy.

XLI APPENDIX 1: WELLS' ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION TO THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND, AND OTHER STORIES (1911) Wells discusses the problems with short story writing, and his selection process for the first edition of the anthology.

XLII APPENDIX 2: THE 1939 VERSION OF THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND: In a late-life bid for kingship, Wells introduces a massive rockslide/avalanche to the story. Given the timing, it's not surprising Wells was a bit paranoid. In fearful situations, sensible people are afraid. What IS a little surprising is that he assumes his own (fore)sight is significantly better than other people's. Having read other essays, stories, etc from the time, I think he may have been underestimating people. Anyway, a warning's not much use unless you can propose a solution, even if all that amounts to is a Pythonesque "Run Away!", surely?

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read the two stories I had not previously come across in other collections. Those were:

(1898) “The Man Who Could Work Miracles.” Middlebrow Englishman who… just like the title says. It’s funny how within one day he sends a bully to hell and then runs home and hides. The story becomes a satire on the “benevolence” of social engineering. The artist Wells always clashed with the political Wells in this way. But let me ask: which one is the reason we remember him? We get a typically vivid picture of what it would be like if the Earth abruptly stopped spinning. The ironic ending is cute.

(1905) “The Empire of the Ants.” A creature feature/colonial horror story about an invasive species of intelligent ant. Right up my alley. I think The Birds took a lot from it. There’s a touch of Conrad in Wells’ description of the Amazonian immensities, and an irony in the gunboat, with its one big gun utterly useless against this enemy. I also liked Wells’ description of ant movements: their “mechanical fussiness.”

The 1911 collection includes an intro by the author where he says:

“…no short story of mine of the slightest merit is excluded from this volume.”

Well, that is complete bullshit. He excluded many, many stories of great merit—some of my favorites!

He goes on: “The bulk of the fifty or sixty tales from which this present three-and-thirty have been chosen dates from the last century.”

By now Wells had almost entirely given up writing short stories. This is a shame not only because they are perhaps his best work but also because they’re some of the best short stories ever written. He himself seems to regret it, and reminisces (as if it were many years ago rather than just a few) about the inspired productivity of that time in his life:

“Little men in canoes upon sunlit oceans would come floating out of nothingness, incubating the eggs of prehistoric monsters unawares; violent conflicts would break out amidst the flower-beds of suburban gardens; I would discover I was peering into remote and mysterious worlds ruled by an order logical indeed but other than our common sanity.”

The ‘90s, we are told, were an especially good time for short stories. There were Kipling, and JM Barrie’s Window in Thrums. Then there were “Stevenson, Frank Harris; Max Beerbohm wrote at least one perfect one, ‘The Happy Hypocrite’; Henry James pursued his wonderful and inimitable bent; and among other names that occur to me, like a mixed handful of jewels drawn from a bag, are George Street, Morley Roberts, George Gissing, Ella d'Arcy, Murray Gilchrist, E. Nesbit, Stephen Crane, Joseph Conrad, Edwin Pugh, Jerome K. Jerome, Kenneth Graham, Arthur Morrison, Marriott Watson, George Moore, Grant Allen, George Egerton, Henry Uarland, Pett Ridge, W. W. Jacobs (who alone seems inexhaustible).”

Wells says the following decade saw a decline in quality, and that only Conrad would better himself. He attributes the flourishing to something I didn’t expect: literary criticism.

“People talked about [short stories] tremendously, compared them, and ranked them. That was the thing that mattered.” Even more than money, what drove writers was being part of this lively discussion. At the same time, Wells blames critics for making a once free art form academic, inhibiting writers with their rules. “It crept into one's mind, a distress as vague and inexpugnable as a sea fog on a spring morning, and presently one shivered and wanted to go indoors... It is the absurd fate of the imaginative writer that he should be thus sensitive to atmospheric conditions.”

Wells sympathizes with critics who
may have been tired and looking for excuses to discount works. However, “this world is not for the weary.” For his part, he defines the short story as “the jolly art of making something very bright and moving” that takes between 15 to 50 minutes to read aloud.



___________________
Marginalia:

There are still a few uncollected stories I haven’t read, and some later ones, but for now, and for what it’s worth, this would be my A Treasury of Short Stories of HG Wells:

The Country of the Blind
The Lord of the Dynamos
Miss Winchelsea's Heart
The Treasure in the Forest
A Slip Under the Microscope
The Sea Raiders
The Obliterated Man
Jimmy Goggles the God
Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation
Aepyornis Island
The Crystal Egg
The Flying Man
Mr. Brisher's Treasure
Pollock and the Porroh Man
The Truth About Pyecraft
The Door in the Wall
A Deal in Ostriches

[Ufuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Tugbadursun · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kitabın son öyküsü olan "Körler Ülkesi" dışındaki öyküleri pek beğenmedim. Zor okunuyor, bu yüzden de akmıyor kitap. Buradaki 4 yıldızı da çok abartılı buldum, o sebeple puanım 1.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synapses are Spoiler Free.

This is a collection of short stories that the author chose for himself, which he liked and jokingly talks about the quality. I have to agree with him there. The quality is all over the place. The introduction, however, is excellent and worth a read for his opinion on the short story in and of itself. The stories range from science fiction, fantasy, horror, and odd to plain old general fiction. Some are bad, zero out of five,e, and some are excellent,t, five out of five,e, and I rated the rest everywhere in between. I am a reader who reads vintage books in the time they were written, so if a character is racist, then so be it. Those were the times. But if the narrator is racist I have to decide is this narrator of the or is the author racist well I know from Reading Wells before and from reading about Wells that he is racist so the answer isn't hard plus there are just enough of these stories where the narrator throws around the n-word that you know it's the author not the character of a narrator. So those few stories were not only bad but hard to read. His excellent stories, however, are truly excellent, and most of them are just plain old good.

Introduction (1911) - Written by the author, this is a selection of his stories which he wishes one to read again; he's included those with even the slightest merit and "many of very questionable merit find a place.", too. It seemed Wells loved his stories as much as the readers. Then he goes on to congratulate the wonder of the short story during the nineties (18- that is). It seems the time was ripe for the format. He lists in two places, making almost a full page, authors he admires by last names only; what a sham, I recognize only a few of these British masters of their era. Then he laments the decline (1900s) and current dearth (1911) of the short story. He seems particularly not amused with those wanting to put a page number on the extent of the format. Finally, he finishes with just what is a short story, and this is a gold mine of quotes. (5/5)

1. The Jilting of Jane (1866) - One of Wells' first stories. The narrator is listening to Jane scrub the stairs and remembering nicer days when she used to sing while she worked, so he remembers back to when she met her young man, William. This may not be for everyone, as they'll be expecting a sci-fi or horror tale. It's neither. I think it's best to go in knowing that. Then you can enjoy this fun and sprightly MC in this "good for her" tale. It got a good chuckle, and "Good for her!" at the end from me.(4/5)

2. The Cone (1895) - In the opening scene, the lovers are disturbed by the husband. Has he seen it? Did he hear? There is uncomfortable silence before the conversation starts. The lover tells his friend that he is there to see the ironworks at night. This is predictable, though it tries unsuccessfully for some tension. It does have its moments, though. (3/5)

3. The Stolen Bacillus (1895) - A man comes to visit a scientist via a letter of introduction to see a cholera sample. A scientist then shows him a secured vial of live cholera, and when he steps out for a moment, the man ( an Anarchist, it seems) has stolen it. This story does not work out. It follows a slapstick format and peter's out to a sad joke. A real flop. (0/5)

4. The Flowering of the Strange Orchid (1894) - Winter Wedderburn is an orchid man. He breeds and grows them in his greenhouse, but nothing ever happens to him. Then, he has a strange feeling that something will happen the day he goes to an auction to buy an orchid from the Indies. This is a simple horror tale that is predictable in the what but not the how. Not bad. (3/5)

5. In the Avu Observatory (1894) - A man is working in an observatory one night in the jungles of Borneo when something squeezes in between the scope's attachment to the dome and attacks him. A silly little creature feature set when most of Borneo was still a mystery. (3/5)

6. Aepyornis Island (1894) - A man gets stranded on a deserted island and finds three ancient eggs that are raw on the inside. He eats the first two but finds the third is developing, so he hatches it. This is more of a comedy than anything. It's a fun story, but it is plagued with racism, which is a form of anger rather than a sign of the times, so it is not tolerable. (2/5)

7. The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes (1895) - A burst of lightning during a storm causes a scientist to lose his sight but instead see himself on an island inhabited by penguins and seals. Very interesting science fiction tale. Goes into some space-time continuum math that is probably ahead of itself. I'm not math, you, but I've heard this theory before. Very good. (4/5)

8. The Lord of the Dynamos (1894) - This is about a man and his servant Azuma-zi from the mysterious east. It is painful to read because of the racism. The brown person called the n-word is used for comic effect. I forced myself to read it. At least Azuma-zi got him at the end. (0/5)

9. The Moth (1895) - Two scientists who research moths are ultimate enemies until one dies. Then the other hallucinated a fancy moth. This is a wonderful story. I love stories of madness, and Wells brings this off well. (4/5)

10. The Treasure in the Forest (1894) - Two thieves overhear two Chinese men talking about their buried treasure while looking at the map. So they steal the map and set off down the river in search of the treasure. A pretty boring story. Wells is better than this. (1/5)

11. The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham (1896) - Young Mr. Eden meets Mr. Elvesham, who tells him he has been looking for a bright, promising gentleman to give his fortune to upon his imminent death. But there are provisions, and they are a bit strange. This is the best story so far and about 15 minutes longer than any of the longest, also giving it more background and character development. Nice shock ending, (5/5)

12. Under the Knife (1896) - A man is worrying about his operation the next day, and then the narrative moves to the operation. An interesting tale where we never know what is going to happen. Not bad. (3/5)

13. The Sea Raiders (1896) - Told like a sensational informational report of some sort, we are first introduced to the species Haploteuthis Feroz and then a specific adventure when they attacked hapless people out for a day of pleasure. This is an action-packed story that reads very fast and brings a nice thrill. (4/5)

14. The Obliterated Man (1895) - A nervous sort of journalist with a mild stutter is given the Dramatic Review, but he's never been to the theatre in his life, having been brought up to believe that it is not the sort of place for respectable people. A fun narrative of what happens as he starts going to the theatre regularly. (3/5)

15. The Plattner Story (1896) - A man experimenting with an unknown chemical blows himself outside space where he remains for nine days; these are his adventures. This is a bit confusing. The pseudo-science didn't always make science, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been. It was an interesting concep,t though. (3/5)

16. The Red Room (1896) - A man comes to an old house to spend the night in the haunted room to prove it is not haunted. Of course, we all know where this will end. This is a rather famous story of Wells", I've read it 3 or so times now and enjoy it each time. (4/5)

17. The Purple Pileus (1896) - A man is rather hen-pecked in his own home, and when his wife has her friend and intended over for Sunday dinner, it is just too much. Piano playing, banjo music, comic songs on a Sunday, he's had enough, and when the guests don't leave, he does and goes for a walk in the forest with good results. (4/5)

18. A Slip Under the Microscope (1896) - Quite an in-depth story which is situated in a college biology class. The discussions revolve around socialism, poetry, aesthetics, and class (systems). This story is one of the longer ones and it isn't until near the end that the climax happens and is quickly ended. You also are left to infer the twist. This is quite a complex and brilliant story, even if it is pro-socialism (5/5)

19. The Crystal Egg (1897) - A briq et braq store owner discovers a crystal egg in the store has peculiar properties and refuses to sell it. He plays with it in private. This is one of the longer stories and yet not much more than what I've said happens but with a twist. (3/5)

20. The Star (1897) - From what I gather from science, a new star is created by smashing into Venus, then hurtles towards the sun. It hits parts of Jupiter, affecting Earth, but at the point of Europe with England right in the middle, the moon interrupts, and all of Earth except England is either wrecked or ruined to a degree. Brings on Mars are watching all the time and it's farcical in the end. I don't really get it but it is funny. (3/5)

21. The Man Who Could Work Miracles: A Pantoum in Prose (1898) - A man is having an argument that miracles don't exist and sets to prove it by ordering a lamp to turn upside down, and it does. Now this is amazing as it's a candlelight lamp. But from this point forwar,d this man's will becomes word. Quite funny and quaint compared to what someone today would do in being. (3/5)

22. A Vision of Judgement (1899) - A quick fable of the Judgement Day. Funny but shows hope for the future. (3/5)

23. Jimmy Goggles the God (1898) - A racist story with the n-word and other slurs used by the narrator as he tells the story of becoming a god on an island to the natives for several month,s dressed in an old lead diving suit. (2/5)

24. Miss Winchelsea's Heart (1898) - A strangely domestic story for Wells. Miss Winchelsea and 2 friends go to Rome, and a gentleman joins their party where he and she become intimate, and he proposes, but then she finds out his vulgar last name, and it changes everything. (4/5)

25. A Dream of Armageddon (1901) - Two men are in a train cabin, one obviously an invalid who tells his story of vivid dreaming. He is a few hundred years in the futu.....

I LOST THE REST OF MY REVIEW 😭😭😭😭

[Craig Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short stories by H.G. Wells. Some of them are even horror stories, a genre I didn't realize he indulged in! Many of them are high concept sci-fi pieces, akin to the kind of stories you'd see in the Twilight Zone, usually involving a man having a strange experience in time or space, sometimes induced by ingesting a potion and sometimes it's never explained. I would probably say that my favorite short story in this collection is "A Story of the Stone Age", about a couple who is banished from their tribe, but after the man figures out how to create the world's first axe, he becomes the most powerful human being on Earth.

Anyway, lots of great stories in here worth checking out.

[Darin · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a collection of mostly science fiction tales from Wells, this short book departs from some of his more famous high adventure novels that he is known for. Here, Wells exercises his thoughts and predictions on science and the near and distant future. The result is a grab bag of stories ranging from the scale of the universe to potential asteroid impacts to artificially increased human abilities. Probably the best of these is the title story about an explorers encounter with an isolated group of people.

[Kent · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love HG Wells' novels, but these short stories did not keep me turning the page. They have some good ideas, but not much of a twist or anything to keep you gripped.

[Isadora Urbano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelentes histórias! Tropeça por muitas vezes cair no racismo e no exotismo, mas, à parte isso, continua uma coletânea muito instigante de fantasia, ficção científica e realismo.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Note: This is a review of the Project Gutenberg edition, which I can't find on Goodreads. This version is considerably longer than 90 pages.]

I believe this is my first reading of any Wells, and overall I thought he wrote too many of what I call "phenomenon stories" --- that is, tales where Wells describes a fantastical idea (e.g., being drawn up to the fourth dimension, intelligent ants, portals to Mars) but there isn't much if any plot. Some pieces are very good (I particularly liked "Under the Knife"), but I wouldn't strongly recommend this.

And now, since I was reading this at a friend's suggestion, here are the notes I took to send to him when I finished:

I. — THE JILTING OF JANE. A silly domestic tale. Not what I was expecting from Wells.
II. — THE CONE. The equivalent of an EC horror tale --- turgid prose with an ending you can see a mile away.
III. — THE STOLEN BACILLUS. Lighter prose with a good sense of energy, although the plot doesn’t make sense if you put any pressure on it.
IV. — THE FLOWERING OF THE STRANGE ORCHID. A nice tale that works better because of the naivete of the protagonist.
V. — IN THE AVU OBSERVATORY. Not really a story, just a description of a weird encounter.
VI. — AEPYORNIS ISLAND. Man hatches a prehistoric dinosaur egg while on a desert island and ends up killing it. Kinda sad overall. Use of the n-word.
VII. — THE REMARKABLE CASE OF DAVIDSON'S EYES. Less a story and more a description of a phenomenon, but a great description of a fascinating phenomenon.
VIII. — THE LORD OF THE DYNAMOS. Not only use of the n-word, but focus on a “savage” who worships an electric generator and commits murder with it. Solid prose, but not worth the read.
IX. — THE MOTH. Another EC-like tale about hubris coming back to haunt someone. Not bad, and a nice description of academic rivalry.
X. — THE TREASURE IN THE FOREST. Ugh. A treasure sought by two Englishmen protected by three Chinese men, with a good dose of “yellow” prose.
XI. — THE STORY OF THE LATE MR. ELVESHAM. A mind swap story (maybe the ur mind swap story?) of a dying older man taking advantage of a younger man. Completely obvious to a modern reader.
XII. — UNDER THE KNIFE. Amazingly good. A description of a man under anesthesia that is a written version of the opening of the film Contact.
XIII. — THE SEA RAIDERS. Killer squid/octopi. Another story that just describes a phenomenon with no plot.
XIV. — THE OBLITERATED MAN. A fun piece about being taken over by theatre.
XV. — THE PLATTNER STORY. A very strange tale that mixes the concept of the fourth dimension with an afterlife. Mysterious, but doesn’t resolve much.
XVI. — THE RED ROOM. A well told but short ghost story.
XVII. — THE PURPLE PILEUS. If you get high on mushrooms and act uppity with your wife, you gain her respect. Somewhat icky.
XVIII. — A SLIP UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. Issues of student honor. Well told, but feels incomplete.
XIX. — THE CRYSTAL EGG. Another phenomenon tale.
XX. — THE STAR. Is this the first “humanity wiped out due to celestial object” tale? Points for having a global focus.
XXI. — THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES. Kind of a “monkey’s paw” tale, but more focused on science.
XXII. — A VISION OF JUDGMENT. A tale of the afterlife and what it might be like for all your sins to be read aloud.
XXIII. — JIMMY GOGGLES THE GOD. Way too many uses of the n-word and discussions of savages in the midst of a treasure hunt.
XXIV. — MISS WINCHELSEA'S HEART. A “could have had happiness if I wasn’t so snooty” romance.
XXV. — A DREAM OF ARMAGEDDON. A strange “I dreamed the future” tale. I think I am happier when Wells treats these as fantasy (as he does here) instead of science, but the ending here seemed inconclusive.
XXVI. — THE VALLEY OF SPIDERS. Yep, there are a lot of spiders. Why? I don’t know….
XXVII. — THE NEW ACCELERATOR. A very nice “phenomenon” story about hypermetabolism. Much like The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything or some Flash comics.
XXVIII. — THE TRUTH ABOUT PYECRAFT. A monkey’s paw tale with fat-shaming!
XXIX. — THE MAGIC SHOP. Oh, I think I’ve heard of this one before. Very atmospheric….
XXX. — THE EMPIRE OF THE ANTS. There are giant, intelligent, tool-using ants out there.
XXXI. — THE DOOR IN THE WALL. Another story of the fantastic focused on regrets.
XXXII. — THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND. A short story focused on proving the adage wrong and not that impressive.
XXXIII. — THE BEAUTIFUL SUIT. Dreamy and the story most like an Oscar Wilde short story.

[Edoardo Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s hard to believe but in the early decades of the 20th century there were regular public debates between four of the greatest writers of the era: HG Wells, Bernard Shaw, GK Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. They would travel around the country, pitching up in church halls and town halls, and conduct public debates on the great issues of the day. Wells and Shaw argued for the progressive nostrums of the era, Chesterton and Belloc for Christianity and tradition.

What a gloriously challenging prospect that must have been – and how different from the dumbed-down discourse of our own time. Reading this collection of short stories by Wells reminded me of this peripatetic show of intellectual fireworks – and also taught me why Wells was a better writer than philosopher.

For Wells was, philosophically, an early example of progressive materialism, a subscriber to most of the most pernicious nostrums of his day, from eugenics to scientific racism, all under the guise of progress. Wells saw himself as an intellectual and these debates presented him as such.

But the stories show that his strongest intellectual faculty was his imagination, not his intellect. And, as such, this means that his stories are wiser than his philosophy. For his imagination went far beyond the material limitations of his philosophy, as well as undercutting and revealing its limitations. The Time Machine, not included here, with its invention of decadent Eloi and Morlocks, and the bleakest ending in fiction showed the limits of material hope better than Chesterton or Belloc could manage in debate. The stories here play with ideas and explore them imaginatively, achieving in the best of them a terrible, profound wisdom of vision.

That was the tragedy of Wells’ life: his imagination was the source of his vision but his intellect attempted to constrain it to the limits of his philosophy. His last work, the despairing Mind at the End of its Tether, showed his recognition of the futility of his intellectual enterprise. But his stories are better than his philosophy and many of the best are in this collection.

[Kerem Güner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hello. I finally managed to finish "The Country of the Blind and Other Stories" by Wells. Frankly, after the book The Time Machine, I thought I didn't like Wells' writing style very much. Of course, that was years ago. Maybe if I go back and read it again, I might like it. I started this book very nervously, just because of the author. I'm lucky that the book didn't tire me out too much.

There are various stories in our book. You have the opportunity to read about a rookie ghost, a moth haunting from the other side, a valley full of spiders and, of course, the land of the blind.

Of course, not every story goes very smoothly. Some of them are much longer than they should be and some of them just linger on your palate. If we consider it as Gothic literature stories, I can say that it is a successful book in general. Even though the narrative style did not always attract me, the originality of the subjects managed to win me over.

I have some good books that I plan to read this year, and I'm glad that The Country of the Blind is on the list.

Have a book filled day.

[Marie A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Victorian man finds himself in a secluded village where citizens have been completely blind for several generations... the first thing that comes into his mind is the old saying, "In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king." But in a world designed for the blind (where houses have no windows, and day and night are only perceived as differences in temperature), the man who can see proves to be a clumsy, naive, charity case, whom the villagers believe to be a defective human.

In this fun and fascinating piece of speculative fiction, Wells raises questions of perception in society like sick versus healthy, and perhaps even good versus evil, using strong sociological and/or anthropological themes to examine a variety of issues that are common across cultures... it's a marvelous short story, and I was very pleased!