Product Description

In this 1901 classic, Wells’s "first men in the moon" practice lunar locomotion, get lost in a moon jungle, and confront intelligent life in lunar caverns. Through the adventures of these two earthlings, the author is able to burlesque the effects of specialization. The result is a delightful tale filled with adventure, romance, and fantasy that still stirs the imagination.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1153333 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780486414188
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Review
The Denver Post Lean back, close your eyes, and have fun. -- Review

Review
“Written with astonishing animation and lucidity.” —G. K. Chesterton

From the Publisher
Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.

Customer Reviews

A Memorable Adventure with Surprising Underpinnings
Born in Victorian England, H.G. Wells had very strong ideas about the advantages and disadvantages of a society built on fixed social classes and endless imperialism--and these ideas would inform virtually everything he wrote over his long and distinguished career. Even in the handful of science fiction novels for which he is chiefly recalled today, Wells would return to these issues again, combining them with then-emerging scientific concepts to remarkably provocative effect.

In some respects THE FIRST MEN ON THE MOON is likely his most accessible novel to modern readers, for it is lighter in tone than such Wells novels as THE TIME MACHINE and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, and it reads like an exceptionally well-written pulp adventure of the era. But the underpinnings are the same: class, conquest, and--as in THE WAR OF THE WORLDS--Darwin's controversial theories on natural selection and evolution.

In this novel Wells relies significantly on fantasy, presenting us with Professor Cavor, an eccentric (and quite comical) scientist determined to create a substance that is "opaque" to gravity, what we would today call an antigravity material. Cavor is interested in the work for the sake of knowledge pure and simple, but bankrupt businessman Bedford realizes the commercial implications and attaches himself to the project--and when the material is perfected the two men create a sphere that launches them to the moon!

If this is clearly the stuff of fantasy (Jules Verne sneered at it), what the two men find on the moon is not, or at least was not considered so at the time. In 1901 little was known about the moon, and many notable scientists thought it might hold life. Upon their arrival, Cavor and Bedford find an atmosphere of sorts, a host of strange plants, and ultimately an insect-like race of beings that reside inside the moon itself, beings who practice forced evolution upon their own kind in order to create a rigid, hive-like social structure.

As the nature of the "Selenite" society reflects Victorian concepts of fixed social classes taken to a logical and unpleasant extreme, so do the two humans reflect opposing points of sociopolitical view. Cavor is clearly an instrument of science, less interested in practicalities than in knowledge for its own sake--a point of view that Wells seems to hold in considerable sympathy. But for all this, Cavor is ineffectual; he must rely on Bedford's smash-and-grab imperialistic temperament to see them through. As in many Wells novels, the resulting clash of ideology is stalemate: both extremes need each other, but they are incapable of building compromise and neither is able to overcome the other to reach an outcome that will be satisfactory to any one concerned.

All of this sounds terribly dry and dusty, but the book itself isn't. THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON is a remarkably lively novel, a fast-paced quick read that will appeal greatly to most readers as it balances its philosphical questions with great chunks of pulse-pounding adventure. And even though we know that Wells was off the mark re lunar atmosphere, flora, and fauna, it is easy to suspend our disbelief to enjoy the ride. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

H.G. Wells at his best
The title seems a little strange, but the Moon as imagined by Wells is inhabited by creatures living underground--thus, the title. The plot is typical of the author--a seemingly normal man happens to meet a man with strange scientific ideas, and he quickly finds himself an active participant in the grand designs of his new acquaintance. Mr. Bedford, our narrator, escapes to as quiet and isolated a space as he can find in order to write a play. His hideaway is visited every night by a strange little man with a penchant for humming. Accosting the man for his nightly interruptions, he learns that the man, Dr. Cavor, is a scientist working to find a means by which to nullify gravity. Seeing the possibility of great profit from such a discovery, the narrator quickly enlists as a scientific assistant. The serendipitous discovery of Cavorite results in the scientist's home being destroyed and the surrounding countryside buffeted and damaged by powerful winds. With the discovery now made, Cavor embarks on a monumental quest to reach the moon by creating a huge sphere--a coating of Cavorite provides the means of locomotion, and a complex system of blinds serves as the means for controlling the thing. With the blinds closed, all gravitational forces are blocked from the sphere; with one or more blinds open, the sphere is once again subject to the gravitational pull of the nearest large object. In this fashion, the intrepid explorers make their way to the moon.

The moon they discover is not barren; in daylight, a bevy of plants emerge from the ground only to wither and die as the lunar night returns. When the explorers lose their way, they are captured and taken underground. While Cavor wants to communicate with the Selenites, as he immediately dubs the lunar inhabitants, Bedford is more concerned with escape and eventually effects just that, having found the moon dwellers easy prey to his strong, earthgrown muscles. The two men search for the sphere, but Bedford is forced to escape the moon alone after learning that Cavor has been captured and presumably killed. Bedford returns to earth, tells his story to some incredulous beach dwellers, and then finds the sphere hijacked by a young boy (who flies off and is never heard from again). Thus, he has no way of returning to the moon, nor does he have the knowledge required to make more Cavorite. A short time later, Bedford is amazed to learn that Cavor is not dead and is in fact sending radio signals from the moon to the earth. The rest of the novel relates the story of Cavor's stay on the moon, culminating in a description of his interview with the Grand Lunar. In lunar society, each individual is assigned a certain job and is trained and even surgically altered to do that job and nothing else. Cavor's description of earthly society is a revelation to the lunar inhabitants; through his words, Wells seems to point out some of the follies of mankind, particularly war. Thus, the book ends on sort of a philosophical note, and one has to imagine that Cavor's speech reflects some of Wells' own views about humankind.

All in all, the book is interesting, well-paced, and enjoyable. The originality of Wells' idea is striking--rather than propel man to the moon by huge cannon or the like, he employs antigravity as a free, highly effective means to, in essence, repel the sphere from the earth. Of course, Wells' moon is a far cry from the moon as we now know it, but it does seem to fit well into the framework of thinking at the time, at least insomuch as Wells describes those contemporary scientific ideas. Though not the most recognized of his books, The First Men in the Moon may be the most original and visionary science fiction novel penned by this pioneering author.

Imaginative, well written and easy to read.....
H.G. Wells is, without a doubt, gifted with both imagination and the abilty to write. FIRST MEN ON THE MOON is a very good read; it is well written, fast-paced, and the plot is most definitely intriguing.

What you get out of this book, in my opinion, depends highly on your expectations of it. If you're looking for sci-fi written in 1901, and you want to be amazed by Wells as a visionary of things to come, this is not your book. With the exception of a lunar landing, none of the "scientific" developments or discoveries created and described by Wells exist nor in all probabilities will ever exist. This is the main reason why Jules Verne advocates place him well above Wells.

On the other hand, if what you want is a book that's easy and fun to read, with a plot that makes it hard to put the book down, then you're in for a treat. Even though most of what Wells has written is pretty dense and by no means considered easy to read, this novel is.

As with many other writers in Victorian England, Wells is very influenced by his world and surroundings. You will find (both on earth and on the moon!), that society is clearly divided into social classes, and it is definitely not Well's intention to disturb this normal "order" of things.

Each of the two main characters represents a different victorian current of thought. While Cavor is a true scientific mind, and his main concerns are truth, mankind, and a better world overall. Bedford is more adventurous and daring, and his main concerns are himself and his own wealth. In a way, neither ever understands the other, as they are blinded by their own view of the world.

In summary, FIRST MEN ON THE MOON is definitely worth the time it takes to cover the 180+ pages, and when you put it down you will be left with a feeling of satisfaction.....