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    Men Like Gods
    Men Like Gods
    Men Like Gods
    Ebook300 pages8 hours

    Men Like Gods

    By H. G. Wells

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    In the summer of 1921, a disenchanted journalist escapes the rat race for a drive in the country. But Mr. Barnstaple's trip exceeds his expectations when he and other motorists are swept 3,000 years into the future. The inadvertent time travelers arrive in a world that corresponds exactly to Barnstaple's ideals: a utopian state, free of crime, poverty, war, disease, and bigotry. Unfettered by the constraints of government and organized religion, the citizens lead rich, meaningful lives, passed in pursuit of their creative fancies. Barnstaple's traveling companions, however, quickly contrive a scheme to remake the utopia in the image of their twentieth-century world.
    A century after its initial publication, H. G. Wells's novel offers an enduringly relevant look at an ideal society. Conceived in the aftermath of World War I, it reflects the failings of human nature but offers hope for the future, when men and women may live like gods.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateJul 20, 2016
    ISBN9780486815183
    Author

    H. G. Wells

    H.G. Wells is considered by many to be the father of science fiction. He was the author of numerous classics such as The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The War of the Worlds, and many more. 

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    Reviews for Men Like Gods

    3.5/5

    34 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This novel, set in 1921 and published in 1923 is in a subgenre you don’t see much now -- utopian science fiction. Yes, I did say ‘utopian.’ You may be more familiar with this subgenre’s ugly brother, dystopian science fiction. The latter has more shock value so it gets more attention, but I prefer the older, wiser sibling.

      The essential difference between utopian and dystopian fiction that I see is their different perceptions of humanity. Although both begin with the premise that the human race has problems, utopian fiction posits that, in the course of time, mankind will solve them. Dystopian fiction, on the other hand, posits that humanity, if it is lucky, might survive.

      I don’t read fiction to be shocked. I can get that from the news. I read fiction to be entertained. Occasionally I come across novels that also present a new thought or uncommon perspective, and I consider these welcome bonuses. ‘Men Like Gods’ provides all of these.

      The protagonist, Mr. Barnstaple (no first name) is stressed and in desperate need of a holiday. The way he contrives to get away unaccompanied by wife of children, is humorous and charming, in an understated British way, as are his musings on the events of the time. He succeeds in escaping by himself in his little yellow car with no specific destination in mind but ends up much farther away than he could have imagined. A scientific experiment in an alternate dimension goes awry, and Barnstaple and a few others on the road that day find themselves in a strange land with clean air, tame animals, and beautiful people who enjoy unparalleled personal freedom. He’s obviously not in England anymore. The rest of the novel explores how he and his fellow Earthlings react to this strange utopia and how the Utopians react to them.

      Considering this book was written almost a century ago, and making certain allowances for that, one thing that struck me was how relevant it remains. There are passages about droughts, famines, and fighting going on around the world that sound almost as if they could be referring to today. This description of economic concerns especially caught my attention:

      ‘... The great masses of population that had been blundered into existence, swayed by damaged and decaying traditions and amenable to the crudest suggestions, were the natural prey and support of every adventurer with a mind blatant enough and a conception of success coarse enough to appeal to them. The economic system, clumsily and convulsively reconstructed to meet the new conditions of mechanical production and distribution, became more and more a cruel and impudent exploitation of the multitudinous congestion of the common man by the predatory acquisitive few. That all too common common man was hustled through misery and subjection from his cradle to his grave; he was cajoled and lied to, he was bought, sold and dominated by an impudent minority, bolder and no doubt more energetic, but in all other respects no more intelligent than himself.’

      The economic system he speaks of is, essentially, the one we still have; one in which common people simply trying to survive can be economically used and abused by those with wealth, power, and low morals. Although, on the bright side, we do have laws and regulations in place now to mitigate the worst examples of such things.

      Then there was this about the media of the time:

      ‘...newspapers had ceased to be impartial vehicles of news; they omitted, they mutilated, they misstated. They were no better than propaganda rags.’

      This claim especially seems appropriate to some of today’s media outlets.

      What you won’t see in this novel is a detailed description of how the civilization in this alternate universe got from something like early Twentieth Century Earth to a free and peaceful utopia, although the process is said to have taken three thousand years. The point is that people not unlike us were able to overcome things like superstition, prejudice, selfish ambition, and violence. They were able to work together to build a better society in which each individual is free to think, act, and explore the mysteries of the world as they wish.

      I won’t say the utopia presented here is exactly one that I would imagine or hope for, but it does seem attractive and maybe even possible. The ideas the novel presents are certainly worth thinking about, in any case, and the story is enjoyable in its own right. I highly recommend it.
    • 2/5
      Some of Wells's lesser-known works are moralistic pieces, thoroughly satirical and often quite scathing of modern politics.In this example, several people are transported to a futuristic, otherworldly utopia, a semi-communist settlement where there are no wages and everything is shared evenly. Transported along with the cynical narrator are society folks and a gaggle of politicians, all of whom firmly reject the utopia and its social benefits. Interesting if only for the insight it gives into Wells's own character and beliefs.
    • 4/5
      This is a "science" fantasy novel of ideas, not action or science as such. It basically functions as a vehicle for Wells's belief in the need for a scientific, rationalist, socialist world government. There are some interesting comments here about Wells's views on the immediate post-WWI world political situation, but the protagonist Mr Barnstaple's gushing enthusiasm for the Utopia he has been thrown into tends to grate. He seems wilfully to ignore key gaps in logic such as who, if there is no governing authority, makes decisions between conflicting priorities in society; it is all brushed away with assertions that all decisions are referred to experts in the relevant field and anyone can criticise anyone else as much as they like as long as they don't insult them or lie about them, so it all supposedly works out smoothly. The earnest naivety will strike any modern reader as rather ridiculous, even if they have basic sympathy for a lot of what Wells says about contemporary Earth society. The other characters from Earth thrown into the parallel world along with Mr Barnstaple are simple caricatures of early 20th century politicians, newspaper magnates, society ladies or Church of England curates. Despite these criticisms, this was an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone already familiar with Wells to some extent, though not to anyone looking for a classic of late 19th/early 20th century science fiction or fantasy similar to his much more famous works.
    • 2/5
      Men Like Gods was a novel of Utopian philosophy. It dug deep into the theories of true Utopia and the way that people can live it. Mr. Barnstable needed a holiday. The dystopian elements of society, the hustle and bustle of the world were really discouraging his faith in humanity. So, he decided to take a holiday. Little did Mr. Barnstaple know that he would be almost literally walking with the gods. Mr. Barnstaple finds himself, along with some other "Earthlings" in a most beautiful and perfet Utopia. However, when other members of his company refute the authenticity of the Utopia, things go awry. Luckily, Mr. Barnstaple bravely defends Utopia and stands up for what is right which inevitably saves him his life. Men Like Gods is the perfect book to have read relating to the theme of Utopia. The whole book is basically an analysis of what defines Utopia. This book defines it as a world where the order is the people, they choose their own order and everything goes well because they all behave. Everything is extremely simple and beautiful. Elements of dystopia are defined as the insecurities of society such as work and stress. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the naked philosiphizing of Utopia. In much of the novel it is just the discussion of the differences between Earth and the Utopia that Mr. Barnstaple finds himself placed in. I admit that it was a little slow at frist, but by the second book, (about the middle of the real book) the action starts to speed up and it is then more interesting. I would have to say my favorite part about this book was the strength of the main character. He did indeed need a holiday, but what a world of good it did him. Mr. Barnstaple pulled through in the end as a very strong and level headed guy, able to embark on the burden of changing the world little by little.
    • 3/5
      My reactions to reading this book in 1996. Spoilers follow.Another utopian work by Wells though here the frame is more imaginative than Wells’ In the Days of the Comet or A Modern Utopia. Here Wells uses (in an early example of such but not the first I believe) the device of a parallel universe. His wittily described protagonist Mr. Barnstaple as a put upon socialist who blunders, while on vacation, into the utopia of a parallel dimension. Utopia is on another Earth that has evolved over 3,000 years from a society like ours. Barnstaple is accompanied by several annoying characters including a politician named Catskill who argues that man is better off with nature’s and society’s ills since he appreciates it more during the brief pain free moments (the-banging-your-head-against-the-wall-because-it-feels-so-good-when-you-stop school of philosophy). Father Amerton seems to be a creation of Freudian psychology (specifically the notion of a reaction formation) in that the utopians interpret his objections to their sexual promiscuity and lack of marriage as signs of a perverted mind. The travelers to this utopia – except for Mr. Barnstaple – engage in a silly, arrogantly presumptive attempt to conquer utopia and are killed or recaptured (they are quarantined for bringing disease to Utopia in a reversal of the invader-aliens-downed-by-disease theme of Wells' The War of the Worlds). Barnstaple genuinely likes thisutopia (and its women) but the inhabitants (except for a boy interested in history and a woman with an unhealthy need to care for someone after the death of her family) have little time for someone they regard as a primitive. He eventually, to sacrifice for and to feel like a utopian, returns to our dimension (blazing the way for his fellow Earthers and utopian cross-dimensional travel). The novel ends, as so much of Wells later post-1903 sf, with a call to build Utopia – a task Barnstaple embraces. The religious imagery usually seen in Wells’ utopian works is especially strong here with the phrase “Promised Land” and the oblique allusion to Isaiah’s prophecy of the lamb lying down with the wolf.

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    Men Like Gods - H. G. Wells

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