Classic of the month

"The Wonderful Visit" by Herbert George Wells

Recently I have read a collection of short stories by Herbert George Wells and although it was not exactly what I expected - famous as "father of science fiction" he was writing what was basically "Twilight zone" of his time, not exactly science fiction as we know it today - the collection was intriguing enough for me to return to this talented writer and I decided to check out something fairly obscure, in fact the novel that is almost completely forgotten nowadays when Wells is remembered mainly for such works as "The Time Machine" and "The Island of Doctor Moreau"  (not to mention legendary "The War of the Worlds" which is probably his most famous novel and I have not actually read it, naturally because I must have been busy with trashy celebrity biographies).

Imagine if the real Angel falls down in our human world.

First, he would get shot of course.

In this short and truly brilliant little masterpiece Wells plays around with the idea of how would people react and accept somebody who is obviously a heavenly creature (with wings and radiant face) - with biting sarcasm, wit and a deep feeling of social injustice in the world, Wells places his Angel in Victorian England where majority of people are either preoccupied with class distinction, proper social behaviour, manners and clothes or so self-centred that they simply don't recognise Angels for what he is. Bewildered and surprised with humans who appear cruel, selfish and aggressive, Angel has to learn about such things as pain, hunger and fire from the only person who recognise him (his host, vicar) while the rest of the village ridicule him as someone who is either retarded or a liar. Even at a social gathering, when he plays heavenly music on a violin, the audience couldn't care less because they are preoccupied with flirting, gossipping or everything else that has nothing to do with music. The week this poor Angel spends in human world is enough to drive him into deep depression because it is worse than the dark nightmares Angels have when they occasionally dream about human world (Wells cleverly uses mirror image to explain that just as humans sometimes dream about Angels, Angels also sometimes human world in their nightmares). Not only that the novel deeply touches me for its interesting message that is still valid today but I also sense "The Wonderful Visit" in a way being predecessor of "The Little Prince" (written almost half a century later) because just as Little Prince ask some important questions about human race and their behaviour, this Angel is also completely unaware of people's intentions and can't understand why complete strangers react to him with such fierce anger or arrogance, when he has done nothing to provoke them and is not familiar with these feelings. Faced with his child-like innocence, even his friend vicar starts to question his own life and is deeply disturbed with the way other people treat what is obviously a heavenly creature. 

This novel is also start of something new in my blog - from now I will make sure that at least once a month I read a true classic in order to expand my literary horizons a little bit. I know lots of the titles just as names but for various reasons get sidetracked along the way - there is simply so much books floating around - this way I won't feel guilty if I enjoy something trivial later, because I always have a "classic of the month".