The History of Mr Polly

by H. G. Wells, John Sutherland (Introduction), John Sutherland (Noted by), Simon James (Editor), Simon James (Noted by)

Overview

Well's brilliant social novel, ranked #39 on The Guardian's list of 100 Best Novels

Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future - after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a life of hero'sm, hope and ultimate happiness.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141441078
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/27/2005
Series:	Penguin Classics
Edition description:	New
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	888,561
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.61(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

H.G. Wells was a professional writer and journalist, who published more than a hundred books, including novels, histories, essays and programmes for world regeneration. Wells's prophetic imagination was first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction, but later he became an apostle of socialism, science and progress. His controversial views on sexual equality and the shape of a truly developed nation remain directly relevant to our world today. He was, in Bertrand Russell's words, 'an important liberator of thought and action'.

John Sutherland is the Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London and a visiting professor of Literature at the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of many books.

Simon J. James is Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of Durham. He has written on, and edited volumes of, George Gissing, H.G. Wells and Charles Dickens.

Date of Birth:

September 21, 1866

Date of Death:

August 13, 1946

Place of Birth:

Bromley, Kent, England

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

Normal School of Science, London, England

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

The History of MR Polly

1 Beginnings, and the Bazaar 1

2 The Dismissal of Parsons 19

3 Cribs 28

4 Mr Polly an Orphan 37

5 Romance 56

6 Miriam 74

7 The Little Shop at Fishbourne 101

8 Making an End to Things 123

9 The Potwell Inn 140

10 Miriam Revisited 177

Editorial Reviews

…a disturbing comic masterpiece…despite its perfectly innocuous title, The History of Mr. Polly is—long before Camus and Sartre ever wrote—a classic of radical existentialism, and, after 100 years, still amusing, unsettling and powerfully contemporary.
—The Washington Post

Michael Dirda

Though Wells's name conjures images of time travelers and Martian invaders, he wrote numerous other novels that were well received but since forgotten. This trio-two comedies and a drama-serve as perfect examples. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

'The History of Mr Polly (1910) is a disturbing comic masterpiece . . . a more gently satirical and masculine counterpart to Flaubert's Madame Bovary . . . a classic of radical existentialism, and, after 100 years, still amusing, unsettling and powerfully contemporary '—Washington Post

Widely considered to be Wells's most perfectly-formed novel, this comic idyll is the story of a henpecked, unsuccessful, desperately frustrated small shopkeeper who bungles but survives a suicide-and-arson attempt, and becomes master of his fate under another identity—David Lodge, GUARDIAN

H.G. Wells is often cataloged as a pioneer of science fiction (which he was) . . . but he was also a great Edwardian writer of immense fame and influence who deserves to be remembered as a major literary figure—GUARDIAN

A delightful comedy of everyday Edwardian England that draws inspiration from its author's own life . . . The story - still strikingly modern - is a comedy about a midlife crisis . . . a comedy of ordinary, provincial life, rooted in the everyday, with countless brilliantly observed details . . . The History of Mr Polly has a special charm as a novel in which, for once, Wells became carefree and relaxed, and described the thing he could never find for himself - peace of mind—Robert McCrum, Guardian

From the Publisher