COSMIC RAYS AND MR. WELLS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 255, 24 July 1937, Page 7 (Supplement)

COSMIC RAYS AND MR. WELLS

Biological Fantasia “Star Begotten,” by H. G. Wells. (London: Chatto and Windus.) A fantastic yet provocative idea presented to a man becoming neurasthenic about his wife is sufficient’ for Mr. Wells to weave a pleasant tale of its development and its influence on the lives of quite a number of people who, one feels, should have known better. Mr. Joseph Davis, the chief character in this book, is a successful author who has spent half a lifetime tracing the glorious development of man and writing historical novels rich in tradition and faith. When his way seems a little less clear and his stable values suffer a few shocks as to the magnificent heritage of mankind he comes in contact with the idea that human life on earth is slowly becoming more subject to mysterious controlling influences.

The theory advanced to him is that there are cosmic rays coming from Mars, directed by the Martians themselves, with the idea of establishing on earth intellects capable of receiving the heritage of the knowledge of the older planet. It is fantastic, but it is not incredible, and only Mr. Wells could make such a proposition pleasantly believable to his characters, and interestingly amusing to his readers. The development of Joseph Davis is a masterly piece of psychological characterisation. He is a typically vivid Wellsian character moving in the field of romantic biology that Mr. Wells presents so well.

Joseph Davis suspects that his wife is “star-begotten,” that she Is one of the strangely wise Martian intellects seeing the world and its struggles in a new perspective, and he is sorely troubled until she suggests, clever woman, that he must be' “star-begot-ten,” too. “His mind had gone all round the world, indeed, but only to discover himself and his home again in a new orientation.” It is pleasantly intelligent fantasy that has Mr. Well’s usual literary merit and emphasises his ability to tell a story well.