Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Die Geschichte des Mr. Polly
Go deeper: the whole of Die Geschichte des Mr. Polly
About 4 h 50 min to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love gentle comedy, English small-town life, and stories about people stuck in the wrong job or the wrong marriage. It also welcomes anyone who has dreamed of starting over.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
What happens to a bright mind when nobody teaches it how to live? The History of Mr. Polly, a comic novel by H. G. Wells published in 1910, follows Alfred Polly, a small shopkeeper in the south of England. Wells, famous for The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, leaves Martians behind and writes about an ordinary man in an ordinary town. He knew this world, having worked as a draper's assistant himself, and he hated it. The book is funny from its first pages, but the humor has a point.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A boy who is never properly taughtFree
- 2Apprenticed to a drapery shop
- 3Words, books, and a hungry mind
- 4A funeral, a feast, and a family
- 5Marriage by drift, not by choice
- 6The shop at Fishbourne and the grey slide
- 7What the book says about escape
- 8Class, education, and the small shopkeeper
- 9How Wells tells the story
Punkt 1 von 9
A boy who is never properly taught
The story opens with Mr. Polly sitting on a stile in deep misery, a man of about thirty-five. Wells then goes back to show how he got there.
The cheap school he attends leaves lessons muddled and nothing clear. Children learn to read and write, but not to think or to want anything better. Still, Polly keeps a love of stories, odd facts and the sound of language.
This is Wells's first main complaint. A bright child is thrown into the world with no tools, and then blamed for being clumsy. The tone stays light, but the point is serious.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of Die Geschichte des Mr. Polly
About 4 h 50 min to read.Who’s who
- Alfred Polly
- A dissatisfied draper's assistant and shopkeeper, he loves unusual words and marries his practical cousin Miriam.
- Miriam Larkins
- Polly's cousin and wife, she wants a stable household and a respectable business rather than restless dreaming.
- Parsons
- One of Polly's friends during his apprenticeship, he belongs to the young drapery assistants' small social circle.
- Platt
- A fellow drapery assistant and friend, he shares Polly's youthful companionship within the confines of shop life.
- Mr. Polly's father
- Polly's father is a careless small shopkeeper who provides little encouragement for his son's lively imagination.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 71,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 45 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Die Geschichte des Mr. Polly
What is The History of Mr. Polly about?
It follows Alfred Polly, a poorly educated draper's assistant who drifts into marriage and a failing shop. Unhappy and restless, he wonders whether his life can change. It is a comic novel about dull work, family, and the wish for escape.
When was The History of Mr. Polly written?
H. G. Wells published it in 1910. It is fiction, not a true story, but it draws on Wells's own youth as a draper's apprentice, which is why the shop life feels so real.
Is The History of Mr. Polly a hard book to read?
No. The language is clear and the tone is chatty and funny. The story is easy to follow and fairly short.
What does Sesquippledan verboojuice mean?
It means nothing in any dictionary. It is a phrase Polly makes up because he loves the sound of long words. It shows his imagination and his urge to find something grander than his daily life.
What is the main message of The History of Mr. Polly?
Wells suggests that a muddled, unhappy life is not fixed forever. Poor schooling and habit can trap a person, but if he looks clearly at his situation he may find the courage to change it.