Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Racconti dello spazio e del tempo
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love early science fiction, short stories with one bold idea, and Wells's mix of wonder and social comment.
Che cos’è questo libro
Tales of Space and Time is a collection of stories by H. G. Wells, published in 1899. Wells was then in his early thirties and already known for The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. In this volume he turns his scientific training and his sharp eye for English life to a set of separate tales. Some look up to the sky, some look far ahead into the future, and one sets a plain English clerk loose with a power no one should have.
The tales belong to the ground where science fiction was taking shape. Each starts from one strange idea and asks what an ordinary person would do with it. A shopkeeper finds a window to another world. Astronomers watch a new body approach. A young couple struggles in a city of the far future. A draper's assistant discovers he can bend the world with a wish. In this summary we take these tales in turn, then look at what ties them together and how Wells tells them. First, the shop where a strange crystal egg sits.
In questo riassunto
- 1Wells turns one idea into one taleFree
- 2A crystal egg opens a window
- 3A new star threatens the whole Earth
- 4The far future is a city of classes
- 5An ordinary man gains a miraculous power
- 6What binds the tales and how Wells tells them
Punto chiave 1 di 6
Wells turns one idea into one tale
The collection is built from short stories, each resting on a single startling premise. That was Wells's method. He takes one thing that cannot happen, states it calmly, and then follows the results as a careful scientist would follow an experiment. He does not drown the reader in machinery or jargon.
The title promises two kinds of tale. Some stories reach across space, to the sky or to another world. Others reach across time, to a future where today's habits have hardened into something harsher. A few of the tales are comic and one or two are bleak. The mood changes from story to story, but the habit of mind stays the same.
The settings matter as much as the ideas. Wells likes shops, villages, pubs, lodgings and London streets. Because the scene is familiar, the strange event stands out against it. A reader who has walked down a dull English street can believe that a wonder might sit in a window on it.
The book appeared at the end of the nineteenth century, when readers were excited by new science and uneasy about where cities and factories were heading. The tales carry both feelings. They are curious about what can be found out, and they are suspicious of what people will do with it. Keep that double mood in mind as we go through the stories.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Racconti dello spazio e del tempo
What is Tales of Space and Time about?
It is a collection of short science fiction stories by H. G. Wells. They include a crystal egg that shows another world, a new star approaching Earth, a far future city of classes, and a man who can work miracles.
When was Tales of Space and Time published?
It was published in 1899. Wells wrote it soon after his early novels such as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, when he was already a leading writer of science fiction.
What is The Crystal Egg about?
It follows Mr. Cave, a London curio dealer whose crystal egg shows a view of a distant world. A man of science becomes interested, and the story contrasts owning a wonder with understanding it.
Is Tales of Space and Time hard to read?
No. The stories are short and written in clear Victorian English. Each tale has a simple central idea that is easy to follow.
What is the main message of these stories?
The tales suggest that people can discover wonders faster than they learn to handle them. They also show Wells's concern with class and the small place of human beings in a huge universe.