BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - JULY 2016 - BERNICE RUBENS & H.G. WELLS

BERNICE RUBENS

H.G. WELLS

Bernice Rubens was brought up in Cardiff in a jewish family from originally Lithuania who, setting out for New York, were duped with the tickets and had to settle for South Wales instead! This sort of happenstance coloured Rubens own writing.

She was the first lady to win the Booker prize in 1970 with The Elected Member.

H.G. Wells was, with Jules Verne, the original Godfather of Science Fiction but he was much more besides. A social critic, socialist, writer of more serious novels (a few of which are readable) and a famous womaniser and latterly historian.

Some of his novels to choose from

The Time Machine
The War of the Worlds
The Invisible Man
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The History of Mr. Polly
Kipps

What I will read

Aha, here it is. Methinks your enthusiasm for this challenge is waning a bit, Paul.

Thank you for this thread and I will be joining in this month with one or two stories from Wells. First up I have chosen In the Days of the Comet


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I've actually read very little from H.G., only the Time Machine, which I loved on a recent re-read, War of the Worlds which I loved when I was young, Island of Dr Moreau which I read in 2011 and The Invisible Man which I re-read in 2015. I think I may have also read one called Food of the Gods long ago. Well, I guess that is a bit more than very little after all, but it seems like he has written a lot of books and I have picked up a few these past couple years to read including In The Days of the Comet and I'm glad to have an excuse to move at least one or two from the TBR stacks.

by the way, there is a sequel to The Time Machine called "The Time Ships" by Stephen Baxter. I read that in 2014. It gets very mixed reviews. I gave it 3 stars (Parts I liked a lot, some not so much)

>4 PaulCranswick: maybe I will take this opportunity to get the kids (and me) listening to radio version of War of the Worlds! I recall being freaked out by it as a tween. What a cool audio experience!

Perfect timing as I just finished The War of the Worlds! I've never read Wells and am pleased to report that my first experience of his writing was a good one. I had kind of assumed it would be like a big budget alien invasion movie, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that Wells focused more on people trying to survive a catastrophe than on blowing up aliens. As an added bonus the copy I got from the library was illustrated by Edward Gorey, so I had a very enjoyable evening of reading.

I've read most of Rubens' work but there are 3 or 4 I've still to get to. Highly recommended writer. I've made a start on Birds of Passage.

I have a hold in transit for Favours, which seems to be the same book as A Five Year Sentence - maybe the US title? I don't think I'm going to get to Wells this month. I listened to The Time Machine last summer and it was enough to last me for a while.

I've tried a couple of Wells' books and can't stand them. I think Rubens wasn't available locally, but I'll have to check. Libraries can acquire books in 6 months time.

>6 RBeffa: No Ron, not really. I have had a bit of RL turmoil in the past month which has slowed me up a bit but I am still enthusiastic about the group challenge.

In fact although it is barely 4th July in LT time I have already completed my challenge for July having read both Wells and Rubens these past couple of days.

>12 PaulCranswick: excellent. (excellent=enthusiasm and books read, not so good about your real life trials of late)

Unfortunately none of our local libraries have a single book by Bernice Rubens. I'm not sure I have heard of her before, truthfully, though one or two book titles looked familiar. There is a friends of the library sale later this month and I will look for her then. Sometimes I get lucky. I run across a surprising number of British editions.

My Wells choice, In The Year of the Comet, may be a bit of a dud unfortunately. I guess this is why it is not one of his more famous ones, all of which I have read. I debated about reading his trip to the moon book but thought that might have aged even more poorly. I did love the film of it as a child and saw it many times even though I thought it preposterous even then. Cavorite!

Our main library once had an excellent selection of Wells works - I was rather surprised to come across it years ago. Unfortunately they seem to have all been purged except for a couple famous ones when the library went through a modernization a few years ago.

I've not read any Rubens so I've ordered two from the library: Milwaukee and The Sergeants Tale (which I see Paul has already read. I've read a few Wells (I think!) so might pass on him.

I think I've only listened to one H.G. Wells book, The War of the Worlds. I'll go with the audio of another of his that is on the 1001 list, The Invisible Man.

Having read The Sergeants' Tale, I have to agree with Kerry about her abilities as a novelist. Excellent effort indeed.

Well, I know I have a copy of The Elected Member somewhere. If I can find it (although I've tried and failed in the first round of searching) I will read that this month. I've done all the H. G. Wells I care to do in the past, so I'll give him a miss.

I finished Birds of Passage which I enjoyed. It does deal with a darker side to lonely widows being preyed on during a cruise, though this is more than made up for by Rubens' ability to bring even the dullest character to life on the page.

Nw reading The Sergeants'Tale - will be interesting to compare to After Before which dealt with the experienc of conscripts to the modern Israeli army.

I finished Rubens's The Elected Member tonight. I thought the ending was well written, but I didn't really enjoy getting there. As I recall, I felt much the same way about Mr. Wakefield's Crusade when I read it last year; I wonder if this will hold true for her other works?

The Sergeants' Tale by Bernice Rubens

In a recent review I roundly and I maintain justly criticised Timothy Findley for imputing the reputation of members of the British Royal family, which must have been grievous given the republican that I am!

Here, however, Ms. Rubens takes a real life event of some import to relations between the United Kingdom and the entity about to become Israel. This was the Irgun retaliatory hanging of two British Sergeants whilst three of their number had been sentenced and executed for "terrorist" activities. She realises the story with splendid aplomb and manages to be sympathetic to almost all sides in what was a terrible situation. Her characterisation is flawless and the story is put together with a beauty and a persuasiveness that will long linger in my memory.

I sense that Ms. Rubens was conflicted - she was Jewish and Welsh and I am sure would have been part of the Hagganah had her family found its way to Israel instead of being duped into a ticket for Cardiff all the time expecting to see the Statue of Liberty upon disembarkation.

The Palestine Mandate was a difficult period in British history - it was a role that Britain clearly didn't want nor were they equipped to deal with it - a number of their officers conducted themselves poorly whilst the majority just wanted to go home - the two sergeants too probably.

My first book by Bernice Rubens but it won't be the last. Strongly recommended.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Wells' first novel and the one that launched his reputation as the Father of British Science Fiction.

If you had a time machine would you go forward or backwards?

The protagonist here chose to go forward. I wish he'd gone back.

I read Mr Wakefield's Crusade by Bernice Rubens this month, which was a very odd kind of fish. This is to be expected I suppose, as everything I've read by Rubens so far has been quirky in the extreme, which is a quality that sets her writing apart. I particularly enjoyed her brand of dark humour in The Waiting Game, The Elected Member and Nine Lives, but for some reason this book made me feel uncomfortable. In retrospect, I see Rubens very intentionally manipulated the reader so he or she would share in the protagonist's sense of disconnect. The rest of my review is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/226586#5643843

I've still got a couple of books by Rubens on the tbr to look forward to and glad you included her on the BAC, Paul. I'm also grateful to Kerry for introducing me to Rubens a few years ago, when she had put Rubens on her categories challenge.

As for H. G. Wells, haven't read anything by him yet, but I think I'll go with The Island of Dr Moreau this month.

Milwaukee was the second Rubens I've read this month. From her hospice bed, Annie remembers her life, from a teenage pregnancy to the breakdown of her marriage. This is not a happy story. Rubens marries the sadness of the hospice with Annie's determination to explore her past. I do like how Rubens tackles difficult experiences in her books in a readable way.

I finished listening to The Invisible Man on audio. It was perfect for listening while doing a bit of driving on vacation. I'll definitely have to give some more of Wells' early SF a try.

I listened to The Island of Dr Moreau this week. I had a vague idea of what to expect and must say the experience was akin to watching a B-movie. Not bad, but fairly ridiculous.

Over the weekend I read Favours, which seems to be the U.S. title for A Five Year Sentence. (But why did they use the British spelling?!) My public library's choices were limited, and I selected this one because it was shortlisted for the Booker prize. It's a disturbing book. The protagonist was psychologically damaged during her years in a Catholic orphanage. Rubens spends a lot of time revealing what's going on in her head, and it's not a good place to be. There were a few funny scenes, but not enough to relieve the discomfort. I wish now that I had chosen The Sergeants' Tale instead.

Just got Sergeants' Tale in the mail today. I purchased a used copy and it is an ex-library copy from the Richmond Hill public library in Ontario, Canada. Cool.

I read Bernice Rubens Yesterday in the Back Lane. What happened in the back lane was a murder in self defense. A service man attempted to rape a teenage girl. She killed him but feels that she can't tell anyone. This action blights her life and many of the lives around her and Rubens explored this throughout the novel. It was interesting but sad.