|
|
|
|
He Dreamed the Future: A Profile of H.G. Wells |
| Section: BOOK WORLD / WRITERS AND WRITING |
| Author: Ed Morrow |
| Publication: The world & I online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2004 |
| Size: 5,327 Words, 33,286 Characters |
|
It began with a tango and ended with the raucous cawing of busy ravens feasting on dead Martians in Central Park. In between, about four million Americans were treated to the greatest Halloween trick of all time--the Mercury Theater on the Air's October 30, 1938, radio adaptation of H.G. Wells' 1898 novel The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles, founder and director of the Mercury group, decided that a special Halloween broadcast might attract listeners away from his program's competition, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Wells' story of Martians invading Earth had been set in late-nineteenth-century England. It had used places familiar to its British readers as the locations for the Martians' landing, the panicked mobs, and the horrific battles, with the haunting ending set in an empty...
. . .
... true. Instead, his scolding tracts are forgotten. Rather, it has been his early adventurous stories that have endured. Though they are now as dated as a celluloid collar or a gas lamp, they contain visions of things that are unknown, fearful, wonderful, and strange but always rooted in reason. This is why Orson Welles found it easy to terrify a nation with one of them. They are ripping yarns.
(806 of 33,286 characters)
Do you want to read
the whole article? You can
purchase it here.
Subscriber Login |
|
|
Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
|
The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
|
Individual Subscription
|
 |
|
|
|
College Orders (based
on full-time enrollment) |
|
-
2 to 5 Computers |
|
-
Up to 1,000 Students |
|
-
1,001 to 2,500 Students |
|
-
2,501 to 5,000 Students |
|
-
5,001 to 10,000 Students |
|
-
10,001 or More Students |
|
|
|
Public Library Orders |
|
-
2 to 5 Computers |
|
-
6 to 50 Computers |
|
-
51 to 100 Computers |
|
For over 100
computers, call 866-211-6040. |
|
|
