The History of Mr. Polly by HG Wells – author of War of The Worlds https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/03/war-of-worlds-by-h-g-wells-once-upon.html and a few other popular novels - 9 out of 10

 

The History of Mr. Polly by HG Wells – author of War of The Worlds https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/03/war-of-worlds-by-h-g-wells-once-upon.html and a few other popular novels

 

9 out of 10

 

The History of Mr. Polly is included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, in the Family and Self section, and HG Wells has another four books on the aforementioned compilation, of which I am familiar with War of The Worlds, The Time Machine and The Invisible Man  https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-invisible-man-by-h-g-wells-future.html

 

I was under the false impression that HG Wells wrote science fiction, but Mr. Polly comes as a wonderful surprise, not only was it a joy to read, but the cherry on top was that I have found quite a few similarities with the hero, hence making this a story in which I could envisage myself, not resorting to arson, but most of other aspects

Alfred Polly is characterized as an anti-hero, hence I should distance myself from him, deleting the above, and considering a stern criticism, but it is closer to the truth in this way, as a ‘hero’, the main character would have been distant from me, as it is, we are closer, with exceptions, I do not intend to set fire to anything

 

Our fictional man meets this interesting young woman, who jumps over a fence, and then they start talking, he is infatuated to a certain extent, then, when he thinks this is the princess and he is the knight in shining armor, we see that she was in fact playing a game, natural for her age, and then we all do that…

There is a psychology classic called Games People Play https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/09/games-people-play-by-eric-berne.html by Eric Berne, and the most common would be If It Weren’t For You, found in couples, married ones mostly, where the blame is placed in the wrong place, we tend to select somebody who will keep us from doing what we do not want to do in the first place, but now we have a culprit…

 

The girl that Alfred Polly liked has brought somebody along, so that they can fun together, listening to what the man says, and ‘the bottom fell out of our hero’s happiness’, words to that effect, and so miserable is he as a result, that he tries to find solace with his relatives, the cousins, especially Miriam Larkins

Mr. Polly had inherited money from his father, and he is encouraged to get a shop, he ponders over the idea and becomes adventurous, when he moves on to buy a property, only in another town, upsetting his landlords, who were counting on having him as tenant for a long time, maybe gaining other profits in the process

 

He marries Miriam on some impulse, it is a mistake, he is probably (nay, surely) humiliated by the scene with the girl he was so fond of, and he plans to rebound by marrying, taking this shop, and starting afresh, along those lines, but as we see, the marital life is an unhappy one, opposites do not attract as that proverb has it

I mean, it is wrong, just like most, or all proverbs, Miriam finds his reading not just useless, but an obstacle, instead of working harder, he is ‘lazy’, spending money and time on second hand volumes, which the wife contemplates burning, only she is thrifty, and does not do that, nonetheless, it is not a good connection

 

Alfred Polly can see that he is trapped, and what is worse, his spouse does not love, or even like him (maybe I should put in anymore, only she may have thought she likes him, or just wanted to get married, at a time when that was not just a priority, but something of a necessity) and thus he needs to find a solution

He is depressed and then suicidal, what is the point of this life – actually, it could seem vain, I have read somewhere, or maybe I am just making this up, that without a God, religion, that purpose, then there is nothing left as significance, we just move around aimlessly – when looking for a sense, he finds none, and so he decides he has to end it

 

End all, and his life, but he proves to be magnanimous, for he thinks of his wife, he does not love her, there is animosity and worse there, but he could not just kill himself, and leave her with huge debts, oh, incidentally, I forgot that he (both) is facing bankruptcy, but his exit could solve a few problems, if he does it properly

He is insured for commercial and something else I have forgotten, so the plan is to cut his throat, because it would probably not be so painful, but set the house on fire first, so that Miriam would get the money and then she could start again, have a good, new life, and he will have ended his problems so he sets to action

 

However, it does not work the way he had envisaged, for an accident makes him get the paraffin on fire, he tries to set things in the proper order, and eventually, the fire is extending, and in his munificence (yes, we have to first state that he is an arsonist, first and foremost, but well, I like him, so I forgive him) he tries to save the neighbor

From a villain, he becomes a hero, he had had bad relationships with all around, I also forgot to mention that, and it is crucial, it also explains that depression, a good social life is essential, solitude is more deadly than smoking, studies have shown, so they now consider getting him a medal, the former foes are now friends

Still, Alferd Polly moves on, he travels and finds a place where he starts working, he likes it, it is a major change, maybe he found his calling, even if he has a major clash, literal and metaphorical with Uncle Jim, and to conclude, I was taken by Mr. Polly and His History

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”