The writing styles of 2 prominent british science fiction authors

"Science fiction is one of the more secluded parade grounds where private fantas
y and public event meet. They call it entertainment". (Aldiss Billion 1) This
quote is interpreted to mean that, in the genre of science fiction there is a f
usion of fantasy and reality. It is this combination of two opposites that prod
uces the novel categorized today as science fiction.
There is one aspect of science fiction that separates it from any other genre.
Science fiction can be written as fantasy one day, and read as scientific fact t
he next. Jules Verne has written about man setting foot on the moon. When read
by its original readers the idea of space travel was not a reality. It is now c
ommon knowledge that man has walked on the moon, and when this novel is read tod
ay no longer is space travel considered to be imaginary.
Skillful science fiction novelists brilliantly blend fantasy with reality, compo
sing a very fine line between the two perceptions. When reading, one sometimes
does not even realize when the author makes the transition from a plausible conc
ept to a ludicrous one.
Science fiction is a relatively new term. Novels were first categorized this wa
y towards the close of the 1920's. This word was first utilized in short stori
es that appeared in the pulp magazines, of the era. The phrase "science fiction
" was considered an enhancement of the term scientifiction. However several Brit
ish novels were categorized as scientific romances before the 1920's. (Aldiss T
rillion 27)
Before Frankenstein the only forms of science fiction were "the plays of Aristop
hanes or some Myrenaean fragment concerning the flight to the sun on a goose's b
ack." (Aldiss Billion 2) In these fantasies there is no blend of reality and f
antasy, it is pure fantasy. There is no one story that is accepted to be the
first science fiction tale. Science fiction as perceived today originated with
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. (Aldiss Trillion 18)
Mary Shelley was the wife of the famous British poet, Percy Bysshe Shell
ey and daughter of Mary Wollenstonecraft. She was born in 1797 and her mother d
ied soon after birth. Mary Wollenstonecraft married her husband at the age of f
ifteen. She produced her most famous novel entitled Frankenstein at the age of
nineteen. It was published in 1818. (Ash 178)
The origin of the novel came to Shelley in a dream, in which she says sh
e saw "the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of
some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy half vital mot
ion" (Bleiler 6)
The story starts with several letters written by Captain Walton to his sister.
Walton has been navigating the Arctic ocean when he observes a sledge being push
ed by a gigantic body. The day after the crew saves Victor Frankenstein from Ge
neva from a similar sledge. After Victor has recuperated, he recounts his tale
to Walton. This account is the largest section of the book. The novel also inc
ludes six chapters of the creature explaining his life. (Bleiler 5) Mary's sty
le of narration appears to be very puzzling. However the first reader's of Fran
kenstein were very familiar with this style of narration. (Aldiss Billion 21)
Shelley brilliantly includes how the monster feels. She analyzes the mo
nster psychologically. "One of Frankenstein's greatest merits is that its tale
of exterior adventure and misfortune is always accompanied by a psychological de
pth." (Aldiss Billion 25)
Throughout the story the readers main interest revolves around Frankenst
ein's creation. The creature is never given a name, it was referred to in the s
tory as "creature," "daemon," or "monster." For this reason Frankenstein has be
en thought to be the monster, when he was the creator.
One everlasting fascination of the novel are its ambiguities, Frankenste
in is never seen throwing the switch to give his creation life. The language of
the novel makes it very easy to confuse the two main roles and believe that Fr
ankenstein is the creature. Shelley also frequently describes Victor Frankenste
in as if he were the monster. "We... restored him to animation...As soon as he
showed signs of life we wrapped him up in blankets. I often feared that his suf
fering had deprived him of understanding... He is generally melancholy and despa
iring...." This is not Shelley describing the monster, but Shelley describing V
ictor. (Aldiss Trillion 42)
Mary structured much of the book around intelligence. Victor Frankenste
in is not the only character in the novel searching for knowledge, throughout th
e book Walton and the monster are also looking for enlightenment. (Bleiler 7)
"The monster, product of guilty knowledge, threatens the world with evil progeny
." (Bleiler 7)
Frankenstein is yet another work of science fiction which was not thought to be
realistically possible by most people until recently. This is an excerpt from c
riticism of science fiction authors, written just 15 years ago "Even today, when
our diet is the unlikely, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein seems extremely far fetche
d, how much more so must it have appeared on publication in 1818." (Bleiler 3)
Mary Shelly was one of the few that thought it might be possible to give life t
o an inanimate creature. "The event on which this fiction is founded has been s
upposed, by Dr. Darwin and some of the physiological writers of Germany as not o
f impossible occurrence."(Shelley xxvii)
Today with the advancements recently made with cloning, it almost seems possible
to create a life form from inanimate objects. Because scientists are able to c
lone a sheep, monkey, and theoretically a human, it makes it seem very plausible
that a work of fiction, such as Frankenstein might eventually become reality.
"The attention psychoanalysis has drawn to the few but powerful archetypal figur
es in the psyche paved a way for the acceptance of diverse arts-surrealism, phot
ography, cinema, and science fiction, where aliens, robots, spaceships, planets,
and so on act as counters in a complex mental game. A character landing on the
moon can be a symbol of conquest, of fulfillment, or of alienation, depending o
n context. Writers perhaps understand this more readily than mainstream critics
, who do not always distinguish between characters and personages. Wells had th
e new language off from the start." (Aldiss Trillion 117)
Herbert George Wells was born in the suburbs of London in a place called Bromley
. After failed attempts at being a tailor's and chemist's apprentice he won a s
cholarship to the Normal School of Science. He studied there for about one year
. Wells then tried to become a teacher, but failed. It was as a last resort wh
en he turned toward a writing profession in which he enjoyed overnight success.
(Ash 204)
Wells originated many commonly used science fictional ideas. He was the first w
riter to ever use evolution as a way to look back in time, as well as forward.
In his novel entitled The Grisly Folk Wells tells the story of mankind strugglin
g against the primitive Neanderthals. He also wrote a book called A Story of th
e Stone Age. Wells was the first to look far into the worlds past as well as it
s future. (Aldiss Trillion 120)
Wells had three main qualities that made him the literary success that h
e was. He was an inquiring person and searched for knowledge in all of his stor
ies. Wells also had the natural ability to observe the world the way it is, wit
h no prejudices or biased opinions. He also avoided writing lead characters in
any one of his novels. This did not permit the reader to identify with the pers
on and accept anything offered. (Aldiss Trillion 120)
War of the Worlds was first published in 1897. It is the story of Martian invad
ers that landed on earth. It is told by an Englishman who observes the invaders
moving in on London, while the army is doing everything they can to hold them o
ff. London is quickly evacuated before the invaders die, they were killed by co
mmon microbes.
Wells does not reveal the Martians appearance until over halfway into th
e book. When they are seen, they are horrific looking. (Aldiss Trillion 121)
"They were, I now saw, the most unearthly creatures it is possible to conceive.
They were huge round bodies-or rather, heads-about for feet in diameter, each b
ody having in front of it a face. This face had no nostrils-indeed the Martians
do not seem to have any sense of smell, but it had a pair of very large dark-co
loured eyes, and just beneath this a kind of fleshy beak. In the back of this h
ead or body-I scarcely know how to speak of it-was a single tight tympanic surfa
ce, since known to be anatomically an ear, though it must have been almost usele
ss in our denser air. In a group round the mouth were sixteen slender, almost w
hip-like tentacles, arranged in two bunches of eight each." (Wells 111)
Wells used three standards to produce The War of the Worlds. He writes about th
e present day. While the reader recognizes the time as his own, he is being tra
ined to except the far fetched appearance of what follows. (Aldiss Trillion 122
) This is the method Wells uses to create the fine line between fantasy and rea
lity that was discussed earlier in this report. Secondly, he incorporates the
newer scientific discoveries into his work, such as the theory of evolution, and
microorganisms. Lastly he creates a society like todays that welcomes criticis
m of itself and of mankind. (Aldiss Trillion 122)
"Wells spoke of two kinds of thinking, directed and undirected thought. In The
Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1931), Wells talks in chapter two of dire
cted thought as something which enters philosophy with Plato and which defines t
he scientific aspect of modern civilization. Undirected thought is a sort of mu
zzy version of thinking, imaginative play, almost what we would call a hypnoid s
tate." (Aldiss Trillion 121)
"Wells's writing moves gradually from undirected to directed thought. From a fi
ction capable of ironic and ambivalent tolerances to a functional fiction direct
ed towards proof and prediction." (Aldiss Trillion 121)
Science fiction is not classified as an entity. It is the similar writing accom
plishments of many men and women, which for handiness we categorize these author
s under the label of science fiction. Many authors resent the classification; m
any take pride in it. (Aldiss Trillion 20)
Science fiction is considered to be one of the great literary successes of the
later half twentieth century. Like authors of any other genre, science fictio
n writers are considered to be artists. (Aldiss Trillion 13) It is clear that
Wells and Shelly should be considered more then just good writers of their time
. They should be considered brilliant artists that have created many masterpiec
es.