The Wheels of Chance

Rating:
Summary: A comic masterpiece
Review: Follow Mr. Hoopdriver as he goes on a bicycling excursion through southern England in the 1890's. The language is difficult at times, but the laughs are huge. An interesting window into Victorian morality and social status in these early days of cycling.

Rating:
Summary: Slow rural idyll
Review: Mr Hoopdriver, an assistant draper from Putney (and Walter Mitty like character), goes on a cycling holiday to the south coast of England. He encounters a young female cyclist and her mysterious brother. But is he really her brother, and what secret is the young lady concealing?

This is an inoffensive, light novel by Wells. The setting meanders across southern England, and perhaps reflects a view of a rural England full of winding country lanes (with no cars) and with a liberal scattering of "ye olde inns". Hoopdriver and the other characters become entangled in various mishaps and adventures - there's a gentle humour to Wells's writing: the book has the feel of a condensed "Pickwick Papers".

There's nothing remarkable about "Wheels of Chance" - it might be of interest to readers wanting to explore Wells's non sci-fi writing or those seeking connection with a long-past England.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious romance on bicycles, through English countryside.
Review: One of H.G. Wells' earliest (and funniest) novels, THE WHEELS OF CHANCE is a whimsical romance between a Walter Mitty-like draper's assistant--one Mr. Hoopdriver--and the Young Lady in Grey, whom he encounters while on a bicycle trip. The entire breathless story takes place as the characters pedal over dirt roads through the English countryside, in the too-brief halcyon era between the invention of the bicycle and the advent of the automobile. The shy Mr. Hoopdriver perceives that the Young Lady in Grey is being seduced by a cad (also on a bicycle), and over the course of several days and many miles of cycling, gallantly comes to her aid. Together they take flight from the cad -- and from a stern step-mother, and a minister who have taken up the chase. With hilarious descriptions of the early days of cycling, delirious pastoral visions, a romping plot of high adventure (and a bit of silliness), and H. G. Wells' sublime prose, THE WHEELS OF CHANCE will find many happy readers in this automotive age.

Rating:
Summary: More Than a Science Fiction Writer
Review: Posterity has not been kind to H.G. Wells. It's true that his name is still one of the most easily recognizable in the literary world, but since his death in 1946 his contributions to mainstream writing, feminism, and politics (he wrote the United Nations charter) have been all but forgotten--instead he has simply become known as a "science fiction writer," a reputation based on a handful of novels written early in his career. Books like "The Time Machine" and "The War of the Worlds" are indeed marvelous, and are the key texts in the development of modern science fiction; but to limit Wells's accomplishment to these books borders on calumny. Wells was one of the major writers of the past hundred years, with an oeuvre so vast and varied a reader could spend a lifetime working through it all. There is truly something for everyone in the work of H.G. Wells.

"The Wheels of Chance" is a classic example. This pitch-perfect tale of a Mr. Hoopdriver, who undertakes a bicycling tour of the English countryside, has to be one of the most charming light novels ever written. Mr. Hoopdriver's holiday from his job as a draper's assistant (a job Wells himself held in his youth) becomes a kind of lighthearted spiritual quest, as he meets and falls in love with the rebellious Jessie Milton ("the Lady in Grey"), an early "New Woman"--a proto-feminist, one might say--whose daring elopement with a much older man has gone disastrously awry. Can Mr. Hoopdriver save her? Can Jessie salvage her reputation? These questions are answered in a tale which combines glorious descriptions of the pastoral England of a century ago with uproarious scenes of early bicycling and bicyclists. And yet this "Bicycling Idyll," as it is subtitled, also carries with it a genuine poignancy--we are always aware that the characters' journey must eventually end, just as, with the coming of the automobile, the world Wells described here ended.

"The Wheels of Chance" is brief, easy-to-read, and highly memorable. Indeed, it is surprising that this fast-moving, picaresque novel has never been filmed--a company like Merchant-Ivory could do a glorious job with it. In addition to being extraordinarily entertaining, "The Wheels of Chance" can also serve as an ideal introduction to the "other" novels of the man so many of us think of simply as a "science fiction writer." And the best fact of all is that, if the reader enjoys "The Wheels of Chance," there is a huge wealth of Wells fiction available for further enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant tale of 19th Century British society
Review: This early H.G. Wells' tale is about a 20-something year old man who has a job as a draper's assistant, a job which he is probably too old for. Loaded with poor self esteem and a second class status, poor Mr. Hoopdriver takes a ten day holiday. On this holiday he falls for a young socialite named Jessie who is rebelling against her stepmother and society. The tale has many interesting insights into the "proper" behavior of a British socialite. For example, late in the story one of Wells' characters says you must live fearlessly and honestly, but only as long as you do what everyone else expects of you and avoid doing extravagent things. The tale is also funny at times as it describes early bike riders trying to ride poorly designed bicycles. Though generally easy enough to read and follow, there are times when some words will baffel the reader.