Ironic Contradictions

It has arisen to my attention that this interesting work of fiction demands from me its own review. In fact I don't believe I have attended to many of Mr Wells' works as of this stage of my existence. This shall have to be amended once I have taken over the world holidays...

I appreciate H.G.Wells' work immensely but for some odd reason I like this less than I like The Invisible Man. Perhaps it is the psychological horror prevalent in his other noted novel - the idea of a man being alienated and outcast because of a terrible scientific accident - which grips me more. Or perhaps it is simply an act of my natural maturity. That if I were to go and re-read this work I would find new depths in it to add it to my favourite classic works.

There has always remained one aspect of this text however that has always made me a little frustrated. Normally I would never complain about deus-ex-machina in any work of fiction. After all look at how many brilliant authors such as Douglas Adams are able to combine such an effect with humour. Yet the ending is such a blatant deus-ex-machina act that stunned me when I first read it and left me going: as if. Yes the ending is at the same time a brilliant and realistic attempt to convey what would likely happen to unprepared invaders from outer space. However I cannot help feeling that H.G.Wells let me down (perhaps I was expecting some grand finale with explosions, action and people dying rather than the way he chooses to end his work). Yet there seemed something wrong about having his protagonist discover that the intruders had been defeated by the common cold.

I think it is perhaps the ending of this book which has annoyed me the most out of any great book I have read. And it is perhaps the reason for my love/hate relationship with the text. Yet I will in the future return to this work to see if time has altered my perceptions and whether with greater literary maturity behind me I can appreciate the hidden nuances of Wells' prose.