If not a Window, at Least a Peephole

86 evaluation of a very complex, mercurial intelligence and temperament, Dickson in his conclusion writess "What one sees in [Wells'] life is the almost complete absence of any moral values. I do not mean only his own sexual behavior. I mean that he seems to have had no idea of the moral resources of humanity, that essence which makes men endure the accidents and threats of existence and still endure." This is a strange, contradictory statement in view of Dickson's own emphasis on the sustained moral courage with which Wells met a host of vicissitudes. In spite of his disclaimer, Dickson does base this judgment largely on Wells* sexual irregularities, which were no worse than those of most other literary men of prominence, except that they were, because of Wells' curiously naive and idealistic attitude toward women, more public. Dickson implies strongly that Wells through these affairs broke the heart of his wife, Jane, and wrecked the life of his family. Relevant material in the Wells archive at Illinois show that this implication simply is not true. A curious shift occurs in Dickson's attitude toward his subject in the course of the book. He begins with unreserved admiration and sympathy but ends on a solidly negative note in his estimate of Wells as a man. A distasteful aspect of Dickson's book is the distinctly gossipy, even fictional, note he strikes frequently. He writes, for instance, concerning Wells' feelings toward Amber Reevess "All the ardour, the pressing demands, were now on H. G.'s side, and it was he who was anxious for marriage, and she who saw that their association could not be continued without pain and distress to everyone." He illustrates Wells' attitude toward Rebecca West with an actual (undocumented ) quotes "'She was the only woman,' he was to say later in life, 'who ever made me stop and wonder when she said, 'Look.'" Of Wells' marriage to Jane, he writess "He knew how much he owed her; he acknowledged it at the same time he resented it, for he knew too how much their marriage had finally failed, and at the heart of it what hollowness there was." How does he know these things? We are never told. A biographer has a right to his own interpretations , but surely it is not pure pedantry to demand some kind of documentation of intimate revelations of this nature. Consequently, even though Dickson's book may be welcomed on the grounds I indicated at the beginning, we still must wait for the responsible, definitive biography promised by Gordon N. Ray that this fascinating, gifted man so richly deserves. University of Illinois at Urbana Harris Wilson 5. IF NOT A WINDOW, AT LEAST A PEEPHOLE. H. G. Wells, The Wealth of Mr. Waddy. ed. Harris Wilson. Carbondale ; Southern Illinois UP, I969. $5.95. From the H. G. Wells collection in the University of Illinois archive has emerged The Wealth of Mr. Waddy, an unfinished novel Wells though 87 had been destroyed. Originally this work was Intended as the first volume In a projected trilogy In which Klpps was to be the second volume. Whereas Klpps was published in 1905, The Wealth of Mr. Waddy remained Incomplete and, thought to be lost, was abandoned by Wells. In his Introductory comments to his edition of this work, Harris Wilson competently discusses the background of the piece, notes Its differences from Klpps. and properly suggests its underlying satire of the sentimental novel. Although Mr. Wilson's edition Is not a variorum textual study, one can readily observe certain facets of Wells, the artist, at work. As an aspect of his accretive approach to writing. It is fascinating to observe him decide on a particular characteristic for a personage in the novel and then work it Into the story again and again. Chltterlow*s hair is a case In point. From the fact that most of his comments concerning Chltterlow's hair are holographic Inserts in the typescript we can deduce that at some time late In the composition of The Wealth of Mr. Waddy Wells saw an opportunity for humor as well as for the further characterization of Mr. Waddy through the...