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A Man of Parts by David LodgeREADING GUIDE

Book Synopsis

Sequestered in his blitz-battered Regents Park house in 1944,

the ailing Herbert George Wells, H.G. to his family and friends,looks back on a life crowded with incident, books and women.

Once he was the most famous writer in the world, the manwho invented tomorrow, now he feels like yesterdays man,deserted or disparaged by readers, and depressed by the collapseof his utopian dreams for mankind.

He recalls his unpromising start in life, and early struggles; hisplunge into socialist politics; his belief in free love, and energeticpractice of it. Arguing with himself about his conduct, he relives

his relationship with two wives and many mistresses, especiallythe brilliant student Amber Reeves and the gifted writer RebeccaWest, both of whom bore his children, with dramatic and long-lasting consequences.

Unfolding this astonishing life story, David Lodge achieves a riveting portrait of a man who embodiedas many contradictions as he had talents: a socialist who enjoyed his afuence, a feminist womaniser,sensual yet incurably romantic, irresistible and exasperating by turns, but always vitally human.

Reviews

Excellent... scrupulous and scholarly ... It bounds along terrically Guardian

Consistently absorbing and enjoyable. I doubt whether a better way could have been found to bring thephenomenon that was H. G. Wells to life Standpoint

Curiously engrossing. Its power is cumulative: there are no ashes of startling moments, just a slowunfolding of friendships and feuds, plots and counter plots Daily Telegraph

A clever kind of half-genre, somewhere between ction and fact, very much back in vogue with British

writers ... funny and powerful GQ

A treat of a read, not least because of the wonderful, rolling ease with which Lodge writes. Or, rather,with which it reads - prose like this does not come without effort Daily Mail

David Lodges novel goes straight to the heart of the story... it is pure fun Evening Standard

Author Biography

David Lodge was born in South London in 1935. He studied at London University and BirminghamUniversity, where he started teaching English Literature in 1960, the same year as his rst novel, ThePicturegoers, was published. He has published 15 novels, including Changing Places, Small World,Nice Work,Author, Authorand Deaf Sentence, and numerous works of non-ction. He has been twiceshortlisted for the Booker Prize.

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Starting Points for your Discussions

Who would read a novel if we were permitted to write biography all out? asked H.G. Wells in 1934. AMan of Parts is a biographical novel. Why might the author choose to write about a real persons life inthis ctional form? What freedoms might imaginatively exploring the gaps between biographical factsallow?All the characters in this novel are real, but many of their encounters and exchanges are imagined.

What do you think about this blurring of fact and ction? How does it affect your enjoyment of thenovel, not knowing what the author has invented and what is based on research and fact?At the beginning of the novel an ageing H.G. Wells looks back on his life. The author employs a questionand answer format that sees H.G. interview himself about the decisions he has made in his life. Did yound this method effective? How does H.G. view his own history and are we being presented with anuntrustworthy or unreliable viewpoint? Did you empathise with the ageing H.G.?The novel focuses primarily on the period between the publication ofThe Time Machine in 1895 andOutline of Historyin 1919. Is the H.G Wells revealed here the man you might have imagined from

reading his early science ction novels like The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Manand The Island of Doctor Moreau?

What have you learnt from the novel about H.G. Wellss life and writing that surprised you?H.G Wells is depicted as a champion of socialism and womens rights but also a seducer of youngwomen who courted scandal with his open marriage. What other contradictions do we nd in thenovel?What was your response to the depiction of the women in the novel? Are they a comic catalogue ofinnocents in thrall to the successful and scholarly Wells? Or are they feisty, intelligent women exploringsexual liberation at the dawn of socialism? How did you feel about Wells long-suffering wife, Jane?David Lodge is regarded as one of our great comic writers, and is well-known for satirical novels such asSmall Worldand Nice Work. Did you nd humour inA Man of Parts? Did it make you laugh?

Suggested Further Reading and Resources

Experiment in Autobiographyby H.G. Wells

Tono-Bungayby H.G. Wells

Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells

The Correspondence of H.G. Wells edited by David C. Smith

Henry James and H.G. Wells: a Record of their Friendship, their Debate on the Art of Fiction and their Quarreledited by Leon Edel and Gordon N. Ray)

Author, Authorby David Lodge

The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novelby David Lodge

The H. G. Wells Society website: http://hgwellsusa.50megs.com/

Daily Telegraph interview with David Lodge about the novel: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/8466845/A-Page-in-the-Life-David-Lodge.html

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Bibliography (all available from Vintage Books or Vintage Classics)

A Man of Parts 9780099556084

Changing Places 9780099554172

Small World9780099554165

Nice Work9780099554189

The British Museum is Falling Down 9780099554226

Ginger, Youre Barmy9780099554134

How far Can You Go? 9780099554141

Out of the Shelter9780099554158

Paradise News 9780099554233

Therapy9780099554196

The Art of Fiction 9780099554240

The Practice of Writing 9780099554257

The Campus Trilogy9780099529132