Putnam patriot., 1923-06-08
MEN LIKE GODS" H. G. Wells

More than a little of the H. c. Wells of old. the H. c. Wells who wrote "The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds" and the rest of a long line of entertaining romances is to be found in his new fantasy, "Men Like Gcds," says Louise Maun- sell in the International Book Review. But the socialistic author of New Worlds for Old" appears in it even more prominently. For this new book embodies Mir. Wells's latest dream of Utopia, of the kind of world which may he evolved eat of this present disorganized one some three thousand years or so hence, when society shall have passed out of its present age of confusion"
 But the Utopia to which Mir. Barn staple, subeditor of psssimistie weekly paper. the Liberal. an "organ of the more depressing aspects of advanced thought" paid an all-too- brief visit. was not on this earth at all, but upon another-though in some ways very similar-planet. Through an extremely complicated experiment, which had te do with space sild gravi- ty, performed by two scientifically daring Utopians, three motor cars, more or less peacefully traversing the Maidenhead Road near Slough. were suddenly removed into this other planet, with their occupants. And certain of these occupants were very well-known persons, of much more importance in the world from which they had come than was Mir. Barn staple. There were Mir. Cecil Bur leigh. the great conservative leader Mir. Rupert Catskiii. Secretary of State for War: Father Amerton. the noted preacher, who was ESQ dread fully outspoken about the sins of society" and the famous beauty, Lady Stella. These and one or two others had been in one of the trans ported ears; Che third contained a mo- tion-picture millionaire. Miss Greeta Gay of the music halls, a Frenehman and an American, both important in the motion-picture world.
 The various effects npen these dia- erent people of their sudden arrival in the beautiful. orderly and serene Utopia, have been cleverly and often very entertainingly described. For. except for Mir. Barnstaple himself, an open-minded gentleman of naturally hopeful disposition. and none too well satisfied with affairs as they are con ducted on earth. no one of the earth lings" really liked Utopia and the Utopians. Father Amerton, who had the habit of mind of public cen sor," deeply disapproved of the yir.u- al nudity of the Utopians' lovely bodies, and told them so with the ut most violence, whereupon they repli- ed that his imagination was evidently unframed and diseased" MT. Rupert Catskill thought their views on the elimination of "confiicts and distress es'' and so forth entirely mistaken. For one reason or another, most of the party decided that the proper thing to do with Utopia was to turn it into earth, or at .eas. make 1t like earth. as rapidly as possible.
 All this part of the narrative, with it's action, is most entertaining; but Mir. Wells deserts it rather quickly to return to descriptions-descriptions repeated somewhat too often-of the serene beauty of life in Utopia. There is much--the account of the elimination of disease, for instance which is entirely plausible, but it can not be said that the novel as a whole is convincing, considered as a scheme of social reconstruction. Too many quite obvious difficulties are either glossed over, or ignored altogether. But the removing of the scene of ac- ton to another planet, where the climate permits of a complete absence of clothing, and makes unnecessary many things which are necessities in most parts of the earth. also enables the author to indulge his fancy at will. Although he has permitted him. self rather much. toe. of repetition, ii Is a lovely world of dreams come true that Mir Wells has pictured for us, d. well as world of physical loveliness.