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nwhyte 's review for:
The History of Mr. Polly
by H.G. Wells
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3752243.html
I have been curious about this book since I was ten. In the summer of 1977, Roy Castle did a series of children's programmes for the BBC on musicals, two of which particularly stuck with me: Salad Days, which had had a revival the previous year, and the last in the series, The History of Mr Polly. At the end of each episode, which was a synopsis of the plot with a few of the songs being performed, Roy Castle would tell us the production history of each musical's performances, except that in the case of Mr Polly, "There's only been one". Rather than in the West End, this was at the newly opened Churchill Theatre in Bromley, H.G. Wells' home town, starring Roy Castle himself in the title role and with some impressive firepower - script by (Lord) Ted Willis, music co-written by Ivor Slaney who did most of the Double Deckers music, directed by veteran TV director Wallace Douglas. But I don't think any of it survives beyond the printed programme leaflet, and apart from its being Wells' birthplace, Bromley, with all due respect, is an odd location for a stage show starring Roy Castle, then at the height of his powers.
Anyway, forty-four years on, I got the original novel. And I must say I was captivated. Very briefly, Mr Polly is a middle-class chap who makes bad choices in terms of career and marriage. At the start of the book he is consumed by frustration at his situation, and we spend the next few chapters exploring how precisely he got to where he is. He determines to burn down his own shop and commit suicide as it falls around him. But that does not go entirely according to plan, and he undergoes an improbable but really delightful redemption. I don't completely recommend it - I think Wells is laughing at his protagonist's pretensions a bit too much for my comfort - but I like this a lot more than Tono-Bungay, which is my only other non-sf Wells so far.
I have been curious about this book since I was ten. In the summer of 1977, Roy Castle did a series of children's programmes for the BBC on musicals, two of which particularly stuck with me: Salad Days, which had had a revival the previous year, and the last in the series, The History of Mr Polly. At the end of each episode, which was a synopsis of the plot with a few of the songs being performed, Roy Castle would tell us the production history of each musical's performances, except that in the case of Mr Polly, "There's only been one". Rather than in the West End, this was at the newly opened Churchill Theatre in Bromley, H.G. Wells' home town, starring Roy Castle himself in the title role and with some impressive firepower - script by (Lord) Ted Willis, music co-written by Ivor Slaney who did most of the Double Deckers music, directed by veteran TV director Wallace Douglas. But I don't think any of it survives beyond the printed programme leaflet, and apart from its being Wells' birthplace, Bromley, with all due respect, is an odd location for a stage show starring Roy Castle, then at the height of his powers.
Anyway, forty-four years on, I got the original novel. And I must say I was captivated. Very briefly, Mr Polly is a middle-class chap who makes bad choices in terms of career and marriage. At the start of the book he is consumed by frustration at his situation, and we spend the next few chapters exploring how precisely he got to where he is. He determines to burn down his own shop and commit suicide as it falls around him. But that does not go entirely according to plan, and he undergoes an improbable but really delightful redemption. I don't completely recommend it - I think Wells is laughing at his protagonist's pretensions a bit too much for my comfort - but I like this a lot more than Tono-Bungay, which is my only other non-sf Wells so far.