Tono-Bungay

by H.G. Wells, Edward Mendelson (Introduction), Patrick Parrinder (Editor)

Presented as a miraculous cure-all, Tono-Bungay is in fact nothing other than a pleasant-tasting liquid with no positive effects. Nonetheless, when the young George Ponderevo is employed by his uncle Edward to help market this ineffective medicine, he finds his life overwhelmed by its sudden success. Soon the worthless substance is turned into a formidable fortune as society becomes convinced of the merits of Tono-Bungay through a combination of skilled advertising and public credulity.

-Includes a newly established text, a full biographical essay on Wells, a list of further reading, and detailed notes
-Edward Mendelson's introduction explores the many ways in which Tono-Bungay satirizes the fictions and delusions that shape modern life

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction, Literature, British Literature, Novels, 20th Century

414 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.

He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.

More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...

http://www.online-literature.com/well...

http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two points about this odd, sour, sometimes zippy but more often quite tedious novel that Wells thought was his greatest work.

I really love that well-known guide 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Horribly, it’s true book porn, all those mug shots of authors who I hardly thought had faces at all (ee cummings, Thomas Mann), some of which seem to be chosen to be the least flattering as possible (Peter Esterhazy, Mario Puzo). But sometimes this book seems to be playing games with us. Do they really really deep down in their hearts think everyone should read Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit by John Lyly (1578) or Aithiopika by Heliodorus (250 AD)? And sometimes the short essay about the book in question seems, well, quite off-putting. As is the case with Tono-Bungay. They say

The work is loosely structured, replete with often suspect or woolly generalisations about the state of England and contains various anti-Semitic and racist features.

And ends up with

Wells seems to be almost in love with the cynical greed that he depicts

As recommendations go, I have read more enthusiastic.

Second, this novel has comedy sections and serious sections, there’s no mistaking one for the other, the gear changes are screechingly loud, and the story of George’s first marriage is very serious, almost the best part. He is a very inexperienced young man and falls in love with a woman named Marion. She doesn’t seem so keen on him but he turns up the pressure until they get married. Only then does he find out she has a horror of physical contact. But there’s more :

I do still recall as the worst and most disastrous aspect of all that time, her absolute disregard of her own beauty. It’s the pettiest thing to record, I know, but she could wear curl-papers in my presence. It was her idea, too, to “wear out” her old clothes and her failures at home when “no one was likely to see her” – “no one” being myself. She allowed me to accumulate a store of ungracious and slovenly memories.

Poor George. Then I remembered a Burt Bacharach song from 1963 called "Wives and Lovers". It covers the same territory. Here’s how it goes:

Hey, little girl, comb your hair, fix your makeup
Soon he will open the door
Don't think because there's a ring on your finger
You needn't try anymore
For wives should always be lovers too
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you
I'm warning you

Day after day there are girls at the office
And men will always be men
Don't send him off with your hair still in curlers
You may not see him again

Could be Hal David, the lyricist, had been reading Tono-Bungay or maybe just reflecting on his own life. When the great Burt died in February I didn’t notice this one was listed amongst his greatest works. Can’t think why.



Look how serious Jack is about warning you girls!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a number of H.G. Wells's early sci-fi novels. This is the first time I have read one of his "other" novels, and I am surprised to see that it is by far his best work. Tono-Bungay is a bildungsroman about growing up poor in Victorian England and making one's way in the world by a combination of luck, good and bad.

The good luck is hero George Ponderevo's association with his uncle Edward, the inventor of a nostrum called Tono-Bungay. He brings his nephew George in with him and becomes a fantastically rich financier -- until ... until the whole thing comes undone.

The bad luck consists of George's three attempts at love. He marries, but it ends in a kind of listless divorce. Then there is a bright affair with a secretary, but that goes nowhere. Finally, there is Beatrice Normandy, whom George knew from his childhood. Unfortunately, she had made her accommodation in a lazy ongoing relationship with an English lord.

There are times when the novel seems to lose its way, as if Wells was not used to writing a 400-page novel, but he keeps coming back:

Don't imagine that I am coming presently to any sort of solution of my difficulties. Here among my drawings and hammerings NOW, I still question unanswering problems. All my life has been at bottom, SEEKING, disbelieving always, dissatisfied always with the thing seen and the thing believed, seeking something in toil, in force, in danger, something whose name and nature I do not clearly understand, something beautiful, worshipful, enduring, mine profoundly and fundamentally, and the utter redemption of myself; I don't know—all I can tell is that it is something I have ever failed to find.

I will continue to read more of Wells's sci-fi novels, but I think I will also check out Kipps and The History of Mr. Polly.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Tono-Bungay’ is a story of the English class system, social mores and social climbing. More specifically, it is a story of capitalism, the advertising industry and the generation of income / creation of wealth based on the sale and promotion of pointless, ineffective products that the buying public never knew they ‘needed’ until they were actually told that they (apparently) did. The novel explores the moral dilemmas intrinsic to this process and looks at the very thin line between advertising / creative marketing and fraud.

It is against this backdrop that ‘Tono-Bungay’ follows the emotional life and development of main protagonist George Ponderevo, his various relationships and their associated challenges. It looks at George’s disillusionment with religion and the moral questions thrown up by the business ‘opportunities’ offered to him throughout. Along with his entertaining aeronautical adventures and endeavours, the parts of ‘Tono-Bungay’ concentrating on George’s relationships are for me the most convincing and compelling parts of the novel.

Where ‘Tono-Bungay’ works less well is as political / social satire, an attempt that for me isn’t quite as successful as perhaps it could be. The metaphors here (e.g. village / estate / London / voyage down the Thames) as microcosms of society / life etc, are either too obvious, blunt or just don’t work as well as they should do.

Where the novel is more successful is as a critique and deconstruction of capitalism and the free market economy. ‘Tono-Bungay’ looks at the deceptions of the advertising industry, the wealth consequently generated and the discomfort of George Ponderevo with that underlying premise. Wells looks at society as seemingly built almost entirely on this basis and the resultant disparities and inequalities in wealth. To some extent, it is here where the novel is most revealing, enlightening and thought-provoking.

Whilst it is appreciated that (for example) ‘The History of Mr Polly’ and ‘Kipps The Story of a Simple Sole’ are more entertainment, less serious and satirical in nature than ‘Tono-Bungay’ – it just doesn’t work as well as either of those two novels (likewise with Wells classic science fiction novels) – ‘Tono-Bungay’ doesn’t engage, compel or convince in the same way and doesn’t have the same sense of authenticity.

Undoubtedly there are some powerful messages contained here in ‘Tono-Bungay’ – seemingly: ‘none of this is real’ – (‘this’ presumably being a society being run on a capitalist, wealth based system with all its intrinsic inequalities) and that in life we should be looking for ‘truth’, the ‘heart of life’ and what Wells character refers to as ‘reality science’.

Wells talks in this novel of the voyage of life and about becoming trapped and restrained in life by the meaningless distractions, contrived processes, relationships, falsehoods, false premises – with the deceptions inherent in a society based on capitalist free market economy, but isn’t ultimately clear on what the answer or alternative would be?

‘Tono-Bungay’ has been referred to as Wells most artistic novel, which indeed it may well be. But for me, despite some excellent sections and passages in this novel it is ultimately somehow less than the sum of its parts.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Wells writing stylistically like Dickens in a mode of novel-writing that aims at the nineteenth century version of social justice (even though it was published at the end of the first decade of the twentieth century).
Today he is mainly remembered for his science fiction. "Tono Bungay" is an unusual work in that it straddles two of these genres: it is both science fiction and social commentary. The novel follows the rise and fall of an empire built on a quack medicine. The medicine, Tono Bungay, gives the book its title. Regardless of what it stands for, it is clear that Tono Bungay is not entirely good for you, and probably harmful in the long run. The short-term effects are however sufficiently pleasing so as to make a fortune for its inventor.
The novel is narrated by a young man, George Ponderevo, who, while not as appealing as the best of Dickens' heroes, has a certain charm. His rise along with that of his Uncle Teddy is chronicled with wit and an ear for the details of turn of the century commerce that make the book rewarding to the interested reader. Wells was able to write deeper and had a greater pallette than those who may have only read his early science-romances might imagine. However Wells does add instances of science fiction even in this novel and often they are only remotely related to the main topic. Such is the case for the various experiments in air travel which make up a substantial part of the book. Yet another science fiction episode concerns a mysterious ore, which appears to be radioactive. Ostensibly, the purpose of this ore is to provide Tono Bungay a new infusion and lease on life. Radioactivity had only recently been discovered when Wells wrote this novel, and indeed was very mysterious . Wells treats the radioactive ore as something that fundamentally corrupts all that it touches.
The result is an unusual book that as a whole is better than most of Wells' many works of science fiction.

[Lobstergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Wells. I was a bit turned off by the description, which suggests most of the plot revolves around the development of a quack medicine (the strangely-named Tono-Bungay). That's a chunk of it, but there are other chunks; it's also a very well done Bildungsroman in which the protagonist and first-person narrator George grows up as the son of the housekeeper of an enormous country house, acutely conscious of his lower class status, observing the banal conversations among the aristocrats, sneaking into the large library to read books (as Wells did himself when his mother was housekeeper at Uppark:)



and falling in love three times (twice to the same person). George's relationships with women are interesting, and he is introspective to a point. He knows what he wants in a woman, but he has no idea of what's good for him - or what will work. He realizes with insight what he gets from Beatrice, his first and last love, the daughter of a viscount: an audience.

...I began to live for the effect I imagined I made upon her, to make that very soon the principal value in my life. I played to her. I did things for the look of them. I began to dream more and more of beautiful situations and fine poses and groupings with her and for her. ...It certainly robbed my work of high patience and quality. I cut down the toil of research in my eagerness and her eagerness for fine flourishes in the air, flights that would tell. ....And it robbed me, too, of any fine perception of absurdity. ...

Wells's teenage drapery apprenticeship comes in handy as George describes all the hideous ways fabrics are employed in various lower middle class and parvenu Victorian drawing rooms and salons.

Plopped into the story of the Tono-Bungay business and George and his uncle and aunt's resulting upward mobility is a strange side trip to an island off the coast of West Africa, where George has been persuaded by a shadowy figure (who can't make the trip himself) to invest in a cargo of "quap" lying on the beach. No one aboard is happy about loading up the quap, which becomes understandable when it turns out to be radioactive, and it sinks the ship. Before this happens, George surprises a native in the forest and kills him. This episode feels like something out of H. Rider Haggard.

The Guardian thinks this is a comedy. I would classify it as something slightly more earnest, although it certainly has its comic moments:

She walked across to the piano, took a pile of music from the cabinet near, surveyed Lady Osprey's back, and with a gesture to me dropped it all deliberately on to the floor.
"Must talk," she said, kneeling close to me as I helped her to pick it up. "Turn my pages. At the piano."
"I can't read music."
"Turn my pages."
Presently we were at the piano, and Beatrice was playing with noisy inaccuracy. ...
"At the back of the house is a garden - a door in the wall - on the lane. Understand?"
I turned over the pages without any effect on her playing. ....
..."I can't play tonight," she said, standing up and meeting my eyes. "I wanted to give you a parting voluntary."
"Was that Wagner, Beatrice?" asked Lady Osprey, looking up from her cards. "It sounded very confused."

The cover art is John Singer Sargent's 1898 portrait of Asher Wertheimer, an art dealer who was Sargent's good friend. He also painted eleven other portraits of the Wertheimer family. At first you might think: this man represents the protagonist, George, or his uncle, Edward. Instead, he seems to represent some of the extremely rich Jewish parvenus mentioned in the novel; for example, the Sir Reuben Lichtenstein who rents the fictional Bladesover House (which is based on Uppark in the photo above) after its owner, Lady Drew, dies. There are various small anti-Semitic bits scattered throughout, as when George's Aunt Susan critiques some of the "Oriental" ladies she has socialized with, and George remembers wandering one day in London, finding "a shabbily bright foreign quarter, shops displaying Hebrew placards and weird, unfamiliar commodities, and a concourse of bright-eyed, eagle-nosed people talking some incomprehensible gibberish between the shops and the barrows. And soon I became quite familiar with the devious, vicious, dirtily-pleasant exoticism of Soho." Men like Sir Reuben "were not so much a new British gentry as "pseudomorphous" after the gentry. They are a very clever people, the Jews, but not clever enough to suppress their cleverness." There's also a sailor who refers to a Roumanian Jew as a Dago. The portrait must have been chosen by this edition's editor, who specializes in literary representations of Jews.

Finally, a little side hobby I have when reading the classics is documenting the uses of "nigger." There are two here. Uncle Edward Ponderevo, the creator of Tono-Bungay, asks George to help him in the company. "Come in and stiffen these niggers. Teach them that wo-oo-oo-oo-osh." (These company workers he's referring to are mostly likely white, as there weren't many nonwhites in England at the time.) And after George has spent weeks supervising the loading of quap on Mordet Island, "I understand now the heart of the sweater, of the harsh employer, of the nigger-driver."

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

H. G. Wells’ Tono-Bungay may be strangely named, but it is one of the better-known of his many novels that are not “scientific romances.” The first-person narrator is George Ponderevo, a country boy who comes to work for his get-rich scheming uncle Edward “Teddy” Ponderevo. Tono-Bungay is a quack patent medicine created by George’s uncle, and a near-endless ticket for both of them through many stages of growing wealth in then-contemporary Britain. There is no significant science fictional content, although Wells, being Wells, cannot help but occasionally comment on science as a human pursuit. The novel was first published in 1908, five years after the first controlled sustained flight of a powered heavier-than-air aircraft by the Wright brothers, so while very current, the air flight is not really speculative. The novel is more an extended criticism of capitalism/advertising, and the pretentions of social class and British plutocracy.

I had some sympathy for the main character during the poignant unravelling of his first marriage, which was so introspectively described as to make me think it could be somewhat autobiographical. But I lost any such sympathy during his later radioactive quap mining raid on the African Coast - essentially piracy. His mockery and disdain for anyone and anything not British grew intolerable to me. Even worse, I got the sense that this Anglo-Saxon exceptionalism was an unquestioned presumption by Wells himself, even while he criticized other aspects of British society.

The novel was well-written and entertaining, but not of any special interest from a science fictional or utopian perspective. I’m glad to have read it in ebook, because I was able to jump to dictionary definitions on certain words – some of them 19th century English idiom, and some of them just vocabulary unfamiliar to me.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tono-Bungay" is a novel written by H. G. Wells and published in 1909. It has been called "arguably his most artistic book." As for Wells himself he considered "Tono-Bungay as the finest and most finished novel upon the accepted lines" that he had "written or was ever likely to write." While reading the novel I also read a biography of Wells and found many interesting things about the author.

Although Wells was a prolific writer in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, and social commentary, he is now best remembered for his science fiction novels. His most famous science fiction works include "The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine and The Invisible Man." He has been called the father of science fiction, of course other authors have also been called the father of science fiction, so I guess we all get to pick whoever we want for the title. As to "Tono-Bungay", I've read at other places, including the introduction to my copy of the book that it is a "realist satire on consumer capitalism and a commentary on social injustice", but since these are terms that sound nothing like something I would say and I would never use, I won't use them here either, I will simply take the writer of the introduction's word for it.

In 1874 when just a young boy he had an accident that left him bedridden with a broken leg. To pass the time he started reading books from the local library. He soon became fascinated with the other worlds and lives to which books gave him access; and they stimulated his desire to write. Wells spent three very unhappy years as an apprentice to a draper, he also worked as a pupil-teacher at a school in Somerset and again apprenticed for a chemist in Midhurst. Wells studied biology at the Normal School of Science earning a bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees. I wonder who decided to name the school the "Normal" School of Science. I'll have to go see if there is an abnormal school of science somewhere when I'm done with this. His first writings were short stories and articles published in journals.

Now I'm moving on to what I thought was the most interesting and puzzling thing about his life. He first married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells in 1891, they divorced in 1894 after Wells fell in love with one of his students, Amy Catherine Robbins, whom he married in 1895. For some reason that I don't know he called her Jane. Ok, here's the puzzling thing, with his wife Jane's consent, Wells had affairs with a number of women, including the American birth control activist Margaret Sanger, adventurer and writer Odette Keun and novelist Elizabeth von Arnim. He had a daughter with the writer Amber Reeves; and in 1914, a son, by the novelist Rebecca West. What I have a hard time figuring out is why in the world his wife gave her consent to this. Oh well, I'll probably never know so I will give up on pondering the subject and move on to "Tono-Bungay".

Our main character and narrator of the story is George Ponderevo, the son of the housekeeper at a great estate called Bladesover. When as a boy he has a fist fight with a young aristocrat he is sent by his mother, first to her cousin Nicodemus Frapp, and after he runs away from there, he is sent as a fully indentured apprentice, to his uncle Edward Ponderevo. Uncle Edward dreams of making it big, and after years of failure he succeeds with his patent medicine he names "Tono-Bungay".Uncle Edward is bottling a sham tonic, it is completely devoid of any actual medicinal benefit, but he is advertising it with a flair and succeeding very well. Edward is a genius at marketing, Tono-Bungay advertisements are everywhere. On billboards all over the city of London, newspaper advertisements and posters. And as the advertisements tell us Tono-Bungay could do just about anything. Eventually we have:

"Tono-Bungay Hair Stimulant"

"Concentrated Tono-Bungay" for the eyes

"Tono-Bungay Lozenges"

"Tono-Bungay Chocolate." "You can GO for twenty-four hours,"the ad tells us, "on Tono-Bungay Chocolate."

and finally, Tono-Bungay Mouthwash. "You are Young Yet, but are you Sure Nothing has Aged your Gums?"

And so Tono-Bungay grows and grows and Uncle Edward gets richer and richer. However, like all businesses that grow and grow eventually it stops, at least that's how business seems to me. Except maybe McDonalds come to think of it. I'll have to give some thought to see if I come up with any other businesses that just grow and grow and never stop growing.

Now skipping over what happens to Tono-Bungay, whether it keeps growing and has now taken over the world, you will have to find out for yourself, I am moving on to quap, yes quap. Somewhere in the middle of the novel an explorer named Gordon-Nasmyth appears in the Tono-Bungay offices telling a strange story about a substance called quap, “the most radio-active stuff in the world.” Now if I found the most radio-active stuff in the world my first move wouldn't be to run to a company that makes medicine, even if it is fake medicine, but that's what Gordon-Nasmyth does and uncle Edward and George both seem to be interested. Godon-Nasmyth tells them this about quap, yes quap.:

"I'm sorry I came. But, still, now I'm here.... And first as to quap; quap, sir, is the most radio-active stuff in the world. That's quap! It's a festering mass of earths and heavy metals, polonium, radium, ythorium, thorium, carium, and new things, too. There's a stuff called Xk—provisionally. There they are, mucked up together in a sort of rotting sand. What it is, how it got made, I don't know. It's like as if some young creator had been playing about there. There it lies in two heaps, one small, one great, and the world for miles about it is blasted and scorched and dead. You can have it for the getting. You've got to take it—that's all!"

He then shows them a sample telling them:

"Don't carry it about on you," said Gordon-Nasmyth. "It makes a sore."

As for where you get this stuff in the first place:

"....within the thunderbelt of Atlantic surf, of the dense tangled vegetation that creeps into the shimmering water with root and sucker. He gave a sense of heat and a perpetual reek of vegetable decay, and told how at last comes a break among these things, an arena fringed with bone-white dead trees, a sight of the hard-blue sea line beyond the dazzling surf and a wide desolation of dirty shingle and mud, bleached and scarred.... A little way off among charred dead weeds stands the abandoned station,—abandoned because every man who stayed two months at that station stayed to die, eaten up mysteriously like a leper with its dismantled sheds and its decaying pier of wormrotten and oblique piles and planks, still insecurely possible. "

I can't quite remember why anyone would actually want to touch this stuff, or carry it around, or turn into a leper getting it among the dead trees, or buy it for that matter, but as I said they do seem interested and it does take the book in another direction, at least for awhile anyway. Now why I am mentioning quap other than it is an interesting though creepy section of the book, is because I decided to look up the word - like I usually do - and was actually surprised to find there was a definition for it. Here's the first definition:

"a hypothetical nuclear particle consisting of a quark and an antiproton"

There wasn't too much in this definition that made sense to me so I looked up the words quark and antiproton, and as I suspected would happen, after reading the first line or two I just gave up and moved on. So I am now done with the quap, whether anyone is stupid enough to go get this stuff I'm not telling. In fact, I'm about done telling anything as far as the story goes. There are love affairs, marriages, divorces, deaths, and lots about aeronautical experiments with gliders and balloons. There's even a flight and I do mean flight from the authorities.

As for the actual word or words, I don't know which, I have been trying to figure out since I picked up the book what "Tono-Bungay" is. I could say it is the title of a book. No kidding. I could say it is a "patent medicine" that is just a sham, no kidding. But what is Tono-Bungay? I never found a clear answer. From what I've read the name is a play on words. It has been suggested it stands for "ton of bunk" -- but other possibilities are "tonic bunk", or even "tonic Ben-gay." Regardless of what it stands for, it is clear that Tono Bungay is not entirely good for you, and certainly does nothing to help you in the long run. I'm having trouble believing the tonic Ben-gay one because the only Bengay I know is that cream you buy at the drug store that is supposed to temporarily relieve muscle and joint pain, backaches; stuff like that, and I don't think it was around when the book was written, but of course, I'll have to go look it up.

I liked the book. I read at several different places that Wells with "Tono-Bungay":

"is able to claim a permanent place in English fiction, close to Dickens because of the extraordinary humanity of some of his characters, but also because of his ability to invoke a place, a class, a social scene."

I liked the book alot, but for me anyway, it's not Dickens at all. Read it for yourself and see what you think.

[melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times, I almost really liked this book for its criticism of consumer capitalism (for a book published in 1909, T-B feels ahead of its time in this respect) and the realness of some of the characters, but I got fed up with the narrator/author constantly explaining his own symbolism... not to mention his random anti-semitic remarks, his problematic relationship to women/marriage, and that especially disturbing Heart of Darkness voyage into Africa, where in a typical heart-of-darkness/Quap-fevered state, he loses all his "european morality/civility/etc" and kills a totally innocent African man. I mean, shit, come on.

[Vicente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the best H.G. Wells' incursion outside his mother ship of science fiction, Tono-Bungay is the tale of a useless and addictive medicine embellished by an early form of marketing. However, behind the major plot, it hides an interesting criticism of a capitalist society, where everyone works and lives without a purpose, especially the upper class.

Although it turned out to be very different from what I imagined, focusing much more on the foundations of the English Society rather than in the development of the Tono-Bungay and the characters, it is an interesting and recommended read.

[Tabuyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yo no conocía de nada esta novela de H.G.Wells. Tenía en mente una historia diferente a la que terminé encontrando pero me ha gustado igualmente.
Retrata muy bien la caída de la nobleza y el auge de los nuevos ricos que luchan por hacerse un hueco en la alta sociedad.

Reseña: https://contandoteunlibro.blogspot.co...

[Nadya Yurinova · Rating 5 out of 5]

"А теперь каждый, если только у него не слишком высокие требования к
жизни и он не обременен чувством собственного достоинства, может позволить
себе кой-какие излишества. Ныне можно прожить всю жизнь кое-как, ничему
всерьез не отдаваясь, потворствуя своим прихотям и ни к чему себя не
принуждая, не испытав по-настоящему ни голода, ни страха, ни подлинной
страсти, не узнав ничего лучше и выше, чем судорога чувственного
наслаждения, и впервые ощутить изначальную суровую правду бытия лишь в
свой смертный час. Так, я думаю, было с моим дядей, почти так было и со
мной"

[Jim Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd first heard of TONO-BUNGAY when recently reading a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Apparently, this book by H.G. Wells was one of his favorite books. (H.G. Wells ... you mean THE WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE TIME MACHINE H.G. Wells? Yes, that's the one.) While I enjoy much of Wells' writing, I had a difficult time conceiving his creating a tale that would be one of Fitzgerald's favorites.

Well, TONO-BUNGAY is very different from what I would imagine from the pen of the distinguished English author ... and it had a great many elements that would have appealed to Fitzgerald. It has distant, attractive women who are difficult for men to fathom, a world in which money opens doors as long as it flows, and the glamor of adventure for anyone willing to pursue it.

The central story revolves around the creation of a "quack" revitalizing medicine that takes the country by storm and keeps growing as sideline projects are intermixed. The main character repeatedly questions the ethics of making and selling something that can't deliver what was advertized, but is consoled that if people are buying it, it must be doing something good.

Although there are many satirical moments, I had the sense that the writer was steeped in this literary realm he created. For instance, the class-system is skewered, but it is no longer eternally closed to anyone not born with a golden spoon. Indeed, when anyone acquires enough money, they can roam in virtually any class circle. Yes, England was changing.

There were three general themes that greatly influenced the actions of the various characters. First, men (by their very nature) need an audience. Their accomplishments, their dreams, and their failed attempts are all done with the expectation that someone important to them will notice.

Women are uncertain about their emotions versus what is proper to do. However, they also have the wisdom that men lack. When allowed, they can be the guides that add substance to the wild flights of fancy from men.

Finally, over all of Life is a very real sense of Fatalism. People may strive and endeavor all they wish, Whether or not they will be successful has already been determined. If actions head in a different direction from what is meant to be, the perpetrator will run into a blockade.

These themes, while ably presented, were not a strong draw for me. TONO-BUNGAY (the name of the revitalizing medicine) is a long book with many rewards scattered throughout. There are also times that the story will dwell extensively on details. As I'd mentioned, some of this had to be very personal for the writer.

My biggest complaint was the tendency to tell the Reader what was going to happen and what the result would be BEFORE entering into the narrative. There would be statements similar to, "I then entered into this enterprise which would eventually result in my failure" ... and then the story of that particular enterprise is told in great detail. All the while, the Reader knows the final result, but not specifically what happened to cause the failure. That happens multiple times in the course of the book.

I cannot give it a strong recommendation. There are many worthwhile elements and concepts. However, I cannot see myself reading this one again.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 3 out of 5]

reviews.metaphorosis.com

3.5 stars

George, is expelled from the manor his mother serves in, and bounces around until he lands with his uncle, a chemist. He departs again, but returns once his uncle develops a successful line of snake oil. Despite his qualms, George, a talented engineer, helps out with sales and development, and their fortunes grow.

I first read this many years, and liked it, though I also misremembered it as having something to do with a potion that caused floating (which seems to be a conflation of Mary Poppins and a short story whose title evades me). In fact, it's a novel of social commentary and critique of English life, lightly wrapped in adventure and romance.

The introduction to my paperback edition says that George's early life is closely based on author Herbert George's, and he does seem to know the material well. The first section of the book is a sharp analysis of a system of social classes and habits largely decrepit and outdated. It's keenly observed, and it seems credible that Wells is speaking from experience.

The novel largely follows George as he wanders on the fringes of his uncle's ventures, helpful, but disdainful and often disinterested. It recounts his distraction from study and work, his failures in love, and the partial waste of a natural talent for engineering. It's all wrapped in social critique, with comments on the class system, socialism, politics, economics, and other topics.

All that sounds dull, but it's not. As I re-discovered when reading Ann Veronica (a mainstream novel that immediately followed Tono Bungay), Wells was an excellent writer, with a fine sense for character, and an ability to convey his social opinion without overburdening his narrative. The purpose of Tono Bungay is clearly to express concern about England's direction, but that doesn't stop it from being a very successful novel as well.

The ending of the novel is an interesting mix. Our hero comes through bruised but whole, but the future of the country seems less bright. The result is a sad and lonely feeling, but not entirely without hope.

Unlike Ann Veronica, the women in this book are two-dimensional. In fact, pretty much the only full characters are George and his uncle, but it works despite that. George's aunt, Susan, is a key figure who nonetheless gets short shrift. There's a brief mention at the end that deserved a lot more space, and I was disappointed that Wells didn't make more of her and her relationship with George. Instead, she's played mostly for comic relief, and I got the feeling that Wells considered but then abandoned a larger role for her. I wish he had followed through; she deserved more time, and it would have added an interesting element to George's personal life.

Overall, a very readable, interesting novel that deserves more attention.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book often starts a bit slowly for me, but after 30 or 40 pages, I'll gather more interest. I did not expect this to be any different. Early, is this: I thought of my uncle as Teddy directly I saw him; there was something in his personal appearance that in the light of that memory phrased itself at once as Teddiness -- a certain Teddidity. Tedditity. Certainly I could look forward to more such imaginative phrasing.

Unfortunately, I never noticed another. I wonder if Wells got tired writing this, because I kept falling asleep reading it. I expected more action, or more concentration on this flamboyant Teddidity character. Nope. Instead, the first person narrator wandered off into his rather boring life and told about it completely analytically, as if he had not lived it.

My only Wells, as science fiction doesn't interest me, so I'm unlikely to read anything else by him.

[Chrissie]

********************************

*The History of Mr. Polly 3 stars
*Kipps 3 stars
*Tono-Bungay TBR

*The Young H.G. Wells: Changing The World by Claire Tomalin TBR

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

only halfway through this one, but am loving it. once again a white male british protagonist (must read more women writers soon!), but the protagonist/author is incredible with writing descriptive detail. a great social commentary on class systems, industrialization in london, exploitation of the masses through marketing/advertising, etc. and an incredible vocabulary builder. SO many words i didn't know, but so well used i can discern their meaning contextually.

update: as with most satire, i "got the point" and started to get bored with it. but that was well into the novel.

i may lack patience.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents always gave us books at Christmas and I was in my teens when my father gave me a set of four books comprising Palgrave's Golden Treasury, and three books by H G Wells: his first novel The Time Machine (1895); The Invisible Man (1897, see my review); and The History of Mr Polly (1910).  The Sci-Fi novels are well-known, but The History of Mr Polly not so much, and it was not until I dug around to clarify the date of publication of the oddly-named Tono-Bungay that I learned that it is part of a trio of novels that explore class and emerging modernity in Edwardian England (c.1890-1910)

In the view of one of Wells's biographers, David C. Smith, Kipps, The History of Mr Polly and Tono-Bungay together make it possible for Wells "to claim a permanent place in English fiction, close to Dickens because of the extraordinary humanity of some of his characters, but also because of his ability to invoke a place, a class, a social scene. These novels are very personal as well, treating aspects of Wells's own life, matters which would come under attack later, but only after he added his sexual and extramarital views to the personal side of his work. (Wikipedia)

Undeterred by a churlish citation by Cedric Watts in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, (2006 edition) I was soon entranced by what was apparently Wells' favourite of his books.

Wells himself was "disposed to regard Tono-Bungay as the finest and most finished novel upon the accepted lines" that he had "written or was ever likely to write" (David C. Smith, H. G. Wells: Desperately Mortal: A Biography (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986), p. 203, cited at Wikipedia).

As Paul Torday notes in his Introduction:

Tono-Bungay is a thoroughly absorbing portrait of that vanished age between the end of the Victorian world and the First World War — an age whose literature and writers and poets have undeservedly fallen out of fashion for some years.  Wells writes about a modern world that we can all recognise; but he also describes an England that has all but altogether disappeared.  He is torn between the static world of his childhood in the countryside; and the fascination of the hectic urban society that was developing as he grew up.  (p. x)

When I scrolled through Wikipedia's Years in Literature 1901-1910, (though of course I haven't read everything listed) what struck me was that H G Wells was almost uniquely interested in British class and whether it was possible to transcend it, and also — somewhat like Zola in France— in how the advent of a consumer society subverted old values both benign and not.  Tono-Bungay purports to be the autobiography of George Ponderevo, the son of a housekeeper and an absent father who is never spoken of.  It is a bildungsroman which chronicles the loss of his childhood innocence in the countryside, and the chance events that led to him becoming complicit in his uncle's fraudulent marketing of 'Tono-Bungay', a tonic which purports to cure almost everything and which makes them both rich.  It is the transition from the lower ranks of the English class system into the uncertain status of wealth from 'trade' that interests Wells, but he also explores how the economy works.  (Wells was briefly a Fabian, but mocks them in this novel for failing to work actively for radical change).

The novel begins with his childhood in a microcosm of English society, the village of Bladesover, where he describes the subtle gradations of class.  At the top is the impoverished Lady Drew and her house guests, down through the Vicarage people and then to people neither 'quality nor subjects'. i.e. the schoolmaster, the doctor, the vet and 'artists'.  Below them comes the tenantry, domestic staff headed by the housekeeper and butler, shopkeepers and gamekeepers and the blacksmith.  The guiding principle is that everyone knows their place, which means that George's childhood fantasy of marrying Lady Drew's relative Beatrice is impossible.  He could better himself by joining the navy, but he could never be an officer.

Misjudgement leads to his banishment.  He gets into fisticuffs with a playmate who is one of his 'betters' but they do not obey the 'code of honour' and dob him in.  He is despatched in  disgrace to be apprenticed to his Uncle Edward, a pharmacist and a relation hitherto unknown to him.  As Torday points out in the Introduction, Victorian novels often feature fraudsters, but what makes Uncle Edward different is that he doesn't fit the Victorian caricature: he is neither dull nor a bully.  He is more like Mr Micawber in personality...

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2026/06/14/t...

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

H.G. Wells' bit of a satirical look at the effects of wealth, power and enterprise on ordinary lives...
The tale follows the experiences of George Ponderevo who is 'encouraged' by his uncle to work with him on marketing a new product, a sort of 'miracle cure' thing, it also greatly expounds on George's experiences from childhood, to university, to the heart of London, then wealth, fame, his inventions and intentions, the uncle's eventual bankruptcy, and oh yes his various 'loves', etc, etc...

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3551778.html

This is Wells' best-known non-sf novel. I say that despite the following points:

- Most of the plot revolves around a magical potion, Tono-Bungay. But Tono-Bungay is a complete fake, and sells well because of marketing, not because it actually does any good.
- There is a miraculous mineral which would have transformed the plot, indeed the world, if it came into play. But all supplies are lost, so it becomes a narrative hook for an unsuccessful journey instead.
- The hero flies an aeroplane to France, in a novel published (and mostly set) in 1908, something that didn't actually happen until 1909. But in 1908 it was clearly going to happen pretty soon - in October, the Daily Mail offered a prize of £500 for a cross-channel flight made before the end of the year.
- Anyway the hero's aeronautical experiments turn out to be a dead-end, and he abandons them and is designing warships by the end of the book.

But most of all, the point of the book isn't the change to human society offered by transformative technology, it's about society and social mobility in the very first years of the twentieth century in England. The tech bits are decorative rather than fundamental, and I think it's less sfnal than the Lovejoy books where he supernaturally differentiates real antiques from fakes.

So, the story is actually about our narrator and his uncle; his uncle starts the book by becoming bankrupt, but very quickly becomes fabulously rich thanks to Tono-Bungay. His nephew helps him manage the business (and does well out of it) but fails three times to find true love, his emotional life reported in much more realistic terms than I think was normal for fiction of the day - for this alone I think it's a memorable book, avoiding romantic cliches. The mineral expedition is a slightly silly adventure, but I think redeems itself as a literary device by failing to bring home the goods.

There are unfortunately still plenty of other cliches. I never quite got the feeling that we were meant to take the uncle and aunt seriously; clearly the posh folk of Surrey think they are getting above themselves and I sensed that the author thinks so too. The French scenes are a little bit in that direction too. But overall it's a very engaging and interesting novel, and I feel with some confidence that I can work through the rest of Wells.

[Edmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my eyes, the core social criticisms of England that arise from Tono-Bungay are as follows:

1) There is more to class than wealth.

As the Ponderevos rocket up the English social scale, they never quite seem at ease in their new position. Why is this? You could, like Wells, write a whole book exploring that question. I'll favour encapsulating it in 'background' - the Ponderevos lack the (private) education, connections, etiquette, and so much more to 'fit in' with England's upper classes and their pretences of Medieval-esque honour and dignity.

2) The individualistic greed of capitalism.

In the desire to get by in the world, George struggles with the moral dilemma of how to make an 'honest' living in a 'dishonest' capitalist system. He also witnesses the droves of people wanting to 'use' his Uncle for his money, and how quickly they abandon him when his fortunes turn.

3) The manipulating power of advertising and the press.

Disingenuous advertising lies at the heart of how the Ponderevos make their money, although negative press also brings about their downfall. Wells' key points are that advertising is the art of convincing people that they need things which they don't, and that the press reflects the interests of their owners.


If that sounds like it would be a lot for one book to cover then congratulations, as you would be correct. Wells thought that Tono-Bungay was his finest and most complete novel but it does fall victim to vaulting ambition; Wells narrowed the scope of his social commentary after Tono-Bungay.

Reflecting on the book, it's both amazing and depressing that its themes are resonant 114 years after its first publication.

What a cheery review, Merry Christmas everyone!

[John Kinkade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The History of Mr. Polly was so good that it gave me high hopes for this one, but I found it mostly dull. Lots of commentary on it as speaking to the threats of advertising and capitalism, but that criticism feels thin, simplistic, and undeveloped. The intro to the Penguin Classics talks about the trip to Africa as especially symbolic, but it has the feeling of The Stranger--an off-hand murder that has no real effects but here it's not an existential comment but an indictment of colonialism (though not clear that Wells argues for that). Plot-wise, everything is made clear before the narration, so there's nothing that happens that gave me a reason to keep reading--you know everything will go wrong, and then it does, but there's not much exploration of how or why things went wrong beyond marketing isn't a great thing but science and truth probably are.

[Christina Packard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my least favorite time period for a book. I also did not connect with the characters. Just was not for me.

[Guy Almond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this one, the characters had depth and were exciting. The story was never boring.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tono-Bungay is an underrated and under-read novel in my opinion. With an engaging narrative style, you easily get carried away with the quick-pace of the novel and it is enjoyable to read.
I see this book as a warning for capitalism. George (the narrator) has a mother who is a housekeeper, so he is born to a lower financial position. He and his uncle invent this medicine called ‘Tono-Bungay’ which does not actually heal anyone, yet it makes them their fortune. Yet with this fortune comes immorality, George and his uncle both cheat on their wives, and George even kills a man - which is stated matter-of-factly and without any emotion at all. I think the novel makes you question whether it was all worth it, whether the immoral acts they both commit were worth the fortune that they ultimately lose in the end.
This book was really enjoyable to read, but it can’t be a 5 star novel because they characters needed to feel more real and personal. With everything stated as a fact, with no real time to dwell on some of the tragic or shocking events that happen, it just lacked an element of connectivity for me.

[Rui Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este livro é, para muitos, tido como a obra suprema de Wells. Um romance que se prolonga através de tiques dickensianos e de muita originalidade.

A história insurge-se na pele de George Ponderevo. A sua juventude e a transição até atingir a fase adulta são o espaço temporal da narrativa. Aliada a esta fase, está, o crescimento meteórico de um elixir milagroso e da sua vertente empresarial. Inserida numa Londres industrializada, esta história, visita o submundo da veia comercial e do seu papel ativo.

O elixir apresenta-se como a solução para muitas das maleitas que coincidem com o indivíduo. Podemos comparar este produto ao Calcitrin, por exemplo, só que sem a oferta do livro Viva Melhor às cem primeiras chamadas. Pelo menos, é uma forma de hiperbolizar o produto em questão. Nas mãos de Ponderevo e do seu tio, este produto, é capaz de purificar tudo e mais alguma coisa. Uma invenção milagrosa.

A publicidade assume um papel preponderante e dá a tónica ao núcleo que alimenta as arestas do enredo. O capitalismo utiliza essa mesma ferramenta para se manifestar e obter os seus resultados, não olhando a meios, nem aos lados que estão ao lado do meio.

Um livro denso, no bom sentido, e bastante abrangente. Tem tanto de cómico, como de dramático. As personagens conseguem oferecer diversas perspectivas e espelham a diferença de classes sociais e os seus respectivos poderes ou falta deles.

Quem for fã de uma sátira social que, facilmente, poderíamos enquadrar nos dias hoje este livro é aquilo que procuramos. Já podem para de procurar, acabou de ser encontrado e aqui está.

[Genia Lukin · Rating 2 out of 5]

H. G. put that hammer you've been beating your readers over the head with down. Put it down. Now take a step away from the hammer. Good... good, just a step away--

NO! NO! Don't pick up the hammer again! Don't pick it up I said!

Oh God he has the hammer and he's chasing us with it again! Run! Run!!

[Peter Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most successful authors of the early twentieth-century, Wells is best known today for his pioneering works in early sci-fi, such as The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), and The War of the Worlds (1898), but he wrote all kinds of works, including a realist novel like Tono-Bungay.

Narrated in the first person by its protagonist George Ponderevo, the title of Tono-Bungay refers to a patent medicine developed by his Uncle Edward, a nasty stimulant that brings in lots of money but does nobody any good, neither its consumers nor its producers in George and his uncle, whose newfound wealth turns out to be a ticket to disaster.

Essentially a Bildungsroman, Tono-Bungay provides an engaging enough as a story but is absolutely uninspired in its form. Of course it also has some truly horrible moments of historical prejudice, from George's deeply embedded anti-Semitism to his completely unnecessary murder of a random African man he encounters.

The most interesting aspect of the novel for me was the supposedly "socialist" critique Wells is putting forth of capitalist society, which is undertaken in the most strangely bourgeois form possible. I was particularly struck by this passage late in the novel, when George denounces the outcome of his and his uncle's pursuit of money:

"It struck me suddenly as the compact-est image and sample of all that passes for Progress, of all the advertisement-inflated spending, the aimless building up and pulling down, the enterprise and promise of my age. This was our fruit, this was what we had done, I and my uncle, in the fashion of our time. We were its leaders and exponents, we were the thing it most flourishingly produced. For this futility in its end, for an epoch of such futility, the solemn scroll of history had unfolded…. ‘Great God!’ I cried, ‘but is this Life?’ For this the armies drilled, for this the Law was administered and the prisons did their duty, for this the millions toiled and perished in suffering, in order that a few of us should build palaces we never finished, make billiard-rooms under ponds, run imbecile walls round irrational estates, scorch about the world in motor-cars, devise flying-machines, play golf and a dozen such foolish games of ball, crowd into chattering dinner parties, gamble and make our lives one vast dismal spectacle of witless waste! So it struck me then, and for a time I could think of no other interpretation. This was Life! It came to me like a revelation, a revelation at once incredible and indisputable of the abysmal folly of our being." (pp.347-348)

I can understand where Wells is coming from, but it also seems incredibly disingenuous - like devouring a huge meal and only then lamenting that one has ordered so much food. It simply turns socialism into a bizarre kind of puritanism, obsessed with eliminating desire as a form of "waste," rather than acknowledging that waste is kind of the point of enjoyment, as Wells knew all too well from his personal life.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems to be the way with books (sci-fi books?) of this era that the premise is one thing, but then the story drifts this way and that to include other major plots.

For example, the main story here seems to be George and his uncle, Edward, creating a tonic that everyone just HAS to have. Fabulous. But then... George and flying machines? George and some substance in Africa that is going to make his business rich? I mean, sure, people's lives aren't just one thing, but this is a *story*, and the story seems to stray from the original plot.

It's still a decent book, though; I just don't always understand why writers from this era seem to start down one path, then take huge turns down other paths, so that by halfway through, we're no longer reading the same story we started with. I certainly didn't mind the portions of the story about George's personal life: growing up, his studies, his love life; I didn't even so much mind the subplot about him inventing a flying machine. But when we started getting into the secret element/substance that could be found in Africa, that's when I realized we were straying WAY far from the original plot. Luckily, that portion wasn't very long, and we returned back to the story of Edward and his tonic.

[Nola Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being initially intrigued by the premise of this book, I found that I had to force myself to read it from the start. The first two chapters were remarkably slow and I ran out of steam by the end of the two. However, because I was the host of a book club for the book, I found myself picking it up and finishing it for a final push. To my surprise, chapter three began the page-turning part of the book. If only I had read one more chapter at the start!

Tono-Bungay is a miraculous elixir that, well, isn't. It also doesn't take up much of the book, despite the title. Instead, the story focuses on the society behind the snakeoil. Young George starts out his adulthood with an idealized perspective on life and love. Yet the two bang heads when the woman he loves (or thinks he loves) refuses his proposal because, well, she wants to be 'practical'. In desperation, he takes his uncle's offered job to woo his wife-to-be. Not surprisingly, the marriage doesn't work out.

George then decides to pursue science and leave the business side in the hands of his uncle, a man who has proven himself to be not-so-good with finances. Time passes while George works on his 'flying machine', and eventually he finds himself in love yet again. Once again, in the name of wooing, he embarks on a crazy plan.

Most of the overviews of this novel focus on the English society and the focus on commercialism, which make great themes in the book. But I think that economics aren't the only things that are oversold. Wells highlights that love is also over-advertised. At one point, the narrator notes that he had grown up on an idealized image of love via the poet Shelly that didn't stand him in good stead when he encountered a real woman.

Of course there is also the glaring economic issues that resound through the novel, how a love of money is, in truth, the root of all evil. George flirts with being a socialist, though he again finds himself let down by reality. He also speaks of the abundance that allows people to grow indolent and fat, something that resounds well with America today, I think. For money, his uncle threw away what was a good life to ruin his, and his wife and nephew's besides. The women he interacts with chose money over love because, well, it's hard to be poor.

Overall, I enjoyed the book as much as I originally hoped and more than I initially did. A good read, and one I recommend.