Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

The Food of the Gods by H.G. Wells

What happens when science tampers with nature? A riveting, cautionary tale with disastrous results reveals the chilling answer.
Hoping to create a new growth agent for food with beneficial uses to mankind, two scientists find that the spread of the material is uncontrollable. Giant chickens, rats, and insects run amok, and children given the food stuffs experience incredible growth--and serious illnesses. Over the years, people who have eaten these specially treated foods find themselves unable to fit into a society where ignorance and hypocrisy rule. These "giants," with their extraordinary mental powers, find themselves shut away from an older, more traditional society. Intolerance and hatred increase as the line of distinction between ordinary people and giants is drawn across communities and families.
One of H. G. Wells' lesser-known works, The Food of the Gods has been retold many times in many forms since it was first published in 1904. The gripping, newly relevant tale combines fast-paced entertainment with social commentary as it considers the ethics involved in genetic engineering.

I've been wanting to read this for quite a while.

This book is very entertaining in a Wellsian way.

Re: entertaining in a Wellsian way

Well yes, I wouldn't expect it to be entertaining in a Beckett way!

Yeah, giant creatures are always fun but the story of the segregation of smarter humans sounds interesting too.

This is one of Wells' shorter novels and it wasn't at all what I expected when I read it. If you read it, you'll know what I mean!

I'm about halfway through it.
So far it's pretty much a "monster movie". There's a movie from 1976 that I'm pretty sure I've seen a long time ago. Sounds like one of those movies they used to play on Saturday afternoons.
If anybody's wondering "perambulator" means a stroller, which I'm pretty sure they shortened to "pram" in England. And a "stone" is 14 pounds or 6.35 kg.

A pram is like a stroller since it's used for pushing babies but a different shape. It sits higher and the baby can lie down in when they're small.
But in this book, the baby doesn't stay small for long.

Correct Rosemarie. The most famous pram is the Silver Cross.

I finished. It was interesting but I didn't love it.
The later part was about the humans that grew huge. There's a lot about class struggles and people who don't fit into society.
The description of the book is wrong. They didn't have any "extraordinary mental powers".

I find that book descriptions can often be wrong, and also give major spoilers.

I think this is one of Wells' weaker books, but it's still a book worth reading.
It doesn't compare to War of the Worlds, The Time Machine or The Invisible Man-his serious scifi novels.