HG Wells: Impatience and provisional thinking
Something I highlighted in a book of essays has spawned an icon... Just the right icon for my rambling/thought posts as it's a trait of Wells' I see so very much in myself... This is from H.G. Wells: The Critical Heritage: Essay by Edward Shanks on Wells' impatience (pgs. 255-257)
"An impatient man, a man always in a hurry, we are not surprised to find the allied defect of instability. Some one once said that it was Mr. Wells' habit 'to conduct his own education in public': he himself, I believe, invented the expression 'provisional thinking.' One sometimes wished that he could educate himself a little more privately, that he would keep his provisional thoughts a little longer in his notebook. But he is a man of ideas; and when he has an idea to express he proceeds to express it with all his persuasive powers."
The essay elaborates that one is hard pressed to understand what Wells' definitive view is of any of the causes he preaches so passionately - His views/opinions change as he bounces his ideas off society and learns life's lessons -- Like any human being, duh. But I do see the point... Some people lurk and keep it to themselves. Some people post carefully chosen words after using a top-notch beta. And other people just hit the send button before the ink is dry on the screen and bounce through the world, voraciously consuming as much knowledge as they can, adjusting as needed... You can add me to the bouncy, voracious list - One might note that being able to laugh at one's self is a requirement for survival in this group. ;-)
If Wells were alive today, I'm sure he would have been one of the very first authors to have a blog... An active blog with lots of fandom_wank going on. But the blog-o-sphere would have suited him, I think. Not to mention, the internet.
On another note *entirely*: If someone who is a whiz at grammar wants to tell me if it's Wells' or Wells's and WHY, in easy to understand language for a C- public school student, I'd be grateful. If it's different, depending on the usage, I need to be able to determine which I use when.