Land Under England
2 journalers for this copy...
This is a paperback book but seems a bit on the heavy side.
From the back of the book:
First published in 1935, this classic science fiction epic with its extraordinary overtones - far ahead of its time in dealing with brainwashing and the larger issue of fascism -will frighten and illuminate a new generation of readers. Like the great works of Orwell and Huxley - works of suspenseful fantasy and political allegory - LAND UNDER ENGLAND transcends the genre with its political and pyschological themes. At the same time, like the stories of Jules Verne, LAND UNDER ENGLAND is a gripping adventure yarn that is exciting and prophetic.
'We are dazzled by the nightmare - like the luxuriance of Mr O'Neil's imagination. he is to be recomended as a thoroughly articulate writer'
THE NEW YORK TIMES
'LAND UNDER ENGLAND is historically significant, eminently readable, and belongs in any reasonably complete collection'
SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEW
'Attains the heights of literary excellence'
THE BOSTON PHEONIX
'A memorable adventure story full of striking scenes'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
From the back of the book:
First published in 1935, this classic science fiction epic with its extraordinary overtones - far ahead of its time in dealing with brainwashing and the larger issue of fascism -will frighten and illuminate a new generation of readers. Like the great works of Orwell and Huxley - works of suspenseful fantasy and political allegory - LAND UNDER ENGLAND transcends the genre with its political and pyschological themes. At the same time, like the stories of Jules Verne, LAND UNDER ENGLAND is a gripping adventure yarn that is exciting and prophetic.
'We are dazzled by the nightmare - like the luxuriance of Mr O'Neil's imagination. he is to be recomended as a thoroughly articulate writer'
THE NEW YORK TIMES
'LAND UNDER ENGLAND is historically significant, eminently readable, and belongs in any reasonably complete collection'
SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEW
'Attains the heights of literary excellence'
THE BOSTON PHEONIX
'A memorable adventure story full of striking scenes'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This arrived in the mail today from RubyBlueLady as part of a trade. Thanks!! :-) This book looks so fascinating, I can't believe I haven't ever heard about it before. An update will follow once I've read the book. :-)
I'm reading this book now, started on Monday a week ago. A very unusual read. I'll have more to say when I've read the whole thing.
I finished this yesterday.
What a book ... ! An unusual concept, a rather original and IMO well worked out setting. But what is really so impressive about it is the time in which it was written. If I hadn't known how old it was I would *never* have guessed that it had been written in 1935. I am genuinely impressed by O'Neill and his imagination. I want to read his other books as well now. And, on a more unrealistic note, I would have loved to have seen what he could have achieved as a science fiction writer today ... :-)
This is basically the story of a young Englishman who admires his father tremendously - although the father perhaps does not always deserve his admiration - and who when losing him in an unusual manner embarks on a desperate course of action to try to recover him. This old landed family is said to have on their ancestral property an entrance to the underworld - to a secret subterranean world that exists underneath the British Isles - and our hero's father comes to believe in this absolutely. When he disappears without a trace the son starts to believe as well ... and decides to follow his father into the nether regions of the world. He has no idea what he'll find there, but what he does find is worse than anything he could have imagined. And here's where the commentary on Nazism comes in ...
It was extremely interesting to read a contemporary SF comment on fascism. That alone made this book worth reading. But the book has other strengths - the story is well crafted and moves along at a good pace, the characters are well rounded to the point that they can be (anyone's who's read the book will know what I mean! :-) and the setting is surprisingly convincing. I could actually kind of believe in it. Seemed like O'Neill had done a lot of research to make conditions in his underground realm believable ... at least I was convinced, though of course I'm no biologist. :-)
What our narrator discovers in the land under England is of course the essential part of the book - and what makes up its criticism of Nazism and fascism - but I feel like I can't write a lot about it as that would spoil things for the future readers of this book. Of which I'm sure there will be some. :-) So I'll content myself with saying that it's an original and intriguing concept. O'Neill was quite a radical thinker for his time. Again, I would never have guessed that this book was written more than seventy years ago. I mean, I'd be open to calling this guy the Irish Jules Verne. :-) Anyone who enjoys Verne's books will be likely to have a good experience with this book. Original, creative, well thought out and well written. I'd recommend it highly.
This book will become a ring, I think ... More people should get the chance to read it and it seems to be rather a rare book. As in, not well known among the reading public. :-) Not a lot of copies registered on BookCrossing, certainly ... and I've never come across it anywhere else. Watch this space ... :-)
What a book ... ! An unusual concept, a rather original and IMO well worked out setting. But what is really so impressive about it is the time in which it was written. If I hadn't known how old it was I would *never* have guessed that it had been written in 1935. I am genuinely impressed by O'Neill and his imagination. I want to read his other books as well now. And, on a more unrealistic note, I would have loved to have seen what he could have achieved as a science fiction writer today ... :-)
This is basically the story of a young Englishman who admires his father tremendously - although the father perhaps does not always deserve his admiration - and who when losing him in an unusual manner embarks on a desperate course of action to try to recover him. This old landed family is said to have on their ancestral property an entrance to the underworld - to a secret subterranean world that exists underneath the British Isles - and our hero's father comes to believe in this absolutely. When he disappears without a trace the son starts to believe as well ... and decides to follow his father into the nether regions of the world. He has no idea what he'll find there, but what he does find is worse than anything he could have imagined. And here's where the commentary on Nazism comes in ...
It was extremely interesting to read a contemporary SF comment on fascism. That alone made this book worth reading. But the book has other strengths - the story is well crafted and moves along at a good pace, the characters are well rounded to the point that they can be (anyone's who's read the book will know what I mean! :-) and the setting is surprisingly convincing. I could actually kind of believe in it. Seemed like O'Neill had done a lot of research to make conditions in his underground realm believable ... at least I was convinced, though of course I'm no biologist. :-)
What our narrator discovers in the land under England is of course the essential part of the book - and what makes up its criticism of Nazism and fascism - but I feel like I can't write a lot about it as that would spoil things for the future readers of this book. Of which I'm sure there will be some. :-) So I'll content myself with saying that it's an original and intriguing concept. O'Neill was quite a radical thinker for his time. Again, I would never have guessed that this book was written more than seventy years ago. I mean, I'd be open to calling this guy the Irish Jules Verne. :-) Anyone who enjoys Verne's books will be likely to have a good experience with this book. Original, creative, well thought out and well written. I'd recommend it highly.
This book will become a ring, I think ... More people should get the chance to read it and it seems to be rather a rare book. As in, not well known among the reading public. :-) Not a lot of copies registered on BookCrossing, certainly ... and I've never come across it anywhere else. Watch this space ... :-)
