Fifth and final blog entry; My resolution of the meaning of the book.

I think although the book is very short and the story kind of simple, this book is full of philosophy, and powerful messages and social critic.

First of all is a critic to capitalism, Mr. Bedford represents that, he as the typical guy that is only thinking in money, for him it doesn’t matter the way he achieve his personals goals, by the moment he discovered the gold in the moon he was only thinking the way to get profit about it, no matter what happened to the Selenites.

By the other hand, both   Mr Carvor and the Selenites are the representation of Socialism. Mr. Carvor is a scientist that is always looking for knowledge, he don’t want to give knowledge to humans he is only thinking in the knowledge for himself. Selenites are on the surface this perfect utopian society ruled by one wise authority (the Grand Luna), even though this looks perfect it is certainly not like this in fact they are not free because they are controlled by the Grand Lunar, if a selenite is doing a specific job he will only know about it, and he will not do anything else.

“ I told them an ironclad could fire a shot of ton twelve miles, and go through twenty feet of iron- and how we could steer torpedoes under water.  I went to describe a Maxim gun in action. The Grand Lunar was so incredulous that he interrupted me several times…”

Page (199)

This quote happens in the very end of the book when Mr. Cavor is talking with the Grand Lunar he can’t understand war, and this is also why Mr. Cavor tries to explain how we humans are.   This is one of the most interesting parts of the book.

At  the end I can say I enjoyed reading this book, is not the best one I have read but I really recommend it, it have some funny moments and also some social criticism, on top of that is a short book that you can read in a couple of days.

Vocabulary:

Railways; the road of the train.

I felt in the railways, I thought I would die, because the train was very close.

Bluish; something that is color blue.

I like the bluish in the color grading of Man of steel.

Hoisting; to raise or lift, especially by some mechanical appliance.

Dazzling;  that blinds.

I hate the dazzling light  of the police cars.

Beam; light ray

The room was really dark except of a beam of light that was getting inside trough the window.

Fourth Blog entry; our neighbors the Selenites and its society.

The Selenites where a mix between humans, insects and fishes I really liked the description made by H.G wells, all of the Selenites where different, there were some above 5 feet  and other ones as small as a little baby. H.G Wells was also biologist so I think that’s why the most realistic thing in the books is the creatures. There were different types of Selenites each one of them fulfilled   a specific task, they will only do this task for the rest of their life. 

The Selenites where a hive- minded society, they lived underground and constructed a sophisticated and technologically advanced city under the surface of the moon.  And one curious thing is that there was plenty of gold and the greedy Mr. Bedford notice it.

“Sooner or later it must come out, even if other men rediscover it. And then...Governments and powers will struggle to get hither, they will fight against one another and against these moon people. It will only spread warfare and multiply the occasions of war. In a little while, in a very little while if I tell my secret, this planet to it's deepest galleries will be strewn with human dead. Other things are doubtful, but this is certain...It is not as though man had any use for the moon. What good would the moon be to men? Even of their own planet what have they made but a battleground and theatre of infinite folly? Small as his world is, and short as his time, he has still in his little life down there far more than he can do. No! Science has toiled too long forging weapons for fools to use. It is time she held her hand. Let him find it out for himself again-in a thousand years' time.”

(page 129-130)

I put this quote because at this point both characters have a discussion whether they will tell to earth about the gold or they will tell anyone about the trip to the moon.

I think this is a very important part of the book because it shows the struggle between greed and reason.

Vocabulary:

Bearer; part of the roof that holds a construction.

The bearer in my house is made of wood.

Bore; from the verb bored, when you have nothing to do.

I get really bored at class.

Wrinkle; A line in the skin, it have to do whit age.

I have no wrinkles because I’m very young.

Gasp; to breathe sharply as for shock

I gasp when I saw the crash happen in front of me.

Handkerchief; A rectangular piece of clothe used in the neck, the suit for decoration or cleaning proposes.

Mena likes using horrible handkerchiefs in his suits.

Third blog entry; The moon more like a planet than like a rock.

At this point both characters have several hours in the moon, they comprehend that there was almost zero gravity, therefore that they could almost fly. I enjoyed this part of the book because the landscape was amazing, the way Bedford said it looked the dawn in the moon,  , this part felt very real.  I think the moon at this point felt more like a planet than like a natural satellite.

“He sighed and looked about him. 'This is no world for men,' he said. 'And yet in a way...it appeals. Carvor said.”

(page 81)

This quote shows how beautiful and at the same time strange the moon was, It had some kind of snow, also the plants growth really fast, some plants moved  by themselves other ones just increase in a vertical way.  So the landscape could change within hours.

They discovered several alien species some of them very big and other ones kind of small; most of the creatures that inhabitant the moon were harmless, a few of them where dangerous but one thing that I notice was that all were insectoids.  I thought this alien life was fascinating; at this point the characters get lost in the moon here is when I get to know more about this place.  But the most remarkable thing the book are the “Selenites”; An intelligent alien society, an insect- like people, the equivalent of humans on earth.  I will talk about in more depth about the Selenites in the next entry.

Vocabulary:

Inhabitant; when you live permanently in a specific place.

I inhabitant Metepec because most of the time I live there.

Insectoids; A creature has characteristics of insects.
In the movie Men in Black the main villain is a alien insectoid.

Goad; Is a farming device that have a sharp end. It can also be referring to what some animals use to sting.

I was hurt by the goad of a bee.

Giddy; when you’re feeling dizzy or light-headed

I felt giddy when I realized how much I had to study for math exam.

Acute: sharp or severe in effect.

I feel an acute pain when I hit my leg whit the crystal table.

Second blog entry; The spaceship and our first impressions of the moon.

At this point this two characters are really good friends, they constructed a spaceship made of Cavorite, this device had the shape of a sphere. And it had no controls, it just had a hatch to get inside, it had no seats for the weight only two seat belts, so it was really minimalistic.

 “I perceived there was nothing to grip when the shock of our star should come, and realized that I should be uncomfortable for want a chair.

-Why have we no chairs? I asked

-I’ve settled all that - said Cavor - We shouldn’t t need them. “

 (page 36)

I didn’t like the spaceship I think it was a cheap way of resolve this part of the plot. Just a sphere; H.G Wells could certainly make a bigger effort in the creating this device. Even I could have done it better.

When both characters reached the moon, they crashed on the surface, of course the sphere was almost intact, I don’t like to get into details, but the way Mr. Bedford described the moon was really detailed, almost like a jungle, full of colors and different alien plants. Although the moon seemed a really cool place in Bedford´s description it is kind of  unreal, and of course the moon had an atmosphere.

“It is a seed- said Carvor. And then I hear him whisper, very softly- Life.

Life! And immediately it poured upon us that our vast journey had not been made in vane, that we had come to  o arid waste of minerals, but to a world that lived and moved! ...  “

(page 57)

 I will continue talking about the moon in the next entry...

Vocabulary;

Manhole: a hole made to get inside a structure.

In LOST they found a manhole on the ground.

Crouched:  To press the body closed to the ground.

I crouched when I heard some gunshots around the corner.

Poured: To cause a liquid or almost liquid substance to stream or as from a container.

I  poured the water into my plastic bottle.

Strained: Action made with extreme effort that causes muscular pain.

I strained my leg after I won, with a lot of effort ,  the race.

Spiky: Something that have a lot of sharp points.

Although the sea urchin is very spiky, when you cook it is delicious. 

First book entry; The first meeting, the dissimilar friendship, the Cavorite.

 When I began reading this Scientific- romance novel, written by H.G Wells I realized I was not reading something new, in fact I've seen, heard and read,  a lot of stories like this; the journey, the two dissimilar friends, the spaceship, the aliens in the moon, etc..

The story is the next; an entrepreneur called Mr. Bedford was in a small town writing a play, he had no money so this was his only chance to make a fortune, one day he met the scientist Mr. Carvor a very eccentric guy and they became friends. After a while they started to work together, and Mr Cavor discovered a new substance called Cavorite which could repel gravity, so they constructed a spaceship with this substance. Obviously they travelled to the moon where they discovered an Alien species, and more than a few other secrets.  The story is narrated by Mr. Bedford so it’s a book written in first person.

But as I kept reading I notice that there was something different about this book, first of all H.G Wells knew  that he wasn’t writing something new, (In fact Jules Verne wrote the story first, among several other writers), he knew this wasn’t original, so this is a satirical book, full of  symbolisms and hidden messages…

“-I´ve done it”

“- You have. What on earth caused that explosion? “

(page 22)

This quote is when Mr Cavor discovered the Cavorite, this was the substance that permit both characters to reach the moon, in my way of thinking this a cheap way to explain how they achieve getting to the moon, because they described this material as something that repels gravity, of course when this was written this was another time, and as H.G Wells used to say he doesn’t let that science stop his imagination. 

Vocabulary; 

Tattered: Something that is in bad condition.

I tattered my clotting when I was playing rugby.

Garment: An article of clothing.

That garment is an awful looking clothing

Fluttered:  To move yourself or something else rapidly, vibrating.

My cell phone fluttered in the middle of the class when my mom called.

 Lump: solid matter that doesn’t have a particular shape, a protuberance.

I get a lump when I hit myself.

Pitiful:  Someone that is pathetic.

When I saw that horrible person in the street I thought he was pitiful.