The Wonder

The Wonder, J.D. Beresford, University of Nebraska Press, 1999

First published in 1911 and set in rural England, this book is about a man named Ginger Stott, the greatest cricket bowler in England. Totally obsessed with all aspects of the game, he goes so far as experimenting with different types of grass seed. A hand injury forces his retirement; he figures that being the father of the greatest cricket bowler in England is a reasonable substitute. A wife and mother is needed, first.

Ellen Mary Jakes is a friend of the family, and is getting on in years. She calmly weighs the pros and cons of marriage (she hasn't exactly been inundated with marriage proposals) and decides it would be worth her while to become Mrs Ginger Stott. An appropriate amount of time later, Victor Stott is born.

He is born with an abnormally large head, so the first thought is that he will grow up to be some sort of hydrocephalic idiot. That is, if he survives that long; he also comes out of the womb absolutely silent and still, as if he was stillborn, but is later revived. From the time he is an infant, his eyes are practically hypnotic. Adults are unnerved by what look like the eyes of a 50 or 100-year-old man. Victor is kept away from the other children in the town.

When Victor is about four years old, he is introduced to a local anthropologist with a personal library of about 40,000 books. Victor starts by actually reading an unabridged dictionary, then reads an entire set of encyclopedias. He then goes through the library like a buzzsaw, picking and choosing what to read. Later, some of the town's local intellectuals visit Victor to talk philosophy. He proceeds to tear their cherished beliefs to shreds. The novel ultimately ends on a sad note.

First of all, many kudos to the University of Nebraska Press for bringing back long neglected science fiction novels like this. Perhaps this story is best on a historical basis; here is where the "superman" sub-genre started. As to the novel itself, it belongs somewhere in that large gray area of Pretty Good or Worth Reading.