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The Wheels of Chance: a Bicycling Idyll

H. G. Wells

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The Wheels of Chance: a Bicycling Idyll | H. G. Wells
3.51
488 ratings
Book Overview: 

“The Wheels of Chance – A Bicycling Idyll” follows the adventures of a Drapers Assistant who, having brought an ancient bicycle, sets off on a 2 week tour of the countryside. He encounters a Lady in Grey wearing rationals (bloomers). And his world will never be the same again

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Book Excerpt: 
. . .he afternoon was against him, intolerably hot, especially on the top of his head, and the virtue had gone out of his legs to digest his cold meat, and altogether his ride to Guildford was exceedingly intermittent. At times he would walk, at times lounge by the wayside, and every public house, in spite of Briggs and a sentiment of economy, meant a lemonade and a dash of bitter. (For that is the experience of all those who go on wheels, that drinking begets thirst, even more than thirst begets drinking, until at last the man who yields becomes a hell unto himself, a hell in which the fire dieth not, and the thirst is not quenched.) Until a pennyworth of acrid green apples turned the current that threatened to carry him away. Ever and again a cycle, or a party of cyclists, would go by, with glittering wheels and softly running chains, and on each occasion, to save his self-respect, Mr. Hoopdriver descended and feigned some trouble with his saddle. Each time he descended with. . . Read More

Community Reviews

4.00
- Joaquin - Apr 21, 2024

Me dijeron que esta novela (escrita al mismo tiempo que Wells desarrollaba viajes en el tiempo) iba a ser tan graciosa como Tres Hombres en una Barca. Y no.

4.00
- Thom - May 15, 2013

H. G. Wells is best known for his science fiction writings and their popularity has overshadowed his other works. Wheels of Chance is a romantic adventure that deserves more notoriety than it has. The hero of this tale is hardly the juggernaut of his dreams but when the beautiful lady in gray crosse

4.00
- Katie - Oct 06, 2021

Maybe 4.5. I really thoroughly enjoyed this. Funny but thought-provoking, with great characterisation and a sort of coming of age element, this was another H.G. Wells triumph for me.

3.00
- MJ - Oct 24, 2019

A tale of social uneasiness, a comedy of ill-manners, H.G. Wells’s fourth published novel is a long-forgotten little shiner, set in the Golden Age of the bicycling craze, sweeping Victorian England with the fervour of the late-nineties Furby. The insecure hero, a piddling draper with cringeing class

4.00
- Stephen - Feb 23, 2017

What an odd little story! Begin with one J. Hoopdriver, a draper's assistant who lives for nothing but spare opportunities to ride his bicycle -- or rather, to crash repeatedly on his bicycle, banging up his legs but still delighting in sheer momentum. Mr. Hoopdriver, at the novel's beginning, is fi

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