The Undying Fire

The Undying Fire, a 1919 novel by H. G. Wells, is a modern retelling of the story of Job. Like the Book of Job, it consists of a prologue in heaven, an exchange of speeches with four visitors, a dialogue between the protagonist and God, and an epilogue in which the protagonist's fortunes are restored. Wells believed that The Undying Fire contained some of his best writing. While some friends agreed, reviewers and critics have been less generous. One of Wells's biographers groused that the novel is "a parade of ideas leading to a predetermined conclusion: that the one true god is the yearning for the ideal in the human heart, which can be successfully developed through education."