I’m really not sure what to make of this book. It took me ages to read and I’m still not sure whether I liked it or not. It follows the life of a man (Theodore Bulpington) from a childhood in the late 19th century to about the 1930s. Theodore is someone who can’t quite face life so deals with it in childhood by creating an “idealised” version of himself (the eponymous Bulpington of Blup) and later by remembering only what he wants to remember (including things that may not have happened, eg that he kept out of the Great War for the first year because “the doctors rejected him”) and creating a shell of lies around him that effectively suppresses his own personality.
Like I say, I’m not sure what to make of it. The main character, whilst not really nasty, is unpleasant and unlikeness (I found) and I found it difficult to plough through. I’m not sure if I would recommend this other than as an oddity by Wells.
