The Time Machine [Audio CD]

 

 

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An unnamed time traveler sees the future of man (802,701 A.D.) and then the inevitable future of the world. He tells his tale in detail.

I grew up on the Rod Taylor /George Pal movie. When I started the book I expected it to be slightly different with a tad more complexity as with most book/movie relationships. I was surprised to find the reason for the breakup of species (Morlock and Eloi) was class Vs atomic (in later movie versions it was political). I could live with that but to find that some little pink thing replaced Yvette Mimieux was too munch.

After all the surprises we can look at the story as unique in its time, first published in 1895, yet the message is timeless. The writing and timing could not have been better. And the ending was certainly appropriate for the world that he describes. Possibly if the story were written today the species division would be based on eugenics.

I found this book hard to read. Not only were the words difficult to understand, but also it was so boring and slow that it was hard to pay attention to what I was reading. I enjoy books that are realistic fiction. The Time Machine was so impossible that it was hard to read it without laughing. The romance was very weak and the suspicion was nonexistent. I found this book a waste of time to read. If we really could travel in time I would go back and never have read this book. The characters are truly shallow and have very little emotion. The climax was weak, but the story line was even worse. I would never recommend The Time Machine to anyone!

In any discussion of the history of Science Fiction, H. G. (Herbert George) Wells is sure to be mentioned, and "The Time Machine" is the first of his novels/novellas. Wells may not have invented the genre, but his impact on it would be difficult to overstate. Unlike Verne, Wells was able to go beyond just what could be accomplished by science currently, and the invention of a Time Machine is central to the story Wells is telling. That is not to say that he has nothing to say on current sciences as well, just that he allows stories to take readers far beyond that which Verne would allow.

The history of "The Time Machine" is an unusual one. Wells had used the subject of time travel repeatedly starting in 1888 with his incomplete serial "The Chronic Argonauts". It next took form in a series of articles published in "The National Observer" in 1894, and then finally as a serial novel in "The New Review" in early 1895 when editor W. E. Henley moved from one publication to the other at the end of 1894 and convinced Wells to write it as a serial for his new publication.

The story itself is quite unusual as well. Wells refrains from naming the Time Traveler at all, and the narrator also remains nameless except one reference to a person named Hillyer in the final chapter before the Epilogue, which apparently refers to him. The only major character whose name is repeatedly used is Weena, the childlike woman whom the Time Traveler meets in the year 802,701 A.D. Though Verne would have considered the Time Machine a cheat, i.e. non-scientific, Wells does include other bits and pieces of science in the telling of this tale and there is a point he is making about science as well. He touches on evolution, astrophysics, and sociology in looking at what could happen to a society if life is too much of a utopia, as well as looking at the social divisions in the society of his time and where they may lead.

The story is a quick read, at around 90 pages, and just 12 chapters and the epilogue the reader can easily get through this in a single sitting if they desire. It also, despite its flaws, captures the reader's attention and so one is willing to forgive the flaws in the story-telling.

The Penguin Classics edition of "The Time Machine" also contains an Introduction by Marina Warner, notes on the text by the editor Patrick Parrinder, and textual notes by Steven Mclean. Lastly, though certainly not least, it contains Wells preface to the 1931 edition of "The Time Machine" in which Wells discusses the circumstances in his life when he wrote it, as well as his view that the work will outlive him. Flawed though the story may be, it is a significant work, very readable, and the Penguin Classics edition adds to the experience with the added material.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Very weak protagonist....
While I commend both HG Wells and Jules Verne for creating a new fictional genre that has proven itself to be highly prophetic, there is a major problem with this fictional... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Ronald W. Maron

5.0 out of 5 stars A timeless classic of science fiction
It goes without saying that this book is a science fiction classic in every sense of the word and that H.G. Wells was a founding father of the genre. Read more

Published on July 14 2006 by Daniel Jolley

5.0 out of 5 stars I saw the movie first. The book difference was a surprise.
An unnamed time traveler sees the future of man (802,701 A.D.) and then the inevitable future of the world. He tells his tale in detail. Read more

Published on Aug 31 2005 by bernie

1.0 out of 5 stars the Most overrated writer of science fiction!!
Granted Wells was far, far ahead of his time, but really, his writing stinks. There's no character formation (bland unlikeable protagonists) and no passion for the art of... Read more

Published on July 8 2005 by fantasylover72

4.0 out of 5 stars The Time Machine
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells depeicts the story of a man known as the time traveler who travels into the distant future with a time machine that he creates. Read more

Published on July 20 2004 by Jacob Gest

5.0 out of 5 stars Moon
I'm only on page 70, but this book seems to be a great one!!!

Published on July 17 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!
This is the story of an inventor that travels to the distant future in hopes of seeing how advanced humankind has become. Read more

Published on July 7 2004 by Ampbreia

5.0 out of 5 stars Still a Great Adventure
H.G. Wells, in The Time Machine, spins a classic tale full of adventure, vivid landscapes, sci-fi speculation and even a bit of veiled socialist politics. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004 by Matt Poole

3.0 out of 5 stars A good book
Although I didn't like this one as much as Wells' other books, I did enjoy it and I am glad I read it. Read more

Published on May 27 2004 by Brendan

4.0 out of 5 stars TIME TRAVELLING
Overall I thought THE TIME MACHINE by H.G. WELLS was a very excellent book. It was suspenseful, thrilling and not at all like the bomb, they called a movie. Read more

Published on May 20 2004 by TIM RAU

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