H. G. Wells: Time Machine (Paperback, 1967, Airmont Pub Co)
Paperback
English language
Published June 23, 1967 by Airmont Pub Co.
The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, travels over 800,000 years into the future. He lands in the year 802701: the world has been transformed by a society living in apparent harmony and bliss, but as the Traveler stays in the future he discovers a hidden barbaric and depraved subterranean class. Wells's transparent commentary on the capitalist society was an instant bestseller and launched the time-travel genre.
The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, travels over 800,000 years into the future. He lands in the year 802701: the world has been transformed by a society living in apparent harmony and bliss, but as the Traveler stays in the future he discovers a hidden barbaric and depraved subterranean class. Wells's transparent commentary on the capitalist society was an instant bestseller and launched the time-travel genre.
Enjoyed it heaps more than war of the worlds
A childhood favorite re-visited.
Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes
What ages would I recommend it too? – Ten and up.
Length? – Most of a day’s read.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Real world, alternate time.
Written approximately? – The reprinted 1980 edition.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.
Short storyline: A male builds a time machine and travels to the future.
Notes for the reader: At the time this was originally written, males had no respect for women, and it shows. Also, interestingly, none of the original characters have a name, only an occupation. The time traveler has no name at all, only an underline in place of a name.
A childhood favorite re-visited.
Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes
What ages would I recommend it too? – Ten and up.
Length? – Most of a day’s read.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Real world, alternate time.
Written approximately? – The reprinted 1980 edition.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.
Short storyline: A male builds a time machine and travels to the future.
Notes for the reader: At the time this was originally written, males had no respect for women, and it shows. Also, interestingly, none of the original characters have a name, only an occupation. The time traveler has no name at all, only an underline in place of a name.
Read this ages ago and I expect this rating is more to do with the original movie than the book itself. I remember being terrified of the Morlocks. The book was pretty good from what I can remember, Wells is really good at describing the sciencey side of things in his books. The first book I read on time travel and probably the easiest to understand.
Read this ages ago and I expect this rating is more to do with the original movie than the book itself. I remember being terrified of the Morlocks. The book was pretty good from what I can remember, Wells is really good at describing the sciencey side of things in his books. The first book I read on time travel and probably the easiest to understand.
Brilliant.
Obviously, The Time Machine is a well-known classic. And from the 4 (of 5) star review, it's clear that I enjoyed it. So I'll skip that and go to some random thoughts...
I could not believe how short of a story it was. Calling it a novella is, in my opinion, a stretch. Having seen two movie versions, I thought myself familiar with the ins and outs of the story and couldn't believe how much of both movies is made up for the screenplays. I understand that an 80-page short story would need to be fleshed-out to be made into full-length movie, but WOW so much of the movies was changed and molded by the filmmakers. For starters, none of the Eloi or Morlocks speak. To be honest, I still have no idea how the time traveling main character learned their names. And the relationship between the female Eloi (Weena, …
Obviously, The Time Machine is a well-known classic. And from the 4 (of 5) star review, it's clear that I enjoyed it. So I'll skip that and go to some random thoughts...
I could not believe how short of a story it was. Calling it a novella is, in my opinion, a stretch. Having seen two movie versions, I thought myself familiar with the ins and outs of the story and couldn't believe how much of both movies is made up for the screenplays. I understand that an 80-page short story would need to be fleshed-out to be made into full-length movie, but WOW so much of the movies was changed and molded by the filmmakers. For starters, none of the Eloi or Morlocks speak. To be honest, I still have no idea how the time traveling main character learned their names. And the relationship between the female Eloi (Weena, the only named character) is more of a parent/child or babysitter/child than a love affair and seen in several adaptions, like the Guy Pearce movie.
Overall, it is definitely a fantastic novel. And one can easily see how it shaped and changed science fiction forever. I think everyone should forget the story of The Time Machine that they know from TV and movies and read this novella. A game changer.
An old classic, but surprisingly good.
