2.5

Given I'm not a science fiction reader normally, I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed this. I was also surprised to realize there are a lot of similarities between this book and Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. That's probably why I enjoyed this one so much, actually! (I loved The Sparrow.)

Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book and its Wishbone adaptation over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!

Overall a very good read. The first few chapters flew over my head because of all the technical stuff in it but once I got past this I raced along with it. I have seen the films based on it and the book is very different. A short read and one I intended reading for years and I'm glad now I did.
I'm rounding it up to 3.5 rating.

Over the last few weeks I have been going through the books that I read in my early days of joining GR and where I didn't write a (proper) review I am trying to remedy that situation.
I think I first read this book some time around the early to mid 70s, in fact it was probably not long after I first saw the film. Similar to WotW it was one of the 1950s (1960 actually) B movies that fuelled my desire for science fiction. Well that and the "Supermarionation" series on TV written and produced by Gerry Anderson.
Anyway having got off of the subject quite considerably lets return to this book. For a book written in the late Victorian era (1895) this book is amazingly modern. It deals primarily with a genius inventor who theorises on the subject of time travel with the ultimate intention of building a machine that will allow him to move through time looking at mankind's future. He discovers 800 thousand years in the future that due to a major world war, mankind has separated into 2 distinct races. The waif like Eloi that live above ground in a paradise type world and the neanderthal ugly Morlocks who live below ground with their evil sinister ways.
I think the thing that gets me most about this book is just how much imagination HG Wells must have had to write it. As i said it was written over 120 years ago, so not as technically biased as some of today's sf but still truly awe inspiring and bearing that in mind, certainly worth a read.

Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.

The Time Machine is one of my favorite books. It’s a great story, and very well-written. It has the first use of time travel as plot device, used to tell a thought-provoking critique of modern society. It is one of the foundational stories of science fiction, but completely readable today. A must-read if you never have.

P.S. I don’t normally comment on when whether I read a book or listened to the unabridged audiobook. But this time I listened to an audiobook recorded by Sir Derek Jacobi. Highly recommended.

Not much of a story, really, but intriguing, none the less. While Wells frames his ideas within the journeys of the Time Traveler, it is more of a commentary and a hypothesis about how the politics and socio-economic structure of Wells' time period as well as the science of our planet and solar system will affect the future. While I believe some retelling of this book (movies, etc.) have had him go into the past, the book is actually all about the future.

As a person who has enjoyed authors like Wells and Verne and their guesses for the future, I am happy to give this book 4 stars again for this re-read.

Without "The Time Machine," we might not have science-fiction. Or at least not as we know it.

That's not to say that someone wouldn't or couldn't have come along and filled a gap had H.G. Wells not written this. But would it have been as popular and caught fire with the imagination of the reading public if had been something or someone else. Maybe not.

What I'm trying to say is that sci-fi fans owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Wells for this story. Not only was it hugly influential, but it's still entertaining and readable to this day. Following the convention of the period, Wells relates the story twice removed. It's a first-person narrator relating the story of another first-person narrator. Wells introduces us to the Traveller, who has invented a way to break the barrier to the fourth dimension. He plans to travel in time and does so, going into the far future and meeting the Eloi and the Morlocks.

If you've seen the movie, you're probably familiar with most of what unfolds. But if you've only seen the movie, you've really only experienced half of the story. Like many great episodes of sci-fi shows today, the success of "The Time Machine" comes from the abililty to use fantastic fiction to comment on current real-world issues. "The Time Machine" does that in such a subtle way, making readers think and carry that thought process long after the final page is turned.

That's not to say it's all philosophical discourse (I'm looking at your Robert A. Heinlein). The novel wouldn't endure if it was just that. It's got a good adventure story at its center and it hangs the philosophical argument on that. Wells shows a mastery of this type of storytelling that many other writers in this field (again, I point to Robert A. Heinlein) have tried but come up woefully short in achieving.

It's a classic, no question about it. If you've not read it in a while, it's worth a second, third or even fifteenth look. If you've not read it all, you should treat yourself to one of the truly innovated stories in world literature. It's not every day you can read a story that is the starting point for an entire genre.

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars on this one and finally went with 4 based on the time it was written. It doesn't read like a more recent SF novel, but it's another thought provoking read. The storage devices that survived times passing, the question of what went with him on his last trip and what kind of society would now result stays with us. Not a bad read.

This has been made into more than one movie (the earliest probably being the closest to the actual book). It like many of Wells' works has inspired thought and conjecture. Wells was an interesting man who saw many things clearly (though personally I disagree with many of his ideas) and some not so clearly. Picturing advancements that weren't well defined in science until long after his own time. Wells wondered constantly about the dichotomy between humanity's ability to leap ahead in scientific development while still trying to wipe itself out.

Wells seems to me to have been a strange combination of inspired thought and closed mindedness. He grasped concepts that were so advanced that some still haven't come to pass, yet also failed to recognize things that were all around him.

Anyway, interesting book, good read.

In which the teller of the story talks about his three meetings with the Time Traveler, and what the impact of these meetings left on him. The Time Traveler has made himself a vehicle for going through time in either direction, and chooses to look into the far future. What he finds surprises him, and he tells his tale afterwards.

This story was serialised first in 1894-95, but an early form had already existed for ten years. It received a mixed reception (Conrad like it, Woolf less so and I can guess why). It has been made for film, tv and radio many times since, and as one of the first, if not the first, stories about time-traveling like this, influential in literature world too. The introducer mentions also Doctor Who (*Tardis noises*).

I was already familiar with some of the plot, including who the Time Traveler meets in the future, but not all. The mini-time machine charmed me; but like the man-sized thing, it also fails to return. I think the sole remaining proof of the traveling (the poor little flowers Weena had put in Time Traveler's pocket) gave the story a little melancholy end. I don't think the Time Traveler really appreciated his companion deeply enough.

The world the Time Traveler ended up in (not the only one, but one he stayed in the longest - many days) was quite strange. All those buildings, the weather, the food... That the Morlocks ate the Eloi was a bit of a shock, but the TT explained it quite convincingly, or guessed well. He has some theories about the class-level playing its part in the evolution of these two groups which may seem a little out of date, or prejudiced, but I think it's an interesting theory even when not realistic.
The Palace of Green Porcelain was also a surprise: a museum with interesting rooms, though much decayed and destroyed. I think the Time Traveler's reactions and actions were also interesting to see; what he did in distress moment, how he explored the world so gradually, how he found was to defend himself. And when he finally left, the part about the vehicle being used as a trap yet becoming the leaving opportunity felt a little oddly done, but not ridiculous. And afterwards, when he kept going on further in time, I could feel his loneliness increase - so I was glad he got to come back, even if just for one final number of moments, before becoming lost, most likely in the past this time.

As for the feedback from the men who listened to his story, quite reasonable expectations from the Time Traveler not to expect belief, but I feel the teller of this story got the closest to believing. But also, looking at the condition of the vehicle afterwards, that might've been proof enough for me. Perhaps the teller mused on the ways the future came about, and perhaps he was thankful of not being able to see it. Sometimes you just don't want to know...
But I'm glad to get to read this, finally, and know why this book is such a classic.

The Time Machine is like going to Jimmy John's to get a sandwich because the bread is just amazing. It's so much better than any other sandwich chain out there, and I'm convinced they are using some form of illegal addictive substance in the baking process that keeps me coming back for more. The Time Machine is like that, but you only get turkey on your sandwich. No cheese or mayo or lettuce or tomato. Just turkey.

The bread is still amazing though. Just like the beginning and the ending of The Time Machine. I loved how the books starts with the time traveler guy just hanging out with a bunch of dudes smoking away on cigars and drinking brandy. No one has a real name. They're just all hanging out, and the guy is telling them this crazy story about how he travelled in this machine way out into the future. It all seems so ridiculous and everyone is all skeptical.

But the guy keeps going. And his story isn't really all that exciting after all. It's like that one friend you have that tells you a story they think is the best story in the history of stories, and they give you every little detail of the story so you're all bored to death listening to this stupid thing until your friend finally gets to the end of the story which is actually really good, but, hot diggity, you didn't need to hear every mundane detail leading up to the good stuff.

That's how this book was for me which was kind of a bummer because it was about time travel. It started and ended strong, but I just felt kinda bored in the middle when the guy is just wandering around with the future creature things. I can appreciate all this did for the science fiction genre and time travel and whatnot, but I was a little underwhelmed. Three stars for the delicious bread, but I needed more condiments on my sandwich to give it a little more flavor.

Jimmy John's FTW.
I'm now gonna time travel into the future by sleeping. No machine needed. See you tomorrow.

I expected something better from H.G.Wells,the father of science fiction. A good idea,poorly executed.
Lacked excitement and action,was pretty dull and dry. Redeeming features : it was a quick read,and the ending wasn't bad.

A brilliant inventor creates the world’s first time machine. After explaining its inner-workings to guests of his weekly dinner parties, he arranges for a follow up meeting about a week later. When the group convenes, they find the scientist exhausted and weathered. After cleaning up and consuming a well deserved meal, he sits down to tell of his journey over 800,000 years into the future.

Damn, this book is old. In fact, I’m certain it is the oldest novel I've yet to read clocking in at one hundred and twenty one years since initial publication. Wells seemingly went to great lengths to explain to the reader how a theoretical time machine would operate and I often wondered if Wells had built one himself based on how detailed his explanations and theories were. It would certainly explain the theory that the author himself is the main character.

That isn't to say it’s too philosophical and technical, there is quite a bit of action and danger. The events in the future carried with it a constant sense of urgency. Whether the traveler is trying to understand his surroundings, avoid capture or trying to find his missing time machine, the action moved at a brisk pace. In fact, a memorable moment had the traveler racing forward in time, worrying that a pillar or some kind of concrete structure may now be erected in the spot he occupied when he initially began his journey. Would he become a part of the object when he slammed on the brakes or would his machine and body simply explode? The story would be a hell of a lot shorter if he ended up like Han Solo encased in carbonite.

While I enjoyed the world building and the spectacle of time travel, I found myself re-reading passages over and over again as I struggled with Wells’ writing. I’m sure prose like this was probably commonplace back in the late 1800s but it was a major hurdle for me in 2013. However, you probably don’t need my endorsement or recommendation, this book is certainly a classic that inspired generations of sci-fi writers - it’s just not something I think I’ll find myself picking up again.

Cross Posted @ Every Read Thing