Returning to a novel you liked years ago is often a risky business, particularly so when the genre of that novel is science fiction. Nothing can age so rapidly as the past’s conception of the future, and what once seemed cutting edge may, after fifty years or more, appear simply ludicrous.

Because of this, I was delighted to find H.G. Wells' brief novel at least as charming and exciting as I remembered it, the Time Traveler’s scientific lecture still intriguing, the journey he describes still convincing, and the sociological history he reveals to us—of the evolution of the two races, the Eloi and the Morlocks, still as persuasive as it it was in 1895. (Okay, I admit, not quite as persuasive as evolutionary biology, but—given the rising gap between the rich and the poor—still compelling as a parable and cautionary tale.)

Although I remembered vividly both the origin and appearance of the Eloi and the Morlochs, I had forgotten much of the rest, and what I forgot made the book even better: 1) the delightful clarity of the Time Traveler's exposition to his audience of dinner guests about the nature of time as a dimension and the possibility of traveling through it, 2) the vivid description of the time-trip itself, a flickering cinematic-style vision, 3) the brutal destruction of the future of the English countryside, brought about by the Traveler’s reintroduction of fire, and 4) the end of his journey in a dying world of the far future, and the almost religious tone of his musings.

What was most clear to me, however, is how artfully H.G. Wells here combines scientific speculation, sociological parable, compelling adventure, and philosophical meditation. He both informs and delights, while never wearying his reader, in this book that is less than half the length of most of the first volumes of our current speculative fiction trilogies.

Still a classic, and one that our contemporary writers would do well to emulate.

Published in 1895 "The Time Machine" is a Sci-fi classic that is a beloved a story as "The Wizard of Oz" (at least for me it is). A subtle message of the eventual destruction humans will bring upon themselves and the subtle message of hope.
Well written, interesting and to a certain extent intriguing, this story has all the elements to make it a perennial among readers. In my opinion no Sci-fi collection is complete without this gem in it.

The Time Machine is considered to be a classic of science fiction and was one of the first books to explore time travel in fiction. It’s one of those books that every science fiction fan should read at a certain point and it has influenced many other writers of the genre.

This is a short book, with a simple plot. And almost anything else in the book is also simple, from the settings to the characters. As you might have guessed from the title, the main character travels to the future to find something quite different, though not completely shocking. Could Wells have imagined something a little more complex? Yes, he could, but it was difficult back then. We’re talking about a book that was written in the late 19th century, after all. It was interesting to learn about this imagined setting, over 800 thousand years in the future, but I couldn’t find myself being completely immersed in this alternative reality, as sometimes happens with other realities created by different writers.

The future visited by the Time Traveler is somewhat different to what we see around us today. And here is where I wasn’t such a big fan of this book. From the point of view of the Time Traveler, this future society exists as a consequence of struggles between the upper and lower classes of society. I couldn’t find this point engaging and I couldn’t picture a struggle between classes leading to such beings as the Eloi and the Morlocks. Additionally, it seemed to me that Wells was trying to teach moral lessons, as an extension of the existing struggles between lower and upper classes in late 19th century England.

At the end of the day I still enjoyed The Time Machine. I thought that Wells skillfully portrayed the Eloi’s fear, while also managing to make the Morlocks creepy, and I enjoyed reading his descriptions of future settings. It’s just that with all the other advances in modern society and technology, not to mention an expanded genre of science fiction books, this book feels somewhat dated.

H.G. Wells's The Time Machine was required reading in high school for most when I was in 9th grade (about 25 years ago), and one of my teachers chose this book as 1 of 10 books we read that year in an English literature comparative analysis course. Each month, we'd read a book and watch two film adaptations, then have discussions and write a paper. At the time, I thought, this book is a little cheesy... I mean, not that I was a huge Star Trek fan (although I did love me some Voyager), but even I know time machines were a lot cooler than what I saw in the movie and read about in the book.



THEN, I realized HG Wells published this book in 1895... an entire century before I started watching TV shows about time travel. And that's when you realize what a priceless book this was. It was the advent of a new genre's blossoming into fandom. And I became fascinated with these types of stories. But there was so much more to it than time travel.

It's a commentary on society and values. Are you ostracized when you think differently? What if you look different... like as in your skin looks blue. Do you know what a Morlock is? Check it out (thanks the original GIF source in link!)



What I loved about this story was the thoughts and ideas of an 1890s man writing about the potential for traveling to the past and the future, suggesting what happens to humankind over time. In the era of Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species, or perhaps a few decades later, this book covers those ideas and helps activate a reader's imagination outside their own limited world. It was the 1890s... no TV, no phones, car engines being built for the first time, indoor plumbing had just become common in regular homes... life was every different.

That said, it's the words and imagery that catch you in this book. You have to forego current life and pretend you were still back in time.

(Book 797 from 1001 books) - The Time Machine, H.G. Wells

The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 and written as a frame narrative.

The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposely and selectively forwards or backwards in time.

The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now almost universally used to refer to such a vehicle.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز شانزدهم ماه سپتامبر سال 2009میلادی

عنوان: ماشین زمان؛ نویسنده: هربرت جورج ولز؛ مترجم: فرید جواهر کلام؛ تهران، سازمان کتابهای جیبی؛ 1346؛ در 176ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، علمی فرهنگی، 1384؛ در 176ص؛ شابک 9644456149؛ چاپ دیگر 1394، در سیزده و 203ص؛ شابک 9786001215919؛ موضوع داستانهای علمی و خیال انگیز از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 19م

مترجم: علی امید؛ تهران، سپیده، 1371؛ در 130ص؛ شابک 9645773237؛

مترجم: شهلا طهماسبی؛ تهران، نشر مرکز، کتبهای مریم، 1377؛ در 98ص؛ شابک 9643053652؛ چاپ دوم 1379؛

مترجم: محمد دانش؛ تهران، شهر کتاب، هرمس، 1383؛ در 124ص؛ شابک 9643632520؛

مترجم: علی فاطمیان؛ تهران، چشم انداز، 1379؛ در 236ص؛ شابک 9644222318؛

مترجم: علی الستی؛ تهران، بهجت، 1383؛ در 174ص؛ شابک 97896466771577

مترجم: عبدالحسین شریفیان؛ تهران، چشمه، چاپ اول 1387، چاپ دوم 1388؛ در 133ص؛ شابک 9789643623722؛

مترجم: امین دادور؛ تهران، آریا نگار، 1391؛ در 64ص؛ شابک 9786006251110؛

مترجم: سوده کریمی؛ تهران، ذکر، قاصدک، 1395؛ در 32ص؛ مصور، شابک 9789643077754؛

قهرمان داستان، با یک وسیله ی مکانیکی، به آینده ی نامعلومی، سفر می‌کند؛ و در آنجا میفهمد، که بشریت، به دو دسته تقسیم شده است

دسته ی اول «الوئیها»، که اشراف بیمایه و ترسویی هستند، که در باغ‌های خود زندگی می‌کنند، و از میوه‌ های درختان تغذیه می‌کنند؛

دسته ی دوم «مورلاکها»، که کارگرانی هستند که در زیرزمین زندگی می‌کنند؛ زحمتکشانی که، گرچه کور شده‌ اند، اما به مدد نیروی گذشته، به کار خود، بر روی وسیله ی مکانیکی پیچیده، و زنگزده‌ ای، که هیچ چیز تولید نمی‌کند، ادامه میدهند؛

استوانه‌ هایی با پلکان پیچاپیچ، این دو دنیا را به هم وصل می‌کنند؛ در شبهای بی مهتاب، «مورلاک»‌ها که از مغاک‌های خود، بیرون میآیند، و از «الوئی»‌ها، تغذیه می‌کنند؛ قهرمان بینام، به تشویق «مورلاک»‌ها، از آینده میگریزد، و به زمان حال بازمیگردد؛ او از این سفر، تنها یک یادگاری به ارمغان می‌آورد، که آنهم گلی ناشناخته است، که چون آن را در زمین بکارند، تا هزاران سال نگذرد، شکوفه نخواهد داد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 14/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

‘It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger and trouble.’

(What doesn’t kill you does indeed make you stronger…preach it, H.G.Wells)

A brilliant marriage of philosophical reflection, scientific detail and high adventure.

Whilst being widely recognised for his uncanny prescience, precocious ideas and major influence, I don’t feel that Wells is given enough credit for his writing ability. The Time Machine is vibrant, fast paced, and saturated with convincing and lively detail. What also sets it apart for me is that it is not nearly as emotionally detached as some of his other works; the Time Traveler experiences and expresses horror, fear, sadness and even tenderness. He is one of Wells’s more sympathetic protagonists.

I can appreciate that this novel could perhaps feel a little dry to some. Whilst the scientific theory is elaborate and astoundingly well articulated, it may prove distracting and distancing from the main action of the narrative. I don’t say this to be condescending in any way, but a little prior scientific understanding may be beneficial to appreciate Wells’s skillful crafting fully, eg. entropy, natural selection etc. But that does not mean that this can’t be enjoyed as a thought provoking adventure. Wells was a committed socialist as well as a scientist and by extrapolating from his own time, established and speculated a link between class division and evolution. The Time Machine is also an exquisite work concerning sociology. He presents a vision of what appears to be Utopia, initially diagnosed as a strain of Communism. However, things quickly escalate and it becomes shockingly apparent that the year 802,701 AD is in fact a grotesque inversion of capitalism, where class divisions have become so distinct, it is expressed biologically.

We owe so much to H.G.Wells. Alien invasions (aliens, period) and time travel are just two of the notions that are now deeply ingrained into our collective consciousness. Just look at Dr Who (all hail David Tennant, obviously) - the TARDIS even steadily vanishes into thin air with a gust of wind, just like Wells’s original Time Machine. And my, do I love Dr Who.

I freaking loved this little story.

It’s not the most exciting science fiction, and the style that this story is told in will likely hinder a lot of people’s experience when reading this. It’s told as a story that our narrator is transcribing as it’s being told, which means every single paragraph starts with quotation marks, and there is rarely any dialogue. So in that sense, I can understand why some people may hate it.

But thinking about what HG Wells did for the science fiction genre, specifically with this story, was incredibly important and groundbreaking. And reading this nearly 130 years after is was published, I still feel like it totally holds up.

This is a short novel, but it really says a lot. What HG Wells prophesied here on the future of humanity is fascinating. Looking at our class systems, and looking at our constant fight for peace, and building upon a far distant future world that these systems have evolved into, I was blown away by it.

Plus, I found that there was a shockingly wonderful human connection in this story.

An EXCELLENT adventure!



Ok, so I'm sort of ashamed of myself because I thought this was a graphic novel of The Time Machine, and I was planning on using it to cut corners. As in, I want to read the story, but...not really. And I didn't flip through this before snagging it at the library.
Well, this is the graphic version in the same way that Dr. Seuss is a graphic version of a story. Basically, this is a picture book for the 6 and up crowd who are just learning to read and need the story dumbed waaaaaay down for them.
So yeah. It was pretty much right on my level.



Regardless, this would be a good way to introduce kids (and/or lazy fuckers like myself) to classics.

THE TIME MACHINE begins with the time traveller requesting absolute silence and no interruptions while telling the story of his astonishing journey into a strange and dangerous futuristic world of unfamiliar creatures.

And When he had concluded his tale of the little people, his fear of the underground and the dark nights, he was greatly disappointed of his inability to convince his esteemed colleagues of its validity.

And Then......the ending......uh oh......not what I was expecting.

Published in 1895 H. G. Wells had quite the imagination for the bizarre as evidenced in this timeless sci-fi classic.

n  "You read, I will suppose, attentively enough; but you cannot see the speaker's white, sincere face in the bright circle of the little lamp, nor hear the intonation of his voice. You cannot know how his expression followed the turns of his story!”n

3.6/5

My first classic and science fiction of the year and it did not disappoint! I am a huge fan when the narrator is first person POV and speaks directly to the readers. I am an even bigger fan when we are retold the story from what the narrator can write down from a speaker. Such is the set up of this short story. The time traveller sits down with many people and retells his recent time travel into the year 802,701 A.D.

n  Humanity had been strong, energetic, and intelligent, and had used all its abundant vitality to alter the conditions under which it lived.n

Although this story was a quick read, the plot itself was a bit all over the place. Sometimes nothing would happen, there seemed to be a climax that really didn't reach a resolution before jumping to another shorter plot. Up to the last chapter and the epilogue, I would have given this 3ish stars, HOWEVER, once I read those last couple of pages I quickly bumped my rating. I do love a mysterious ending. Overall, this is the kind of quick read I was looking for and it definitely filled my appetite for a science fiction read (which I haven't had in a while).

I read this in summer school 2003 and didn't think much of it. I reread it now and thoroughly enjoyed it after all these years. The story is told in second person but from a first person perspective because the Time Traveller is telling his story.

My interpretation of the story was as The Time Traveller progressed in time, humanity regressed into a primal state. When the Traveller landed in this new world it appeared surreal and beautiful. He gradually discovers a split and dichotomous environment that contains a dark side.

The unique coexistence between the Upper World and the Under World was neat for me to rediscover. The polarity of beauty and hideousness, have and have-not, and the search for knowledge were themes I interpreted.

Though written in 1895 the storytelling is a little dated and archaic but remains solid nonetheless. I would recommend this piece of classic literature to anyone. Thanks!

The Time Machine is a quirky candidate for the father of science fiction with its time-travel elements and the year it was published back in 1895, plus the way it rushes into a far distant future.

It's also a bit old fashioned, focusing on a bunch of stuffy, important men dining on choice cuts and smoking expensive cigars while, suddenly, the main character mysteriously zips off into seemingly impossible worlds without scientific explanation.

Imagine what a time machine designed in 1895 would be like, with its mechanical levers, analogue dials and steam whistling out of its coal-fueled (probably) boiler. Basically just an upright seat in an open, oblong frame.

This book is phenomenally forward thinking for its age, including time lags associated with travelling through space - out there for days on end, maybe weeks - but when you come back it's only been a few minutes for everyone else, which means ageing while those at home remain the same, a concept that's been explored in many science fiction stories since.

The book focuses on a future race called the Eloi and how they subsist on the surface of the visited planet, a seemingly useless and weak people who live in lazy and ignorant abandonment, as well as their mirror image, the evil Morlocks who live physically out of sight in the shadows and under the ground, who run the industry that keeps everything running on the surface. The Morlocks regularly go to the surface to terrorize and prey on the unsuspecting Eloi, which creates dystopian horror rather than the superficial utopian bliss.

The Morlocks could be the forefather of Tolkien's orcs and there's a definite good versus evil element to this book, which works well.

Although a classic, this is not a flawless read. The unnamed main character gets an opportunity to explore the sinister depths and reveal the mysterious nature of how the Morlocks live, but instead clambers back to the surface before seeing anything, so we never find out what it's like down there. There is a disappointing lack of plot development because of this.

There is also a weird and almost husband-and-wife relationship between Unnamed and an Eloi called Weena as his little companion, who strokes his hair, sits on his shoulder and dotes on him.

A strange book to say the least, with distinct black and white contradictions and past vs future divergences that strangely combine really well. This fine literature gets more memorable as you reflect and think about it.

Although super far-fetched, H.G. Wells writes in an extremely charming and accessible way that's a total pleasure to read. This is a science fiction masterclass for the ages that's also quite wonderfully odd.