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Title: The Time Machine (Everyman Paperback Classics) by H. G. Wells, John Lawton ISBN: 0-460-87735-6 Publisher: Everymans Library Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.23 (196 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A "TIMELESS" CLASSIC
Comment: Written by H.G Wells in late19th century London, the style, pace, and language used in the book are what you would expect from an English book of that time. Very old fashioned and complex- but beautiful and captivating. The Time Machine has become an undisputed classic, almost everyone has read it. A short book, it is only 123 short pages, but a powerful and moving one. Raising legitimate and puzzling questions about the future of the human race, and illustrating just how easily humans can be reduced to animalistic behavior make this book more than just a light hearted adventure story. The Time Machine makes you seriously think, and takes you on one hell of an adventure along the way.
Although it was written in England more than 100 years ago, it was far ahead of its time. Ironically, I believe this old, English book to be the quintessential modern American novel. Why? It's short, fast paced, action packed, highly enjoyable, and easily digestible. Sounds what Americans nowadays look for n books, music, and movies doesn't it? At the same time, it brings up serious questions about the fate of humanity and invokes powerful emotions. All books have some problems, and The Time Machine is no exception. Despite its flaws, it is a "timeless" classic.
Strong points of The Time Machine include lovely prose, ingenious plotting, perfect pacing and rhythm, thought provoking and meaningful questions, and a clearly expressed distaste (on the part of H.G. Wells) for theatrical devices, conformity and predictability that so often haunt most books (even those that have attained "classic" status). Wells does do a fantastic, and nearly unrivaled, (so far as I've read) job of describing emotions and feelings, particularly negative ones: "I felt hopelessly cut off from my own kind - a strange animal in an unknown world. I must have raved to and fro, screaming and crying upon god and fate."
Unfortunately, Wells falls short in some aspects just as much as he excels in others. The imagery and synesthesia is underdeveloped (one reason for the brevity of the book), the story is everything. Wells has great ideas and stories, but can't develop a character for his life. Mysterious (in a bad way) characters, most of which have no names, are given no physical descriptions, no information is given about their background, and no impression of their true temperament revealed. In fact, he can't really describe anything (characters, animals, buildings, scenery, etc) beyond vague measurements. That being said, this does not detract from the book at all. Some of the greatest Sci-Fi novels of all time (including everything by Asimov) all suffer from these problems. It's just the way Sci-Fi is written.
Characterization in the book was weak, so there is not much to say about the unnamed "Time Traveler." We know he is male, and we know he is a brilliant scientist that lives in the 19th century. No family history or background information is given, and we have no idea what he was doing before the story began, or what his life is really like. He has one objective: to find out what happens to the human race in the future.
Through the rest of the book we do learn a little more about him, and gradually we come to realize that he is a good deal more complicated than one might first assume. The beginning of the story sees his arrival in the future as a composed and intellectual man. From the point his time machine is stolen on, he goes through a transformation. Desperate and isolated in a strange new world, he becomes over-emotional, upset, frustrated, and seriously disturbed at finding the human race in its current state. As he learns more about his future society, his own humanity begins to slip away. Anger, hatred, vengeance, sadism, replace his previous feelings of helplessness. "I could hear the succulent giving of flesh and bone under my blows, and for a moment I was free. The strange exultation that so often seems to accompany hard fighting came upon me." This transformation happens in a matter of days. H.G. Wells is trying to show that given the right circumstances, how easily a supposedly "refined" and "civilized" can be reduced into a snarling beast. Or in the case of all humanity, simple and ignorant children.
"It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism. Nature never appeals to intelligence where there is no change and no need of change. Only those animals partake of intelligence that have to meet a huge variety of needs and dangers."
Rating: 4
Summary: The Time Machine Is A Great Book...A Must Read!
Comment: H.G. Wells' timeless classic, The Time Machine, was a great read. I thought it was well worth my "TIME." I gave this book, **** (4 stars).
The story is about a time traveling scientist who studies the 4th dimension...Time. He builds this incredible machine, (the time machine) in order to travel through time forwards or backwards. He moves forward about 800,000 years from now in only a matter of minutes! He meets mystical young people named the Eloi. They were humans, but have evolved over time into smaller, gentler people. The story follows him on his journey through this brave new world, where he suffers many hardships. I thought this book was very imaginative and creative. The book made me pull out my rusty old imagination and made me feel like I was literally back in the third grade! For example, when the time traveler lands in the new world, H.G. Wells describes the Eloi people and their surroundings. He does a great job using imagery and colorful details.
Another reason I gave this book 4 stars was because it was suspenseful. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I read this book. I wished the book never ended. H.G. Wells builds up a lot of suspense and then just when you would think its over...he hits you with another suspenseful event! He does that many times throughout the story, yet, it never gets old. This book can almost be considered a "suspenseful, yet colorful, thriller," from my point of view. That is why I gave this book 4 stars.
Rating: 4
Summary: not bad
Comment: well im writing this review for a physics project that i have to do. Well overall i thought the book was pretty exciting. Alot of details were given and the book kept u thinking even at the end when the traveler disapears and never returns. I thought the ending was pretty cook since i would never expect an ending like that. THe book has action, and lots of details. Some parts were hard to understand because of the wierd names that the travler gives but overall the book wasnt bad.
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Title: The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells ISBN: 0812505158 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 February, 1993 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne ISBN: 0812550927 Publisher: Tor Classics Pub. Date: 15 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne ISBN: 0140022651 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1965 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells ISBN: 0486270718 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 05 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $2.00 |
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Title: The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells ISBN: 0553214322 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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