Review: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

 

“I’ve had a most amazing time....”

So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’s successful career and earned him his reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth.  There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well.  Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells’s expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come.

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My Thoughts: This classic turned out to be better than what I expected. One of the students I tutor recommended we read this together to help with his comprehension. I am glad he did because I have never thought about giving this book a chance before. I found myself immersed with H.G. Wells' ideas of the future and was captivated by the story.

When I started to read this, I immediately recognized Wells' message to his readers. His writing was filled with theories that had me thinking of what could happen to our society as we let technology and capitalism grow. It was fascinating to read how human society downgraded in the far future when it should be the opposite with all the advances that humans are making. We had the Eloi, the people that the Time Traveler first encountered, who were small, childlike, and unintelligent. Then we had the Morlocks who were the "poor" of society. They lived underground, were wild, and were extremely dangerous. These future creatures don't have education but they obviously had a social class caste system. In many ways, these future people had many similarities to our present society, and that was a little scary to think of. What amazed me the most was how this book was written in the 1800s and yet the theories could be relevant to today.

Next, I quite enjoyed the story that H.G. Wells told. The Time Traveler explained his experience traveling to the future and meeting the creatures. I liked how the Time Traveler was able to connect with one of the beings, Weena. It made the story feel more believable that the TT was able to have a relationship, not a romantic but friendship type, during his adventure. Also, the ending took me by surprise. I was not expecting it to end the way it did. It had me further scratching my head trying to figure out what happened to the TT. I did like how the book ended with a positive note: even though the future looks dark, we can still change our future. 

As a whole, this was a great classic. It was not perfect for there were a couple of parts that I lost interest in, but the rest kept me hooked in. Wells' theories had me pondering about our future and the story was captivating enough for me to read all the way to the end. I am glad that I listened to my student. I rate it: