The Time Machine (Chiltern Classics)

Sehr interessantes Buch mit einer sehr interessanten aber auch teilweise Gesellschaftskritischen Zukunftsvision

Seiner Zeit voraus

Meiner Meinung nach sollte jeder Fan von Sci-Fi dieses Buch einmal gelesen haben. Einerseits natürlich, weil es eines der ersten Science-Fiction Bücher überhaupt war, aber dann ist es auch noch gut?? Ich war besonders überrascht von den erwachsenen Themen wie Sozialismus und den Verlust von Intellekt durch überhebliche Trägheit, die, wie ich finde, auch heute noch relevant sind. Auch wird die Evolutionstheorie Darwins tatsächlich ernst genommen und nicht der Mensch als vollkommenes Wesen in die Mitte von allem gesetzt, wie ich das von so einer Geschichte, vor allem aus der Zeit, erwartet hätte. Der Schreibstil hat mir auch richtig gut gefallen. H. G. Wells schreibt lebendig und so eloquent, dass ich Lust habe das Buch laut vorzulesen, um meinen britischen Akzent zu üben. Zuletzt ein nicht wirklich wichtiges Plotdetail, aber ich glaube das war der größte Zeitsprung, den ich bisher gelesen habe. (Ok, außer vielleicht der in Das Restaurant am Ende des Universums, aber da gibt es keine konkrete Zahl soweit ich weiß) Die Jahreszahl wird im Buch "Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One" geschrieben und ich hatte zuerst aus irgendeinem Grund die Zahl 2871 im Kopf, aber nein, da steht 802.701. DAS mal ne Zahl.

Schon interessant, aber mir sind viel zu viele Fragen offen geblieben und es war teilweise etwas wirr.

How will the Earth look like 800,000 years in the future? That's a question everyone can only attempt to find an answer to, while H.G. Wells was one of the first writers who tackled the topic of time-travelling and painted a rather convincing picture of the future. Published in 1895, the book introduces a scientist who uses a Time Machine to be transferred into the age of a slowly dying earth. Humans have been separated by time, genetics, wars and change of their habitats into two different races, the Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. At only about 100 pages, Wells manages to delve into a lot of different topics, among which can be found the ambiguity of human natures, the mutual effects of humans on our planet and our planet on humans, as well as a profound look into what defines humanity itself. As a dystopian story, this tale has probably been rather ground-breaking back when it was published, and some might even consider it to be the father of all time-travel romance stories. Unlike more recent publications, however, Wells doesn't lose the point of his story in describing romantic affairs and dramatic love stories, but rather delivers a fast-paced narration coated with a prose not unlike most other writing styles from the Victorian era. Since the author builds up his story from some scientific background (the inclusion of which I highly appreciated because Wells didn't leave things unexplained), it is not easy to get into it, but once the narrative gains speed, you will digest this book in the course of a few hours. For me, the engaging writing and the adventurous atmosphere contributed a huge part to my enjoyment of the novella. His descriptions of the dying earth were fascinating and very memorable, as was the ending which surprised and depressed me simultaneously. Much has already been said about Wells' book and its contents, so I will conclude my review by saying that readers who are not afraid to read important dystopian classics should give this one a try.

Wenig Handlung, viel Beschreibung und das auch noch fast ausschließlich in wörtlicher Rede. Vom Stil her also so gar nichts für mich und auch von den Charakteren her hätte ich mir mehr gewünscht. So waren alle sehr unnahbar und mich konnte nichts fesseln.

i read this for a class but it didn't feel like i had to force myself to keep reading. in addition to being an interesting insight in the literature of the 1890s / the development of the scifi genre, it was also fast-paced and enjoyable. a simple and short story with a not completely convincing ending.

Audiobook. the Time Machine. What would the world without that book. It just opened the door for so many other time travel books and movies.

read my complete review here: http://isabellsbooks.blogspot.de/ MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK It didn't take me long to get into the story since the subject of timetravel reminds Whovians like me very much of Doctor Who and is therefore a very appealing one to me. I really found the story quite interesting right on from the beginning. I always find conversations so much quicker and easier to read than mere text, which is why I read extremely fast through the first 20 pages because they only consisted out of quite interesting conversations. I really liked that way of starting into the story. Since this is my third book in a row of the late 19th century, I began to notice some similarities in words and spelling between this one and Dracula (click here for my review) and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (click here for my review). The word "queer" seemed to be the favoured one amongst all three of these to describe the strange an unknown, while today it is connotated very differently. I also noticed the old-fashioned spelling of tonight, tomorrow and today as to-night, to-morrow, to-day. This might not seem relevant to you, but it is most interesting to me, as an English student. I also found it quite interesting to read a timetravel novel from before the two World Wars because these obviously changed a lot. Nowadays, and especially with Doctor Who as a prime timetravel example, one would definitely think of the World Wars when thinking of travelling into the past. But when the book was written they hadn't happend yet and it seemed to me as though the last "interesting" event that has happened for the characters of the late 19th century in this book, were Greek philosophers, so way before them; while now the closer past seems to be more interesting when thinking about past time travel. The characters also have a very different attitude to, for example Germany, than they would most certainly have after the two World Wars. I found it generally interesting to read about time travel in pre-war literature. What I also found interesting was the fact that I am a reader from the future for the characters while they are from the past for me. That might seem quite obvious, but when you read a book about timetravel you are much more aware of that, I think. I found it very easy to read because I really enjoyed the writing style and the shortness of the chapters, which had exactly the right length for me. I always talk about the chapter lengths in my reviews, but I also find that to be one of the key elements to my reading speed. If the chapters are too long I will automatically read slower. And the chapters in this book were not too long and not too short. If I got ten minutes of free time, I could easily read a chapter. And because the writing style very much appealed to me, it did never take me long to get sucked back into the story. I liked the mystery and fascination that comes with this book, basically from page one onwards. But I was a bit disappointed when the story turned into a sole retelling and therefore left out any more conversation. The future was difficult for me to imagine. I couldn't quite get a clear picture in my head of the Eloi and Morlocks; and the whole future world felt a bit unclear to me at times. And because The Time Traveller doesn't talk to anyone in that future world, it is really just a retelling of what he has done without any talking to anyone else. That slowed down both my enthusiasm and my reading speed and motivation. The main part of the story was definitely more boring than the beginning and the ending of it. I also found it a bit strange that The Time Traveller seemed to remember everything that he has experienced in such vast detail. It was also a bit hard to imagine that everyone to whom he told the story to, would listen silently for such a long while without commenting or asking anything. I also think that it would have made the story more interesting if there had been comments and questions from his friends in between. That would have cut through the long retelling of this weird future and would have given the future more perspective in my opinion. CONCLUSION I really enjoyed the beginning and the ending of it very much. They make the story a round one aswell, which I really liked. It's definitely a different story and felt new to me and unlike anything I have ever read before. I think that it is worth reading and also a great read at times, and more so if you are interested in time travel in general. But the whole retelling was rather disappointing. Still, I would definitely recommend this book to Doctor Who fans in particular. MY RATING I award this book with 3,5 out of 5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a science fiction novel, it described things such as why time constitutes a fourth dimension in addition to the three spatial ones, details about a pedestal of the Sphinx statue made of some pink metal that having a green oxide; the time machine is described as being made of materials such as quartz, nickel and ivory. After leaving the year 802 701, the Time Traveler ventures even further into the future where there are noticeable changes in the climate, astronomy and biology. His impression of societal structure in the year 802 701 especially interests me because it changes as various events occur.