The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Section: Experiments
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4/5 Rating
I would absolutely go check out the novel
About the author:
H.G Wells was an English writer best known for his science fiction books. “The Chronic Argonauts” is considered the short story that served as the initial inspiration for Well’s classic novella The Time Machine, which is excerpted here. Although it is popularly believed that “The Chronic Argonauts” was the first fiction published with a time-travel theme, another story, also in this anthology, predates it by almost a decade: Edward Page Mitchell’s “The Clock That Went Backward.” In addition to The Time Machine, Well’s other famous and popular books include The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau. The Time Machine was first published in 1895.
This was only a 4-page except from The Time Machine novella itself. However, these pages were riveting, and I would absolutely go check out the novel after reading this!
Our narrator has just built the Time Machine, and today he decides that he is going to use it. He sits on the saddle, straps in, grips the starting lever and pulls!
One thing we have seen very little of so far is what happens during the actual time travel. Most stories, it is someone pushing a button and then there are at a new point, or the time-travleling happened before the story started. I believed last week’s story, Himself in Anachron (my review), is the only one that has attempt to describe what it is like during the travel (and did so unsuccessfully). With The Time Machine, I felt it was done wonderfully.
When our narrator pulls the level, everything around him starts moving slighlty faster. The first thing he notices is that his assistant walks through the room in a matters of second, when it would take a minute. This is when he cranks the lever up more. Suddenly the day and night, sun and moon, starting going back and forth, quick and quicker, almost flickering; the season staring going by in seconds; and pretty soon, he traveling years every minute!
What I loved about this was how descriptive – and not confusing at all! – the whole scene was and how well Wells was able to convert that sense of building-up of the excitement and nervousness, and as the narrator keep going faster and faster! And then the danger if he could stop and not die!
That’s the other thing I loved: how Wells took into account how our narrator was traveling and some problems with that. Our narrator is not physical moving, but Wells tells us that his molecules are and this why he is not having any issues “running” into items. However, to stop, this would mean slowing down the molecules, and having them take up space again. So, there is a very real chance he could end up somewhere in the future where there is a wall, too.
I was so grateful for that that. Quite a few authors we have read so far, take for granted those little details – like the molecules – and expect the readers to just chalk them up to “science”.
I have noticed 2 types of stories thus far: First, is the hard science where the time-travel and explination is spot on, but the characters and story are lacking; Second, is the opposite, where I love the plot, but time-travel explanation is left up to the “magic of science”, or the time-travel isn’t the focus of the story. There has yet to be a story where was a time-travel explanations and plot, that both hooked me in. With The Time Machine, I believed I found my golden ticket.
Spolierific Speculations: (Highlight to read)
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The reason I am only give this a 4-star is because, it’s only 4 pages of a novella. While the time-travel is amazing, these 4 pages are literally him sitting on the machine and traveling, until he stops in a new time. I felt a good bond with the character, but how accurately can you judge from this few pages out of a whole novella? And the plot, well, it’s a 4 page except: it’s nothing major. They way it ended, I could guess where the novella is going – but, again, I can tell if it’s good or bad, because I have only 4 pages.
Regardless, I have nothing to complain about, and EVERYTHING from this excerpt makes me think, if I were to read the novella, I would be rating it a 4.5 or 5.
Side note: I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the prose a story that was written 120 year ago!!!
Be sure to check out my fellow time-travelers’ reviews!
Alesha Escobar
H.M. Jones
Laurel’s Writing Desk
Timothy C. Ward
4/5 Rating
-DJ
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To see a full list of The Time Traveler’s Almanac reviews and reading schedule, visit The Time Traveler’s Almanac Page
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See you next Thursday for Young Zaphod Plays it Safe by Douglas Adams
MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape 
I have this vague feeling that I read this one when I was a kid, but whenever I read a synopsis of the novel as a whole, it seems like there is no way I could have. Either way, I should remedy this “did I or didn’t I?” question by just reading the darn thing…again?
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I have a lot of books from my childhood: where I feel like I’ve read it, but for the life of me, I can’t recall anything about it.
At least The Time Machine is only a 100 page novella! So re-read should be quick, and based off of this excerpt, it should be a good read! 🙂
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I didn’t realize it was that short. Yes, I should definitely grab a copy from the library.
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Do read the whole book. It’s a great read. I know I really enjoyed it back when I read it. Another fantastic early SF author is Jules Verne. Love his stuff too.
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I haven’t read ANY of the older authors
I do know that my father really liked Journey to the Center of the Earth. Or at least I guessing. My dad is not a book person, but when the movie came out like 7 years, every time he saw it, he made sure to mention it to me that it was a book first and that I should read it. And he NEVER does that 😛
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Well, no surprise at the rating, since it’s a classic! 🙂 Interesting that it would be a modern anthology and featuring just an excerpt, but I guess if you’re putting together tje comprehensive, the quintessential time traveler’s almanac, you would have to include this one in some way shape or form.
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It such a short excerpt too! There are some stories in here that 20 pages plus, but this was one of the shortest we’ve had to read. I wonder why they decided to do such a small piece? Either way, I’m happy they added though! Really want to read the full story now.
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I really loved how he portrayed time movement and motion, as well. I was glued and felt as if I were experiencing it. Beautiful.
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The whole scene – which was basically the whole story – was amazing 🙂
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Yes, the excerpt was short, which left me wanting more. However, of what I did read, I enjoyed very much.
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Yes, I definitely want to read this full story now.
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I remember watching the 2002 film based off the story and it was pretty good! As far as I can remember, I don’t think they mentioned the molecules moving or anything like that in the film. The things you can only get in the original story…
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I never saw the movie (at least, not that I remember). Explaining that much science was probably considered a waste of reel time XD
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