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shanet wrote:I have not read Wells at all and based on the reviews it seems that I should bypass him. He is considered a classic read and the premises have been made into movies. So, should I put forth the time to read Wells?

I highly recommend reading some of his work, Island of Doctor Moraeu really doesn't stand the test of time for me and the Time Machine really suffers from all the adaptations its had. However the Invisible Man is still ok and War of the World is still amazing.
But my personnel favorite is 'First Men in the Moon', probably not as well written as War of the Worlds but i never heard anything about so it before so it was a pleasant surprise (also the 60's movie with effects by Harryhasuen is pretty decent too).

I came to science fiction later in life. I didn't read The Time Machine until after I became deeply involved in modern day science fiction. It's possible that some of this may be the reason for why I was so disappointed when I finally did get around to reading Wells' novel. While it is lacking by today's standards I can see how in 1895 it could have been pretty wild stuff. I don't want to take anything away from Wells but I have to be honest in saying that I was hoping for something more.

The thing to remember when reading Wells is that he came from a different time. Expectations for books were very different then, and the genre of science fiction was not as well established as it is today. Most of the tropes and storylines we expect from sci-fi novels simply didn't exist back then. I think he's worth reading simply for a glance at that prior time. I enjoyed the book when I read it years ago, and I'm sure I'd enjoy it if I read it tomorrow, though not for the same reason as if I read a modern sci-fi novel.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is a novel following The Time Travellors journey 800,000 years into the future of Earth. A riveting and at times terrifying tale of a world that has split between predator and prey. A community that has long forgotten what it means to be human, living in fear of what lurks beyond the darkness. Considered the godfather of science fiction stories, the Time Machine is not one to pass up. Especially for those who fantasize about what it may be like to visit the world of tomorrow.

I have never read the book, and true the 1960's movie was a great sci-fi of its time that I had the opportunity to watch serveral times through out my lfe, and I am always fascinated with the the movie,

Even though this short novel doesn't seem to be very popular, I read it years ago and liked it a lot! I love reading 100+ year old books, especially "Brit Lit." I hadn't seen the movie until after I'd read the book, and students are now comparing the similarities and differences between novels and movies. I think it's worth reading if you are good at visualizing what you read. We're so used to today's culture of beautiful people, amazing CGI special effects, and constant entertainment, it's difficult to read a slow moving book. I've also read *The Invisible Man with equal appreciation, but I couldn't get into his *The War of the Worlds. Mostly because I'd seen Tom Cruise in the movie, and it was definitely better than the book, which I found very slow and dull as many described this book. I think it's worth reading for what it's worth: a glimpse into 19th Century British culture and the interest of time travel, science, and "what if's" in beginner's Science Fiction.

bookworm1990 wrote: ↑12 May 2014, 13:20 Although The Time Machine isn't one of my favorite books I'm glad I read it. It's a relatively short book that only took me a couple of days to read. What stuck with me the most was the dichotomy of the above and below ground creatures. The ones above ground were childish and defenseless while the ones below ground were menacing and predatory. They below ground creatures reminded me of miners from the 19th century who spent hours underground in the darkness. Perhaps there's a little social commentary there?

What is science fiction without social commentary? What I found interesting about the dichotomy between the upper and lower societies stems from even farther back - the portrayal of the utopian state. Gentle child-like beings vs brutes, the traits that Wells chose to emphasize in the classes - how different the perception of the classes are to more modern readers.

Although many people find this book tough to keep interest in, I'm one of the people who understood the Time Traveler's thinking process. I would recommend this book to people eho are more psychological, not people into action.

I've always been interested in H G wells but after these reviews maybe I wont waste my time. Thanks all!

Considering it’s a piece from Wells, coupled with the fact that it’s a time-travelling story, I’m definitely reading this soon. I just might read it a lot sooner. I love the expectation that comes before the first-hand experience of what the writer has planned for the future or the past.

Do you think the author created a realistic future, even if it didn't come to pass, do you find it believable?

The time Machine by H.G. Wells is a science fiction. the story is about time travelling.

This was one of my favorite stories I read when 12 or 13 years old. I also like the 1960 film adaptation of the book.

I actually did my Junior/Senior research paper on H.G Wells. We were required to pick an American author and read three books by them. Initially I chose HG Wells because his books were actually really short. I was actually behind academically because I made a tremendous mistake my sophomore year so I was taking my junior and Senior English classes in the same semester. Which didn't allow me to put as much research into my author. Luckily one of my friends also was in the same behind as I was having to repeat her freshman year of high school so our sophomore English teacher gave us the idea to pick HD Wells as are author, together chose the three books that we were going to read and they were War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Time Machine. She actually read The Invisible Man, I read the Time Machine and then we both cooperatively read War of the Worlds.
The Time Machine actually ended up becoming one of my all-time favorite books. It's one of the books that I can actually reread over and over and still find something that I missed before. One of the things that I do know about HG Wells is that he didn't need to drag out a story. He could combined so many things and elements going on at the same time that he didn't have to elaborate on things to the point where you're staring at the page trying to figure out exactly what he's talking about. He has a way of telling a story where you can visualize exactly what he's saying. In The Time Machine, I think he explains exactly where Society is going and we're continues to go. Eloi are the entitled people that we know today they are the people who think that everything should just be handed to them they don't have to work for anything not even for their own lives which is depicted when Weena falls into the river and nobody tries to save her. She doesn't even try to save herself. The Morlocks represent the working class, who during the Time Travelers Time, were finding other ways to get to and from work like the subway and other underground Transportation or transit systems. It's no wonder that they climbed out from underneath the Earth and took out the weaker of the species as if they were cattle. The time traveler even went so far into the future that we had destroyed ourselves. Which sounds like exactly what we would do to ourselves. The Elio we're so unaware that they were literally the food source for the more dominant species, that even when one of their own would get taken they never even bother looking for them. They just accepted their lives the way that they were, he never giving a thought to what they are absent-mindedness and laziness brought to our species as a whole.

I will agree that Time Machine is really short and lacks several narrative elements; however, the story focused more on the ideal society that Wells had feared the modern world was becoming into.