book review the time machine by hg wells

Lucy A. Snyder

Author • editor • writing instructor, book review: the time machine by h.g. wells.

November 4, 2005 Lucy A. Snyder book review , Uncategorized 2

Plot Summary (Spoilers Inevitably Follow)

H.G. Wells ‘ novel opens with the Time Traveler explaining his plans to travel in time to a group of his Victorian peers (most only named by an occupational label.) The next scene is a dinner party a week later with the narrator and a few of the Time Traveler’s previous guests. The Time Traveler enters the room in terrible shape. After he has cleaned up and has eaten, he begins to tell them of his trip in time.

The narratorial voice switches to that of the Traveler himself, and he tells them that he went to the year 802701 A.D. The England of the distant future is a beautiful place, almost a Utopia, but civilization is in majestic ruin. He first encounters the Eloi, a race of pretty, vacuous beings descended from humans. All other animals are apparently extinct, and the vegetarian Eloi have every need mysteriously provided for. Then, he discovers that someone has taken his time machine and he is frantic until he realizes that it has been locked in the bronze base of a nearby statue. He gives up on trying to free his machine, and later saves a drowning Eloi named Weena.

Weena tags along with the Traveler, and he soon discovers the existence of the Morlocks, a race of subterranean creatures descended from the human working class that maintain the underground machines that support the Eloi. He goes off exploring in the countryside with Weena in tow, and in the process of going through a ruined museum he lets the time get away from him and the Morlocks come out to attack after dark. He gets away from them, but inadvertently starts a forest fire and Weena is killed in the chaos.

The Traveler makes it back to the statue and finds that the doors are open. He goes inside to get his machine, and the Morlocks try to trap him. The Traveler manages to escape and goes far into the future to a time where the place he once lived is a beach with monstrous crabs. He travels on to an era near the end of the world, a time of darkness and cold. Then, he returns to his own time.

The only one who seems to believe his story is the narrator. The narrator goes into the lab to talk to the Time Traveller, but he and his machine are gone.

The Time Machine is a social doom prophecy. The future is presented as a place where the privileged have finally gotten a world where they can lead utterly carefree lives of leisure. Unfortunately, the centuries of soft living have turned the rich into weak and stupid creatures. Meanwhile, the working class has speciated into subterranean horrors that finally seek revenge on their former masters. This is to serve as an extrapolation of what Wells surely saw as a widening gulf between the rich and poor in Victorian England. Wells exaggerated the difference between the Morlocks and Eloi to warn the well-to-do and the British government that the social injustices of the day would prove ruinous if not corrected. Also, Wells warns everybody that the attainment of our ideal world, one with no pressure or work, would probably be fatal to the human race.

The Time Machine seems to compare favorably with mainstream literature of its day. When compared with more modern novels, science fiction or otherwise, parts of it seem a bit quaint and stuffy. Still, Wells was a good writer and the novel has a sense of wonder; it’s a fine adventure tale.

On the surface, the circumstances and science sound good, but they don’t hold up well if you know much about science. I accept the idea of the time machine, since that particular fantasy is central to the story, but there are a few other details that bothered me.

First, the Time Traveller describes the land as being devoid of fungi. The primary decomposers in an ecosystem are fungi; without them, you can’t have a gorgeous landscape. I guess Wells just didn’t want stinkhorns on his world.

Also, the Eloi are described as being disease-free. Perhaps science could get rid of parasites and viruses. But you can’t kill off the bacteria; otherwise, the whole ecosystem goes down. No decomposition, no nitrogen fixation, no plants … no Eloi. Since there must be bacteria, eventually you’ll have disease, since bacteria mutate quickly and will occupy any ecological niche that they can get started in.

The behavior of the Morlocks rang a little false with me. They’re intelligent enough to run the machines and lay a trap. Why didn’t they use weapons while trying to hunt the Time Traveler down? Chimpanzees and even crows use primitive tools. I suppose Wells kept the Morlocks unarmed so that the hero could get away; a party of armed Morlocks could have easily brained him.

Also, I didn’t completely believe the development of the Morlock society. I don’t think a working class, no matter how subjugated, could be kept down for so long. It only takes one extremely able person to get a revolution going, and in the time frame the novel spans I’m sure that the workers would have already rebelled successfully.

I think Wells was accurate in showing the evolutionary changes that could occur in several hundred thousand years’ time. The physical changes to the Eloi were pretty good; I have read other predictions that humans will get more androgynous and possibly smaller if automation progresses at its current pace.

However, I doubt the extent of their mental deterioration. I think that they would have had games and sports, and that would have almost guaranteed that at least some of the Eloi would not have been so small and weak. Humans love games; even in places where there is no literacy and no ambition, you have stickball and basketball and poker. The Eloi still had language, why not at least some balls to throw around?

My criticisms aside, I thought the novel has held up very well. Some of Wells’ scientific reasoning was off, but the knowledge of the day was limited. The story is good and fast-paced, and the descriptions are engaging. The novel lacks the literary ammunition of other works of the same period, but it paved the way for a whole lot of really excellent science fiction stories and novels.

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The time machine, by h g wells, recommendations from our site.

“This is the novel that inaugurated time travel as a sub-genre. Wells picked up the up-to-date (in the 1890s) scientific speculation about time being a fourth dimension, and ran with it, imagining a machine that could take a man backwards and forwards through time….It is a short novel, almost a novella, but it is smoothly and evocatively written, and it manages to open a chink in the reader’s mind that gives a dizzying, thrilling glimpse down the vertiginous perspectives of long time.” Read more...

Science Fiction Classics

Adam Roberts , Novelist

“It invents the idea of far-future visions that science fiction writers such as Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke have constantly tried to achieve.” Read more...

The Best H G Wells Books

Roger Luckhurst , Literary Scholar

Other books by H G Wells

The first men in the moon by h g wells, anticipations of the reactions of mechanical and scientific progress upon human life and thought by h g wells, the war of the worlds by h g wells, the island of doctor moreau by h g wells, a modern utopia by h g wells, our most recommended books, war and peace by leo tolstoy, on liberty by john stuart mill, middlemarch by george eliot, nineteen eighty-four by george orwell, the confessions by augustine (translated by maria boulding), the odyssey by homer and translated by emily wilson.

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The Time Machine: Notes Towards an Analysis of Wells’s Novella

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library , Dr Oliver Tearle analyses the lasting appeal of H. G. Wells’s first great ‘scientific romance’

In some ways, H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1895) is a ‘timeless’ text: it continues to enjoy huge popularity (as witnessed by big film adaptations in 1960 and 2002, as well as the fact that the novel itself has never been out of print and is available in a range of editions), it continues to exert a considerable influence on the literature and cinema produced since, and its very narrative structure – with much of the action of the novel taking place in a time that hasn’t happened yet, the year 802,701 – in a sense absenting it from its own context.

But an analysis of Wells’s novella that sees it floating completely free of its 1890s context, much as the Time Traveller himself succeeds in leaving his late Victorian world behind, risks overlooking the extent to which The Time Machine is a novella deeply rooted in late nineteenth-century concerns.

The Time Machine and the future of society

In an interview published in 1899, Wells outlined his reasons for being so concerned with the future of mankind:

Why should four-fifths of the fiction of today be concerned with times that can never come again, while the future is scarcely speculated upon? At present we are almost helpless in the grip of circumstances, and I think we ought to strive to shape our destinies. Changes that directly affect the human race are taking place every day, but they are passed over unobserved .

This statement points up the value in speculating on the future, but in terms that are rooted in Wells’s present time: ‘fiction of today’, ‘At present’, ‘are taking place every day’. In The Living Novel , V. S. Pritchett remarked: ‘Without question The Time Machine is the best piece of writing. It will take its place among the great stories of our language. Like all excellent works it has meanings within its meaning’.

This notion of multi-layered significance – of ‘meaning within meaning’ is worth bearing in mind when considering the novel’s themes. Like many great works of science fiction , Wells uses the concept of time travel, and the invention of the time machine, as a vehicle for exploring the issues of his time: class, industrialisation, and the implications of Darwinian evolution, degeneration (a big concern in the 1890s), imperialism, and many other things.

The Time Machine and evolution

The Time Machine can be read as Wells’s attempt to understand the meaning of our existence in light of the theory of evolution, which had led many Victorians to question their firm faith in God and therefore in a Christian understanding of humanity’s purpose. If we’re not on Earth because God created us for his purpose, then what are we doing here? Is our existence merely random? Are we mere animals, albeit thinking ones? Partly what Wells is trying to do is examine the role of man in the modern world.

He does this, I think, through several oblique references to the story of Oedipus, the mythical King of Thebes who inadvertently fulfilled a prophecy which stated he would kill his father and marry his mother. However, what is less well-known in the Oedipus story is how Oedipus came to be King of Thebes in the first place: namely, by solving the Riddle of the Sphinx and, through doing so, freeing the city of Thebes of its plague.

The Riddle which the Sphinx asked people, but which nobody else had managed to solve until Oedipus came along, was the following question: ‘What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?’ The answer is ‘Man’, because humans crawl on all fours as babies, walk upright on two legs during adulthood, and then use a walking-stick when they’re older.

book review the time machine by hg wells

Oedipus’ name literally means ‘swollen foot’, and the Time Traveller tells us that ‘I stood up and found my foot with the loose heel swollen at the ankle and painful at the heel’. There are also numerous references (made by the book’s narrator) to the Time Traveller’s ‘lameness’ and the fact that when he returns to the present day he is ‘limping’.

Is the Time Traveller a modern-day Oedipus, attempting to solve the riddle of man – not over the course of one man’s lifetime (as Oedipus’ Sphinx had), but over the course of the entire species? In many ways The Time Machine offers itself to us as a modern myth for the scientific age: Oedipus among the machines.

The Time Machine and empire

Similarly, how might we read the imagery of Wells’s novella, and his use of certain tropes? Such features as the ‘pagoda-like plants’ and the ‘Palace of Green Porcelain’ evoke the Far East and, as part of this, the British Empire and the imperial romance as embodied by the work of such novelists as H. Rider Haggard .

But there are other, even more pervasive images in The Time Machine which are worthy of analysis, and I’d like to consider one such image in particular, as a way of reading the imagery of the novel in its late Victorian context. The image I wish to focus on is fire, and representations of fire.

The Time Machine and science

This entails not just images of heat but images of light: one of the laws of physics is that we cannot generate light without heat. Every artificial light-source we’ve yet invented, from the incandescent light-bulb to strobe lighting or the laser, involves generating heat in order to generate light. This heat-light relationship is one which Wells, with his scientific training, would have known well.

Consider the many references to suns, fires, flames, and bright lights in The Time Machine , such as the literal sunset and the way that it puts the Time Traveller in mind of the metaphorical ‘sunset of mankind’, as well as the sunset of the far future which the Time Traveller witnesses towards the end of the novella, and, let us not forget, his trusty matches which he uses to keep the Morlocks at bay.

Even just in the first few pages of the book, we have the narrator’s reference to the Time Traveller’s eyes which ‘twinkled’ (like a star?), his ‘flushed’ face, Filby’s ‘red hair’ (flame-haired, we might say), the ‘incandescent lights’, a very young man attempting to light his cigar over a lamp, and the Medical Man ‘staring hard at a coal in the fire’. Fire is everywhere in this short book.

But those matches are worth pondering. Man’s ability to create fire might be considered the starting-point of his technological development, but it is also often considered profane. Indeed, at the time of Wells’s novel a popular name for matches was ‘lucifers’, from the Latin for ‘light-bearer’; Lucifer is also, aptly, the Devil. For the Greeks, it was Prometheus who defied the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to man; he was punished by the gods for this.

A novel often considered the first science-fiction novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) , carries the subtitle The Modern Prometheus , continuing this tradition of seeing scientific experimentation as a dangerous way of playing God, and one that can only end in disaster. The Time Traveller’s matches are a reminder of this Promethean undercurrent to much science fiction, particularly in the nineteenth century when religion still played a more central part in the Victorians’ everyday lives.

The Time Machine and futility

Ultimately, of course, the Time Traveller’s journey into the far future of mankind is in vain: he finds out that man will evolve into barbarism and decadence, as embodied by the Morlocks and Eloi respectively, that books and civilisation will be left to fall into ruin. Even if he could warn his Victorian contemporaries about what lies in store for man, they refuse to believe him (with the exception of the novella’s narrator).

And even if something could be done to forestall man’s bleak future, the further vision which the Time Traveller experiences, involving the crab and the swollen sun, suggests that ultimately mankind will go extinct no matter what he does to prevent such a fate.

In this connection we might remark upon the Palace of Green Porcelain, clearly depicted by Wells as the remains of a science museum – as suggested by the Time Traveller’s likening of it to ‘some latter-day South Kensington’ – that region of London which houses the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, among other buildings. Tellingly, the Time Traveller remarks upon the ‘corroded metallic framework’ of the Palace, a phrase which picks up words the narrator had earlier used when confronted with the small model of the Time Machine: ‘a glittering metallic framework’.

The Time Traveller’s scientific invention is thus aligned with the Palace of Green Porcelain, but what was once ‘glittering’ is now ‘corroded’: science, that beacon of scientific discovery and exploration, has fallen into decay.

The Time Machine thus sounds a bleak note about humanity’s future – but in doing so, Wells always brings his readers back to the present, to the late Victorian world of the 1890s out of which this remarkable novella arose.

11 thoughts on “The Time Machine: Notes Towards an Analysis of Wells’s Novella”

Great connections. The Time Machine supposedly inspired the Dr. Who concept of bopping around to different points of time, going far backward and forward.

Now I have to read it again. Great post.

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You have reminded me that this a book that I must read before I run out of time.

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Good old H.G. – you can’t beat him for cracking stories which are always deeper than you might think on first reading. Great analysis!

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Book Review: The Time Machine by HG Wells

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Wellss The Time Machine scarcely needs an introduction, so deeply incised is it on our collective social consciousness. Its one of those speculative novels that stands ahead of the crowd for several reasons: its themes of evolution and social class (er, and time travel), its status as one of the early popular works of science fiction, and its readability. And though it didnt quite strike the same readerly chord with me as The Invisible Man ( see my review ), I cant help but admit that Wells is in good form with this novel.

This famous novella is the account of an unnamed narrator, a scientist and futurist, who claims to have returned from a rather long-distance voyage indeedbut by long-distance, I mean, of course, chronologically rather than geographically. The man, it turns out, has 'spent a good deal of time as a time tourist some eight hundred thousand years in the future. And during this time he has had a truly unusual ethnographic encounter: he finds himself living amongst a society of human so far evolved that they are scarcely recognisable. But simple, linear evolution is not all that he encounters. It turns out that our future selves have split into two separately evolving groups, and our unnamed narrator spends his voyage attempting to understand the habitus of each.

Perhaps whats so fascinating about this book is its sense of utter alienation. The fact that the story is that of an unnamed narrator, but is in turn told by a similarly unnamed narrator, already positions the reader in such a way that they feel removed from the situation. Moreover, the narrators sheer inability to become a part of these societies despite his concerted efforts to learn and understand their ways is deeply moving, as is the fact that he struggles to be accepted by his peers, who are disbelieving of his tale to the end.

(While the social aspects of this novel are fairly hard hitting, there also seems to be an interesting commentary on story going on here. The fact that the narrators tale is automatically accepted as apocryphal, and nothing more than mere entertainment, is intriguing enough in itself, particularly given that the narrator positions himself as a man of serious learning (albeit one who jaunts off in a time machine just for the heck of it rather than for any scientific purpose). But language and narrative are also given a subordinate position in the world of the Eloi, the evolved (devolved?) humans with whom the traveller lives. He speaks of their language as simple and lacking abstract concepts, and their interactions seem to carry little information.)

The two future human races are highly specialised (in a not-so-subtle commentary of the hard-workin commoners vs the lazybum elites), with the Eloi a group of languid hedonist gadabouts, and the Morduk their more industrious counterparts doing more than their fair share to keep the world turning. But its a sort of loosely symbiotic relationship, with the Eloi reliant on the industry of the Morduk, and the Morduk cannibalising the Eloi come nighttime. I say loosely, though, as the Eloi live in fear of the Morduk, and are characterised as having been reduced to a sort of infantalism (an interesting trope that recurs through much speculative literature) as a result of their historically failing to pay attention to the sorts of pragmatic stuff generally required to get around in the world. But Wells is not so condemnatory as one might expect: he places judgements on both species, as well as on the modern-day narrator himself (who begins a relationship with one of the Eloi, and is characterised as a rather self-indulgent scientist), and endlessly asks the question of what makes someone human, and is one type, or aspect, of humanity better than another?

Still, perhaps what I personally found most interesting about the novel is its Philip K Dick-esque (okay, I know thats an anachronism) play on reality. The time travellers machine is described in such sketchy terms that it can scarcely be believed as an instrument of science, and the time travellers account is similarly sketchy and bizarre. The very nature of time travel means that hes away for only a short period of time, and the only proof of his travels is a crunched up flower. And given that the narrative is told in a twice-removed manner, the reader cant help but wonder whether any of the novel is true at all. Did the time traveller truly engage in such chronological shenanigans, and did he experience what he claims? Or is he simply using an imagined future to provide a warning about the current state of society? But the reality is that neither the truth, nor the journey matters: its only the outcome.

The Time Machine is the type of book that one could dissect for days, and remains surprisingly relevant today. Those very same questions regarding the role of science, the distribution of work and knowledge, of the origins and definition of humanity, and on notions of class and capitalism echo around us today, making for some interesting, and pertinent discussion.

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See also our review of The Invisible Man

See also our review of The Island of Dr Moreau

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HG Wells' The Time Machine reviewed - archive, 1895

11 June 1895 The time traveller’s revelations are unlikely to excite regret on the part of his readers at having been born 802,000 years too soon

T he influence of the author of The Coming Race is still powerful, and no year passes without the appearance of stories which describe the manners and customs of peoples in imaginary worlds, sometimes in the stars above, sometimes in the heart of unknown continents in Australia or at the Pole, and sometimes below the waters under the earth. The latest effort in this class of fiction is The Time Machine, by HG Wells (W Heinemann, pp 152, 1s 6d). By means of a marvellous piece of mechanism the inventor could either travel back through time or travel forward for thousands of years.

The machine itself is described, though, it is perhaps needless to say, not in so detailed a fashion that even the most ingenious of mechanicians would be able to construct one; but the greater part of the story describes the inventor’s voyage through the coming cycles and his experience of the Thames valley in the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One. We may at once say, however, that though he writes “of what the world will be when the years have died away,” his record is anything but a “gay” picture; nor are his revelations likely to excite regret on the part of his readers at having been born 802,000 years too soon. For though he was kindly received by a mild, diminutive people who were all strict vegetarians and lived entirely on fruit – horses, cattle, sheep, and dogs having become extinct, like the Icthyosaurus – he was compelled to come to the conclusion that the race had degenerated.

This was not all; he made the acquaintance of other creatures not unlike “human spiders,” and gradually the truth dawned on him “that Man had not remained one species, but had differentiated into two distinct animals; that the graceful children of the Upper world were not the only descendants of our generation, but that this bleached, obscene, nocturnal Thing, which had flashed before one, was also heir to all the ages.”

In the course of his explorations the daring voyager had some very dreadful experiences, and he narrowly escaped losing the machine which brought him back to the nineteenth century. At the end of the story we are informed that the inventor has started on another voyage; but it is not very likely that the public will await his return and further accounts of the times that are to be with exceptional impatience.

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For the bookishly-minded.

REVIEW: The Time Machine – H.G. Wells

Author: H.G. Wells

UK Publisher: Penguin (this edition)

Genre: Science fiction

“I’ve had a most amazing time…” So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey eight hundred thousand years beyond his own era – and the story that launched H.G. Wells’ successful career. 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 symbolise the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of tomorrow as well.

A few years back, I went on a bit of a spree trying to read literature that would “improve” me. This meant trying to batter my way through a lot of classics. It took a lot of work, but I finally made it through Emma . Lorna Doone was tackled on a kindle while driving across Canada. I read the Great Gatsby in one sitting on the plane back to the UK. I really enjoyed Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , and I stumbled across The Island of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells and thought it was wonderfully chilling. I never got around to reading The Time Machine , however, and given as lockdown has presented me with a lot more reading time than anticipated, I thought I’d seize the opportunity.

I had been pleasantly surprised by how easy The Island of Dr Moreau was to read, and at a mere 91 pages, I thought this would be a similarly easy undertaking. I was, sadly, incorrect. Where Dr Moreau was eldritch and unsettling, The Time Machine opens with a dense discussion of Victorian science and dimensional physics. It was definitely a bit of Wells flexing his scientific understanding to show off. I found it quite tricky to get through, although ironically this was my husband’s favourite part of the book and he said he felt it went downhill afterwards when the actual time travelling started.

The narrative is almost like a nature documentary, with the Time Traveller set apart from the other figures in the story as a sort of unbiased observer and impartial scientific voice. Except he’s anything but impartial, he’s judgy as heck. He describes the Eloi as beautiful, but as soon as he finds their societal values and methods different from his, he describes them as childlike, simple, and utterly useless. He seems charmed by their appearance, but otherwise mourns the loss of intellect and production. He treats them as pets, and the one he does “adopt” – Weena – he seems to care for only as long as it is convenient to do so, and he doesn’t take her comfort or safety into account. He only starts to see the Eloi as something more worthwhile when he encounters the Morlocks, but he doesn’t make much of an attempt to confirm his biases towards the Morlocks either.

At some points, the novel seems to trend towards being dangerously socialist. The Time Traveller talks about how the idle lifestyle of the wealthy and aristocratic has led to a race of beautiful idiots, incapable of any productive labour or higher thought. He talks of how the wealthy hoarding land and wealth pushes the working classes into a shrinking area of resources and space. He talks about how the poor are forced into constant industry, into the dark and literally underground. But then it progresses into these people lose civilisation, lose morals, and eventually become cannibalistic monsters. But while he seems to think this stratification of society is bad, he never empathises with the Morlocks in the same way he does with the Eloi.

He spends a bit of time going on about how the Eloi are the result of humanity no longer needing to struggle. Humans, he posits, are at their greatest when they are having to strive against something, to achieve something. When there is no longer need for struggle, then humanity will atrophy and become useless. What this overlooks is that there never ceased to be a need for struggle or work, it was just entirely forced upon another class of society. Funny how, after mourning the loss of mankind’s greatness due to lack of work when examining the Eloi, he doesn’t equally look at the Morlocks and start praising them for their noble industriousness. In fact, right from his first encounter with them he assumes they have nefarious intent based entirely on their appearance. He doesn’t try to investigate, he doesn’t try to explore their culture, he makes unconfirmed assumptions and then decides to run with them. At no point, either, does this philosopher and scientist show the slightest bit of self awareness on the hypocrisy of his assumptions and reactions. While he does identify times where he was wrong – such as the idea that there is no industry on future Earth, or nothing to cause fear – he doesn’t have the humility to go “I know I said humans were better then they had to deal with adversity, but I mean rich humans, and only a little adversity. The kind that doesn’t make you sweaty or too hungry.”

The last part of the novel is almost a different book as he shoots himself a thousand thousand years further into the future from where he was (which was already around 800,000 years on from where the book started), and finds himself on a dead Earth. Nearly dead. The planet has ceased to spin, the sun has grown larger and cooler, and half the world is an arid wasteland bathed in red light. One stop brings him to a beach filled with giant, crab-like creatures, the next to a world empty for all apparent life save a black, ball-like entity floating in the sea. These scenes are more tonally like Dr Moreau , that unsettling feeling of something very far from human, and I liked them a lot, but they felt a little pointless in terms of the greater narrative. They were plotless snapshots, and another chance for Wells to show off what he had perhaps learned about the lifecycle of stars and planets.

I’m glad I read it, and can add it to my list, but it isn’t the Wells I’d recommend to anyone who wanted to pick up his work for the first time.

A surprisingly dense piece for such a short book, it is more of an exploration of the philosophy of human nature with a bit of Victorian Science thrown in for flavour than it is an adventure story.
There are definitely some outdated views here, mostly in the complete lack of awareness of the narrator’s hypocrisy, lamenting that humans have become useless through lack of industry, but then being horrified at the creatures formed by the humans who were forced to take on all the industry.
If you want to tick Wells as an author off your list, I’d recommend The Island of Dr Moreau instead.

Rating: 2/5 – it was interesting seeing the science that would have been fairly modern at the time being used for fiction, in the way we extrapolate today, but otherwise I think it’s a book that hasn’t necessarily aged well.

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2 thoughts on “ REVIEW: The Time Machine – H.G. Wells ”

My husband adores this book, it is actually one of his favourites!

Love, Amie ❤ The Curvaceous Vegan

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I’m glad he enjoys it! I think there are some books which just really click with some people. 🙂

The Time Machine

H.G. Wells | 4.30 | 409,173 ratings and reviews

Ranked #4 in Time Travel , Ranked #6 in Time — see more rankings .

Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Time Machine from the world's leading experts.

Adam Roberts It is a short novel, almost a novella, but it is smoothly and evocatively written, and it manages to open a chink in the reader’s mind that gives a her dizzying, thrilling glimpse down the vertiginous perspectives of long time. My favourite moment comes near the end, after the time traveller has left the Eloi and Morlocks behind him (as it were) and travelled more than 30 million years into the far distant future. He finds himself on a desolate beach, seemingly lifeless but for green slime on the rocks, the sun grown to massive proportions, and witnesses an eclipse (Source)

Roger Luckhurst It invents the idea of far-future visions that science fiction writers such as Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke have constantly tried to achieve. (Source)

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The Time Machine is ranked in the following categories:

#94 in 12th Grade
#94 in 17-Year-Old
#94 in 18-Year-Old
#80 in Catalog
#72 in Classic
#7 in Classic Sci-Fi
#40 in Free e-Book
#52 in Futurism
#92 in Kindle
#89 in Leather Bound
#47 in Nook
#40 in Options
#44 in Penguin Classics
#19 in Project Gutenberg
#58 in Public
#14 in Public Domain
#18 in Science Fiction
#48 in Science Fiction Fantasy
#21 in Short
#43 in Steampunk
#34 in Syfy
#53 in University
#37 in Victorian

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The Time Machine by H.G. Wells – Book Review

Published 09/06/2017 · Updated 24/05/2022

The Time Machine

Author – H.G. Wells Publisher – Alma Classics Pages – 160 Release Date – 23rd March 2017 ISBN-13 – 978-1847496270 Format – paperback Reviewer – Clive I received a free copy of this book Post Contains Affiliate Links

A Victorian scientist and inventor creates a machine for propelling himself through time, and voyages to the year AD 802701, where he discovers a race of humanoids called the Eloi.

Their gently indolent way of life, set in a decaying city scape, leads the scientist to believe that they are the remnants of a once great civilization. He is forced to revise this assessment when he comes across the cave dwellings of threatening apelike creatures known as Morlocks, whose dark underground world he must explore to discover the terrible secrets of this fractured society, and the means of getting back to his own time.

A biting critique of class and social equality as well as an innovative and much imitated piece of science fiction which introduced the idea of time travel into the popular consciousness, The Time Machine is a profound and extraordinarily prescient novel.

The Time Machine was H.G. Wells’ first published novel and it was a development of his previous story The Chronic Argonauts which was first aired in the Science School Journal that he edited as an undergraduate. To me the writing lacked the colourful grammar and language of his later works and at 107 pages it is definitely on the brief side.

At the time H.G. was fascinated by anything scientific and by socialist politics; this storyline gave him an opportunity to include his comments on both.

Since then there have been countless works about time travel but at the time the concept was quite novel. To modern readers his design of a time machine seems rather ridiculous with the traveller seated in the open, exposed to the weather and other physical danger. The science behind it is very weak but as no one has since managed to find a way to travel through time who can say whether he was right or wrong.

The Time Machine gave me a pleasurable read and if you have not yet read The Time Traveller you should take advantage of this Alma Classic publication to do so. I have awarded three stars.

Book reviewed by Clive

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Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, England, on September 21, 1866. His father was a professional cricketer and sometime shopkeeper, his mother a former lady’s maid. Although “Bertie” left school at fourteen to become a draper’s apprentice (a life he detested), he later won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London, where he studied with the famous Thomas Henry Huxley. He began to sell articles and short stories regularly in 1893.

In 1895, his immediately successful novel rescued him from a life of penury on a schoolteacher’s salary. His other “scientific romances” – The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), The First Men in the Moon (1901), and The War in the Air (1908) – won him distinction as the father of science fiction.

Henry James saw in Wells the most gifted writer of the age, but Wells, having coined the phrase “the war that will end war” to describe World War I, became increasingly disillusioned and focused his attention on educating mankind with his bestselling Outline of History (1920) and his later utopian works. Living until 1946, Wells witnessed a world more terrible than any of his imaginative visions, and he bitterly observed: “Reality has taken a leaf from my book and set itself to supercede me.”

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The Time Machine

H. g. wells, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The Time Machine is a work of science-fiction that imagines how the social conditions of Victorian England have evolved in the year 802,701. The story opens on a dinner party at the home of an eminent scientist, the Time Traveller , who is explaining to his assembled guests (including the narrator telling the story) principles of science and math that support the possibility of traveling across time, just as one would travel across space. His guests are upper class British men—a doctor, a psychologist, a journalist, etc.—and they greet his pronouncements with skepticism.

To demonstrate the validity of his ideas, the Time Traveller brings into the living room a small model of a machine. The psychologist, ever skeptical, depresses a lever and the machine disappears. The Time Traveller then reveals that he has almost completed a life-sized machine that will transport him through time. He shows the machine to the guests, but they remain skeptical.

At dinner the following week, the Time Traveller is not there to greet his guests. He has left a note instructing them to proceed with dinner if he is late, and partway through their dinner the Time Traveller staggers into the house looking disheveled and injured. Once the Time Traveller has washed up, he agrees to tell his story in full on the condition that nobody argues with him or asks questions, since he is terribly exhausted.

The Time Traveller says that the previous week he finished his machine and took a voyage into the future. He arrived in the year 802,701 on the spot where his laboratory once stood—it had become a garden of strange flowers beside a large white Sphinx statue. He saw small humanlike beings (whom Wells later reveals are called the Eloi ), and they seemed feeble and much less intelligent than he hoped the people of the future would be.

The Time Traveller continues his tale: the beings are friendly to him, and he begins to explore the landscape for clues to what has happened. There seems to be no adversity, fear, or labor in this world, and the Time Traveller hypothesizes that this is a communist utopia of the future, in which all social problems have been solved. He believes that this explains the weakness and stupidity of the beings—there is no need for force or intelligence in a world of peace and plenty. The Time Traveller is briefly delighted, but, despite thinking that all problems are solved, he still feels disappointed that future humans are not smarter or more curious.

When the Time Traveller returns to the garden where he landed he realizes that his time machine is gone. He briefly goes into a rage-fueled panic, and then decides that the rational course of action is to study this new world, learn its ways, and let this knowledge lead him back to the time machine. Seeing grooves in the grass leads him to believe that the machine has been hidden behind a metal panel in the pedestal of the Sphinx statue, but it won’t give when he tries to open it.

The Time Traveller begins learning the language of the Eloi (which is very simple) and he explores the landscape, noticing a strange network of dry wells and towers, which suggests a large underground ventilation system. He also notices that the Eloi never seem to do any work, but their sandals look new and their clothes are not frayed. This observation, combined with his having felt something touching him at night and having caught a glimpse of a strange white animal, leads him to determine that his original utopian explanation is inadequate. Later that day he rescues a drowning Eloi. Her name is Weena , and she begins giving him flowers and following him everywhere to express her gratitude.

Weena’s agony whenever he leaves her and her fear of the dark make the Time Traveller realize that the Eloi are not without fear and danger. One morning while seeking shelter from the heat he sees a white ape dash down the shaft of one of the wells he had previously observed. The Time Traveller concludes, feeling disgusted, that the Eloi are not the only species that have evolved from humans of his day: the Morlocks , as the ape beings are called, are human descendants, too.

The Time Traveller determines that the Eloi and Morlocks evolved as such because of the entrenched class divisions of Victorian England. The Eloi are the descendants of the British elite, and the Morlocks the descendants of the British poor—the Eloi, the Time Traveller believes, have been exploiting the Morlocks for centuries, and, as a result, have easy lives. Meanwhile, the Morlocks, toiling underground for the Eloi, can no longer bear to be in the light—their eyes have evolved in a way that light pains them.

Knowing that knowledge of the Morlocks might lead him to his time machine, the Time Traveller descends into one of the wells where he sees a room full of Morlocks and machines. He sees them eating meat, which tells him they are carnivorous, unlike the Eloi. When several Morlocks attack him, he uses matches to fend them off and barely escapes. He has a sense that the Morlocks are evil.

To search for weapons against the Morlocks, the Time Traveller and Weena voyage to a large green building that the Time Traveller had seen in the distance. On the way, Weena puts flowers in the Traveller’s pocket, as a kind gesture. He realizes while walking that the Morlocks are cannibals—they eat the Eloi—and this is the source of Weena’s great fear. The trip takes two days, but the green building turns out to be an abandoned museum, and inside it he finds a preserved box of matches and an iron bar he can use as a weapon. He and Weena head back for the garden with the goal of retrieving the time machine from the Sphinx statue.

The Time Traveller knows he will have to stop somewhere for the night, so he gathers kindling as they walk in order to start a fire that will keep them safe from Morlocks. Walking through a thick wood, the Time Traveller feels the Morlocks grabbing at him, so he puts his kindling down and sets it ablaze to protect them as they walk on. Outside the sphere of light, though, the Morlocks return and Weena faints. The Time Traveller starts a fire and falls asleep.

When he wakes up the fire is out, Weena is gone, and the Morlocks are attacking him. He fends them off with the iron bar and then realizes that his previous fire had started a forest fire, and the Morlocks are fleeing the blaze rushing towards him. The Time Traveller runs, too—he escapes, but Weena dies, and his matchbox disappears. He only has a few loose matches in his pocket as tools to get his time machine back.

Back at the Sphinx, the Time Traveller sleeps. When he awakens, the panels on the pedestal are open and he sees his time machine in plain sight. He casts aside his iron bar and enters the Sphinx, but as soon as he does the panels close and he is left in darkness with the Morlocks. Moreover, his matches don’t work because they are the kind that must be struck on the box. He fights them off enough to get on his time machine and pull the lever, barely escaping into the future.

The Time Traveller finds himself thousands more years in the future on a desolate beach where menacing giant crabs roam. He moves farther into the future to escape them, noticing the sun getting larger, the earth getting colder, and the air getting thinner. As signs of life wane, the Time Traveller gets scared and decides to return home. He pulls the lever and travels back to his dinner guests, disheveled and injured from his adventures.

While his guests remain skeptical of his adventures—his only evidence is that his time machine is dirty and dented and he has the strange flowers from Weena in his pocket—the narrator is inclined to believe. The narrator returns the next day and finds the Time Traveller preparing for another voyage. The Time Traveller tells the narrator to wait for him for a half hour, but the narrator says, sadly, that it has been three years and the narrator has not returned.

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The Time Machine

By h.g. wells.

'The Time Machine' is a fictional novella written by H.G. Wells on the reality of time travel with the account told by the 'time traveler' himself to a group of Victorian English folks.

About the Book

Article written by Israel Njoku

Degree in M.C.M with focus on Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The time traveller’s tinkering with time trips along with a contraption with the ability to waltz through space and dimensions was not only H.G. Wells gracious way of conquering the well-worn trope of time travel but also a complaisant approach of his towards calling to action to what, at the time, was causing an increasingly decaying Victorian human society.

‘Spoiler-Free’ The Time Machine Summary

The opening scene of ‘ The Time Machine ‘ sees H.G. Wells unite together with a group of men – including character the narrator himself – who are obvious close acquaintances hanging out after dinner, as they all have their interest seized, eyes pinned to the man in the centre – the time traveller – as he raves on about his experiment which proves that time is the fourth dimension.

To back up his long, bold claims, the time traveller opts to show a glimmer of proof just to convert them. He produces an itsy-bitsy time machine and immediately makes it fizzle out in a blink of an eye, leaving his guest in awe.

The following week after-dinner hangout is upon us, as is the norm for folks of the Victorian era. The group – clearly enchanted by their strange time traveller friend and his compelling stories – comes right out and on time for another treat. But, the worse thing happens. They are slapped with the biggest irony of their joint existence as they find their host, the time traveller, crashing in late, looking like crap at his own dinner party.

Well, all is not screwed. The time traveller cleans you, comports himself, and joins the group who, by now are all seated as he begins his story. But this one story about time travel would be detailed, packed with a reality of beings and existence that violate their entire understanding of things.

The Time Machine Summary

The frame story, present-day victorian england.

The narrator gets us underway in the first chapter, opening scenery at the home of the time traveller who we find speaking to a small, all-men group and the narrator being a part of it.

The discussion happens to be based around maths and science, and the speaker appears to be making good strife arguing his audience into his belief about time and it is the fourth dimension and, like all the other three dimensions, has all cubic properties in length, breadth, and width. Much of the crowd feels violated by the time traveller’s claims and even it even gets worse when he tells them it’s possible to move to and fro in the fourth dimension as can be done in all three.

While his first hypothesis gets these guys angry and not knowing how to feel, the second one pretty much cracked them up that by now they are making a laughing stock off of the host’s argument about the reality of moving up and down in time. A bit hurt, the time traveller attempts to clear their doubts by producing a tiny clock-size time machine crafted with crystals and ivory.

On the miniature contraption, he shows them two levers, one with the ability to whisk the machine into the future and the other able to launch it into the past. He instructs one of them to pull a lever and when he does, the tiny machine zooms off and disappears.

The time traveller explains that the device is now in the future but when one of his guests asks why they are not seeing the device since they themselves are moving towards the future, he concludes that the machine is gliding at full gear, faster than can be seen with mere eyes. The guys are disbelieving, but when he shows them a bigger version in which he plans to navigate the corners of time, they are amazed and stupefied.

The following week, the narrator tells us that the guys, along with a few new guests, regroup again after dinner, still at the house of their host, the time traveller. However, to their biggest surprise, the host stumbles in late, dirty, and unkempt.

While the time traveller goes off to wash up, the narrator, in his defence, hints their host may have been busy travelling through time. This cracks them up and what follows is a huge dose of incredulous remarks. The host comes back in but is in no mood to respond to their mocking gestures and promises to only tell them his story if they remain calm and do not utter a word. With beguiled minds, they agree and he tells them his story.

The Main Story

Year 802, 701 ad; a trip into the future.

The time traveller mounts his time machine, pulls the forward level a little, and notices a giddy feeling. As he recovers and looks up at his lab clock, he discovers he’s five hours into the future. He pulls the lever a tad more and his machine vanishes, now floating through time in rapid succession. He is scared as he watches the sky and sun whirl dangerously fast, the building rushing past him as if to smash him into oblivion. He is petrified he might crash into a building if he attempts to stop the machine. He does, anyway, but finds himself in the middle of a hail storm.

The time traveller makes to calm down but he’s not out of the woods yet. He is face to face with a giant, white Sphinx anchored on a burnished pedestal. Surely this is it, “I’m dead,” he must think. He wonders what manner of creature humanity has educed into. In his attempt to shirk, it dawns on him that, for a while now, he’s been the cynosure for many strange eyes owned by equally strange yet beautiful tiny creatures dressed in rich robes and attires.

The Time Traveler Meets the Peace-loving Eloi Race

Out of a close building, he is accosted by one of the creatures. Elegant but weak and fragile, the humanoid reminds him of someone sickened by tuberculosis. He is besieged by more of them soon. He notices they have curly hair, cute trimmed lips, and giant eyes inside which, instead of fear and shivering, he finds calmness. It feels like they’re keen on knowing where he’s come from so he attempts to explain, pointing to the sun.

The creatures don’t understand him. They imagine he’s some sort of a God gracing them from the wonderful hail storm. They are as dumb as they are fragile, he thinks. By now the creatures adore him and throw at him all kinds of unpopular flowers as they transport him to a large chamber, treating him to a meal of unusual fruits. But before he leaves behind his time machine, he must make sure he disconnects the levers so no one can tamper with them while he’s away.

As the merriment lingers, the time traveller – caught in the euphoria of the moment – attempts a conversation in the language of the creatures. It comes out horribly and they laugh at him. He is disappointed so he steps outside for fresh air but finds out he’s in the year 802, 701 AD. He observes that so much has changed from the world he comes from.

For example, creatures have no clear gender diversification and now cohabit together in large buildings. He likens this dispensation to a communist paradise and tags the creatures as end products of a world without pain and hardship. But wait. He pauses to ponder on his theory. Even the narrator is unsure they’re valid.

He Encounters the Unfriendly Morlocks and Loses his Time Machine

As he tries to marry conflicting theories in his head, he notices it’s getting dark. He rushes towards the direction of the giant Sphinx statue where he left his time machine but is shocked he can’t find it. Now he’s become restive. He is sure no one has driven it to another timeline because he remembers uncoupling the levers. He however maintains that it’s possible that someone moved it in space to a nearby location.

The next daylight breaks and still the traveller has no lead on his lost contraption. He imagines a lot – including that, and maybe, someone hid it in a fortified lock underneath the giant sphinx. It is awkward to try and break into the public statue so instead, he resolves to befriend the creatures and maybe learn their language and earn their confidence.

Through socialization, he learns their language and by exploration, he discovers some pits leading to an underground bunker. From these pits, he can hear machine sounds rushing out and it feels like his contraption might be buried under. The narrator notes that these findings pop up a new theory in the time traveller’s head, which contradicts his prior conviction about the creatures and their world. He must find a way to get into the bunker, grab his machine and take off.

Weena is Saved from Drowning

As he draws strategies for his underground mission sitting by the riverside, he notices a creature in the waters struggling to stay afloat. He saves her and soon discovers her name’s Weena, a smart and affectionate being who, like the others, is afraid of the dark. Weena is very caring and protective of time travel, but he only makes of her a child.

A fresh morning comes and he grows eager to find his time machine. As he stations by the veranda gazing over the landscape, he notices two large eyes staring back from a dark, cave-like building. He rushes in the direction but is outrun by the creature who cowers through one of the nearby pits.

The traveller stops to think there’s life under the ground, in the pits. A new hits theory hits him. He ponders that if this is true, the pit creatures must then be the labourers of the cute creatures he first met above the ground on arrival. He compares this to the situation in his own world where there are lazy rich and poor labourers. Weena tells him the underground creatures are the ‘Morlocks’ and her people – the ‘Eloi,’ but as he pressed further in curiosity, she is pissed and disinterested.

Weena Joins the Search Party for the Missing Time Machine

The traveller sets out to retrieve his time machine from the underground world of the Morlocks. Weena is worried for his safety as he descends through one of the pits, clambering down the edges. The corners are dark but he manages to latch on to an alcove upon which he is now resting.

The traveller makes to continue his journey down the pit but it’s too dark so he ignites a fire stick to ascertain his next footstep but discovers a swarm of Morlocks hanging loosely from walls to walls, eyes fixed on him. He notices they’re feasting on some kind of meat. A dead Eloi? Little wonder the Eloi are scared of the dark, he thinks.

As his fire burns out, he is attacked by a crowd of Morlocks but he miraculously climbs back out to Weena at the overworld. They’re safe, but between the fading twilight and encroaching dark night and him having exhausted all his firesticks, it won’t be for long. For one thing, the Morlocks have reputation for scavenging at night.

The Place of Green Porcelain

In Weena’s company, the traveller searches for a safe rest as far as a place the narrator calls ‘the Palace of Green Porcelain.’ As they hit the road, Weena, in her routine frisky mood, dances around excitedly, plucking and shoving flowers in his pockets. The narrator explains that the traveller then pulls out flowers from his pocket and shows it to the guys as proof. They are here. Still, it’s precarious out here so he tucks Weena to sleep on a nearby plain but stays awake, guarding the terrain the night.

Weena is Killed, The Time Traveler Escapes and Returns Home; The End

At the place which happens to be an old museum, the traveller finds and refills on firesticks and flammable camphor, just enough for him and Weena. It’s dead in the night and the creepy Morlocks are crawling out into the woods in search of the intruder. The time traveller is petrified and fortuitously lights his fire stick but it gets out of hand and scorches through a large area of the woods, killing scores of Morlocks.

The kingdom of Morlocks is enraged for their loss and declares war and destruction on any living being nearby. Weena is killed in the raid and the time traveller is lucky to escape again. Unknown to him he is closely trailed by the creatures. He heads back to the giant sphinx statue and discovers the lock has been broken.

As he walks in through the pedestal to collect his time machine, he notices some angry Morlocks already catching up with him. He jumps quickly into his vehicle and disappears further into the future. Now, he is thirty million years into the future and this feels to him like the end of the world, or more appropriately, the end of time. There’s no sign of life, of humanity, plants, or animals. Only a giant, very dark rock-like entity appears to have life and it’s making a cunning, ominous stride towards him. He is filled with fear and uncertainty, but before he faints he quickly jumps into his time machine, and this time he zooms back home.

About Israel Njoku

Israel loves to delve into rigorous analysis of themes with broader implications. As a passionate book lover and reviewer, Israel aims to contribute meaningful insights into broader discussions.

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The Time Machine

Hello everyone! Welcome or welcome back to my blog. Today, I have for you, a book review on a stunning trendsetter. The Time Machine, written by Herbert George Wells, can be said to be one of the best examples of classic science-fiction. Widely regarded as the pioneer of the genre, H.G. Wells has not only managed to produce a first-of-its-kind story, but also one that will give prominent action thrillers a run for their money. Let us begin.

About the Author:

H.G. Wells, or Herbert George Wells, is better known as one of the most successful science-fiction writers of the 20 th Century. He was born in Bromley, England, on the 21 st of September, 1866. Wells apprenticed as a draper when he was young. He did not take to this kind of work, though. In 1883, he became a student – cum – teacher at Midhurst Grammar School.

Over there, he won a scholarship to study at the School of Science, where he was taught biology by T. H. Huxley, due to which he developed a keen interest in evolution. In the coming years, Wells wrote many major essays on science and finally became a novelist in 1895, when he wrote his first science fiction book, The Time Machine . This book became very popular and made him very popular. Three more successful novels followed it: The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Along with being a great novelist, Wells also actively supported socialism and humanitarianism. He was genuine and full of inventiveness. In his early scientific writings, Wells predicted the invention of modern weapons such as the tank and the atom bomb. Therefore, he was horrified by the outbreak of World War I and later World War II. He then wrote extensively about the need for a new world order, it was while working on a project that dealt with the dangers of nuclear war, that H. G. Wells died on the 13 th of August, 1946.

The Time Machine:

The story is navigated by The Time Traveler, who is also the narrator of the story. It is this person, who builds his own time machine and decides to travel into the future. The society, as usual, does nothing to support his apparently unconventional experiments. But he is a scientist with an inventive mind and interest in machinery. He finally succeeds in his task, and soon finds himself in the year 82701 AD.

The narrator believes that civilization will continue to advance till it reaches perfection and ultimately destroy itself. He is not very much off the mark when he arrives in the future and he discovers that society, as he knew it, has fallen into ruins, literally and metaphorically. The only reminders of mankind’s glorious past are crumbling buildings, now overgrown with vegetation. And humans are nowhere in sight. What he encounters instead, are two species much different than modern humans: the Eloi, who represent the lazy, upper class, and the Morlocks, who represent the exploited labor class.

Most of the novel speaks about the narrator’s horrendous discoveries of the divided world. But what is most amazing is the author’s imagination and genius itself. When most talk about time machine evokes the wish of visiting the path, H.G. Wells thinks of nothing but the future. The narrator in the book is unsure whether the machine will go in the past or future, but Wells decides it for him. And, coincidentally, many years later, a theory is proposed which says it is not possible to travel back in time due to the inexistence of negative energy. But if one does travel at the speed of light, one may travel to the future.

The imagination and ingenuity in this book is magnificent. And it probably will be just as interesting to action-thriller readers, as it will be (surely) to science enthusiasts. And after all is said and done, you haven’t read science fiction if you haven’t read Wells, and especially, The Time Machine.

So that is it for today, guys. I hope you found the review helpful. I really recommend you to try and read the book; especially if you are a science-fiction fan. If you don’t want to do all the hard work, you can also go for a good, abridged version. Do follow my blog if you haven’t already. Stay tuned for more such reviews. Until then, au revoir!

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The Time Machine Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1984

Purchase options and add-ons.

Print length 113 pages
Language English
Publication date January 1, 1984
Reading age 18 years and up
Dimensions 6 x 0.26 x 9 inches
ISBN-10 0553213512
ISBN-13 978-0553213515
Lexile measure 1010L
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Editorial Reviews

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam Classics (January 1, 1984)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 113 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553213512
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553213515
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1010L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.26 x 9 inches
#56 in Classic Action & Adventure (Books)
#836 in Classic Literature & Fiction
#1,115 in Science Fiction Adventures

About the author

H. g. wells.

The son of a professional cricketer and a lady's maid, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) served apprenticeships as a draper and a chemist's assistant before winning a scholarship to the prestigious Normal School of Science in London. While he is best remembered for his groundbreaking science fiction novels, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau, Wells also wrote extensively on politics and social matters and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of his day.

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Time Machines: From H.G. Wells to Modern Science

T he concept of time travel has always captured the human imagination, fueling dreams of voyages to the past or future, altering historical events, or witnessing distant futures. While often relegated to the realm of science fiction, the idea of time machines has evolved over the years, transitioning from the imaginative works of authors like H.G. Wells to the cutting-edge theories and scientific advancements of today. In this article, we’ll explore the fascinating journey of time machines, tracing their origins, exploring their fictional and scientific manifestations, and delving into the tantalizing possibilities they present for our understanding of time and reality.

Introduction to Time Machines

A time machine, as envisioned in science fiction and theoretical physics, is a hypothetical device or concept that enables an individual or object to travel through time, navigating the temporal landscape of past, present, and future, and exploring the mysteries of time dilation, causality, and the fabric of spacetime itself.

Cultural Impact and Imagination: Time machines have captivated the public’s imagination, inspiring countless stories, films, and discussions about the nature of time, destiny, and the possibilities of temporal exploration within the realms of fiction and reality.
Scientific Theories and Speculations: Time machines have been the subject of scientific research, theoretical debates, and mathematical explorations within the frameworks of general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the mysteries of the cosmos, offering insights into the potential pathways, paradoxes, and challenges of time travel within the fabric of reality and the universe.

H.G. Wells and the Time Machine: A Journey into the Past

H.G. Wells’ seminal work, “The Time Machine,” published in 1895, introduced the world to the concept of a machine capable of time travel, shaping the cultural perception, scientific speculations, and fictional explorations of time machines for generations to come.

Literary Legacy and Imaginative Exploration: Wells’ novel delves into the adventures of an inventor who creates a machine capable of traveling through time, exploring the future landscape of humanity, societal evolution, and the mysteries of time, destiny, and human civilization within the framework of science fiction and the human imagination.
Cultural Impact and Scientific Inspiration: “The Time Machine” has inspired generations of readers, writers, scientists, and thinkers, shaping the cultural perception of time machines, inspiring scientific research, and theoretical speculations about the nature of time, reality, and the possibilities of temporal exploration within the realms of fiction and scientific inquiry.

Scientific Theories, Quantum Mechanics, and Time Travel

In the realm of theoretical physics, time travel has been explored through the frameworks of general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the mysteries of the cosmos, offering insights into the potential pathways, paradoxes, and challenges of time travel within the fabric of reality and the universe.

General Relativity and Spacetime Geometry: Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime, offering mathematical equations, principles, and insights that explore the potential for time dilation, wormholes, black holes, and the mysterious cosmic phenomena that shape the fabric of reality and the universe.
Quantum Mechanics, Entanglement, and Quantum Time Dynamics: Quantum mechanics introduces the principles of superposition, entanglement, and the mysterious quantum phenomena that challenge our classical understanding of time, reality, and the nature of the cosmos, offering insights into the non-deterministic, probabilistic nature of quantum systems, time evolution, and the quantum correlations that transcend classical boundaries and the mysteries of the quantum realm.

Modern Science, Technological Innovations, and Time Travel

Advancements in science, technology, and theoretical research have sparked renewed interest, innovations, and possibilities for exploring the concept of time travel, temporal dynamics, and the mysteries of the universe within the context of modern science and technological advancements.

Time Dilation, Relativistic Effects, and Cosmic Observations: Observations of time dilation effects in high-speed particle accelerators, spacecraft, and cosmic phenomena provide empirical evidence, insights, and challenges for understanding the nature of time, spacetime geometry, and the cosmic dynamics that shape our understanding of time travel and the mysteries of the universe.
Black Holes, Wormholes, and Cosmic Gateways: Theoretical constructs, such as black holes, wormholes, and cosmic gateways, offer potential pathways, mathematical models, and speculative possibilities for time travel, time dilation, and the exploration of the temporal landscape within the framework of general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the mysteries of the cosmos.

Time machines, from H.G. Wells’ imaginative narrative to modern scientific theories and technological innovations, reflect humanity’s enduring fascination with time travel, the mysteries of the temporal landscape, and the timeless quest for understanding, enlightenment, and the boundless possibilities that lie within the fabric of reality and the cosmic tapestry.

As we explore, investigate, and unravel the captivating journey of time machines through historical inquiry, scientific exploration, and the pursuit of knowledge, we embark on a journey of discovery, exploration, and enlightenment that transcends boundaries, deepens our understanding of human creativity, imagination, and the enduring quest for truth, meaning, and the timeless wonders that inspire wonder, curiosity, and a renewed appreciation for the grandeur, diversity, and interconnectedness of the human experience, cultural heritage, and the boundless realms of time, space, and the universe beyond.

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The Time Machine Review
By H.G. Wells. 'The Time Machine' is one book that offers a lot of enjoyment to the reader. From the richly packed romance between the time traveler and Weena to the unexpected run-ins with a mischievous bunch of evolved humans called Morlocks down to several time trips in an actual time machine. This is one book that is century-plus old but ...
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
(Book 797 from 1001 books) - The Time Machine, H.G. Wells The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 and written as a frame narrative. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposely and selectively forwards ...
Book Review: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The Time Machine seems to compare favorably with mainstream literature of its day. When compared with more modern novels, science fiction or otherwise, parts of it seem a bit quaint and stuffy. Still, Wells was a good writer and the novel has a sense of wonder; it's a fine adventure tale. On the surface, the circumstances and science sound ...
The Time Machine by HG Wells
Recommendations from our site. "This is the novel that inaugurated time travel as a sub-genre. Wells picked up the up-to-date (in the 1890s) scientific speculation about time being a fourth dimension, and ran with it, imagining a machine that could take a man backwards and forwards through time….It is a short novel, almost a novella, but it ...
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Published: The Time Machine was published in 1895 as a serial novel. Literary Period: Victorian Period. Point of View: H.G. Wells deploys a first-person narrator called Hillyer. However, the story is almost entirely told by the time traveller as a first-person account of his trip to the future. Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller.
The Time Machine Study Guide
The Time Machine is among Wells' best known novels—others include The War of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau. As a foundational novel of the science fiction genre, The Time Machine is also related to the novels of Jules Verne (including Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in Eighty Days, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) and the science fiction journals ...
The Time Machine: Notes Towards an Analysis of Wells's Novella
In this week's Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle analyses the lasting appeal of H. G. Wells's first great 'scientific romance'. In some ways, H. G. Wells's The Time Machine (1895) is a 'timeless' text: it continues to enjoy huge popularity (as witnessed by big film adaptations in 1960 and 2002, as well as the fact that the novel itself has never been out of ...
The Time Machine
The Time Machine is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895.The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively forward or backward through time. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now almost universally used to refer to such a vehicle or device.
Book Review: The Time Machine by HG Wells
The Time Machine is the type of book that one could dissect for days, and remains surprisingly relevant today. Those very same questions regarding the role of science, the distribution of work and knowledge, of the origins and definition of humanity, and on notions of class and capitalism echo around us today, making for some interesting, and ...
HG Wells' The Time Machine reviewed
HG Wells' The Time Machine reviewed - archive, 1895. 11 June 1895 The time traveller's revelations are unlikely to excite regret on the part of his readers at having been born 802,000 years too ...
REVIEW: The Time Machine
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 ...
Book Reviews: The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells (Updated for 2021)
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.
The Time Machine: Study Guide
The Time Machine, published in 1895 by British author H. G. Wells, is a science fiction novella that follows an unnamed narrator as he recounts the story of a time traveler who journeys to the year 802,701 AD.There, he encounters the Eloi and Morlocks, two divergent human species. Through this narrative Wells explores themes of evolution, class disparity, and societal decay.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
A biting critique of class and social equality as well as an innovative and much imitated piece of science fiction which introduced the idea of time travel into the popular consciousness, The Time Machine is a profound and extraordinarily prescient novel. The Time Machine was H.G. Wells' first published novel and it was a development of his ...
The Time Machine
The Time Machine, first novel by H. G. Wells, published in book form in 1895. The novel is considered one of the earliest works of science fiction and the progenitor of the " time travel " subgenre. SUMMARY: Wells advanced his social and political ideas in this narrative of a nameless Time Traveller who is hurtled into the year 802,701 by ...
The Time Machine Themes and Analysis
The Time Machine Themes Continuity of Human Evolution . While the timelines of history purport man as an unchanging being that would go on to last forever in its present form, H.G. Wells's Time Machine springs out a rather severe and opposing perspective that bears a striking resemblance with that of the sciences.
The Time Machine
The Time Machine. Laurus - Lexecon Kft. - Young Adult Fiction. 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 ...
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells Plot Summary
The Time Machine is a work of science-fiction that imagines how the social conditions of Victorian England have evolved in the year 802,701. The story opens on a dinner party at the home of an eminent scientist, the Time Traveller, who is explaining to his assembled guests (including the narrator telling the story) principles of science and math that support the possibility of traveling across ...
The Time Machine: Full Book Summary
The Time Traveller had finally finished work on his time machine, and it rocketed him into the future. When the machine stops, in the year 802,701 AD, he finds himself in a paradisiacal world of small humanoid creatures called Eloi. They are frail and peaceful, and give him fruit to eat. He explores the area, but when he returns he finds that ...
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
ISBN - 978-81-7599-295-5. Pages - 143. My Review -. H.G Wells is the Shakespeare of science fiction. After watching the series Time After Time on Amazon Prime, I decided to read The Time Machine and other works by the author. Plot - It is the story of a Time Traveller who designed a time machine. One day, while working, he travels into the year ...
The Time Machine Summary
Israel loves to delve into rigorous analysis of themes with broader implications. As a passionate book lover and reviewer, Israel aims to contribute meaningful insights into broader discussions. 'The Time Machine' is a fictional novella written by H.G. Wells on the reality of time travel with the account told by the 'time traveler' himself.
The Time Machine
The Time Machine, written by Herbert George Wells, can be said to be one of the best examples of classic science-fiction. Widely regarded as the pioneer of the genre, H.G. Wells has not only managed to produce a first-of-its-kind story, but also one that will give prominent action thrillers a run for their money. Let us begin.
Amazon.com: The Time Machine: 9780553213515: Wells, H.G.: Books
The Time Machine. Mass Market Paperback - January 1, 1984. by H.G. Wells (Author) 664. See all formats and editions. When the Time Traveller courageously stepped out of his machine for the first time, he found himself in the year 802,700—and everything had changed. In this unfamiliar, utopian age creatures seemed to dwell together in ...
Time Machines: From H.G. Wells to Modern Science
H.G. Wells and the Time Machine: A Journey into the Past. H.G. Wells' seminal work, "The Time Machine," published in 1895, introduced the world to the concept of a machine capable of time ...

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The Main Story

The Time Traveler Meets the Peace-loving Eloi Race

He Encounters the Unfriendly Morlocks and Loses his Time Machine

Weena is Saved from Drowning

Weena Joins the Search Party for the Missing Time Machine

The Place of Green Porcelain

Weena is Killed, The Time Traveler Escapes and Returns Home; The End

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Time Machines: From H.G. Wells to Modern Science

Introduction to Time Machines

H.G. Wells and the Time Machine: A Journey into the Past

Scientific Theories, Quantum Mechanics, and Time Travel

Modern Science, Technological Innovations, and Time Travel

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