"The Time Machine" is a book written by H. G. Wells. It was published in 1895, and just saying that should give you a good beginning point for what time this book starts. It is the very product of the year it came out, and, from there, you can begin a truly fantastic journey.
The whole idea of this book is to explore the unknown. The unknown, in this case, is time. Although the author was ignorant of what was to come, he still had an imagination, perhaps one based in a bit of cynicism, but an imagination nonetheless. In "The Time Machine," you'll very clearly experience a very surreal yet equally dreadful vision of the year 802701 A.D. It's a time where humans still exist but in a very broken, upsetting state.
And you can criticize or become uncomfortable with this futuristic tragedy that Wells created, but, regardless of how you feel about it, you will not be able to distance your mind away from the nearly unfathomable surreal nature of that world. It's like putting an expiration date on everything you have ever known to be... your world. We often never think about how things inevitably pass away, nor do we like or want to.
This book sought to remind you of the sort of transitory nature of the world and perhaps the universe itself. It does it with a mastery of the English language. I was never once even the slightest confused, yet I can't say I fully understood everything, nor was I meant to. How can anyone fully understand what was presented in this book? The main character barely understood it. It's really just there for our own fascination. A dazzling of the mind as your own unique imagination works overtime, trying to parse it all out. What's there is grand, and you at least know that fact quite plainly.
Using the publishing date as a frame of reference, the Time Traveler also travels to the approximate year of 30001895 A.D. I have nothing to say about that year, but that it was one of the most surreal experiences I have ever found in a book. I can't explain it. You just need to read it to understand. And really that is the whole experience of "The Time Machine:" namely that it is entirely and masterfully surreal.
This book is clearly a masterpiece of writing. I cannot recommend "The Time Machine" enough. I think it should be required reading for any science fiction enthusiast. Regardless of what you think about Wells' cynicism, the journey found in this book will throw you for a loop. Read it.
This blog was written on October 23, 2022.
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SURREAL indeed. I have read the book. Interesting how it turned our real world into a fantastic one by setting it in the future. Every leap forward renewed the world into another one equally exotic.
ReplyDeleteScary and surreal. Earth becomes an alien planet in the far future.
DeleteIn these few pages, the author takes you on a journey into what is possible. If we could travel through time, would anything be different? Or would the same mistakes be made just in a different form?
ReplyDeleteHe had the imagination to look way farther than a lot bothered to do at the time.
DeleteI read this one as a preteen and remember being immersed in the spirit of exploration. I also was thrilled by a since of wonder from H.G.Wells' imagination. I agree, totally recommend it.
ReplyDeleteI love how such an antiquated perspective is relevant even to this day.
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