I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.
-Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
-Phillip K. Dick

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells



Date Finished: July 12, 2012
Genre: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Historical Fiction / Dystopian

A man invents a time machine and travels into the future to a world where humanity has lost its intellect and split into two groups: morlocks who live underground and eloi who live above ground.

Back Cover:
The Time Machine conveys the Time Traveller into the distant future and an extraordinary world. There, stranded on a slowly dying Earth, he discovers two bizarre races: the effete Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—a haunting portrayal of Darwin’s evolutionary theory carried to a terrible conclusion.


Let me start by saying, I watched the movie of this first.  I know, I know, worst thing to do ever.  The movie, however, reminded me of my need to read the book that I’d already been wanting to read.  I found my copy at the bookstore, and it’s actually a split copy of The Time Machine and The Invisible Man.  With that being said, I must tell you that if you’ve seen the movie and haven’t read the book, but still want to read the book, you must know not to expect grave similarities. In fact, the only similarity between the book and the movie is that the Morlocks live under ground and eat the Eloi who live above ground.  Other than that there are no similarities, at all. The movie was almost and entirely a rewrite of the entire story.  This of course, isn’t to say that the book wasn’t a good read, nor is it to say that the movie sucked.  I enjoyed both for their own reasons. 

The book was kind of slow going at the beginning, and I didn’t really connect to any of the characters, but for its time this book was well written. Having previously read War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, I wasn’t expecting much from this book; however, this book surprised me by being far better than War of the Worlds. It’s too short though, and I do wish I knew what happens in the end, since it’s kind of left open to your own fantasies of it.  This was one of the better books I’ve read this year.

 Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.

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