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 20th Century. He was born in Bromley, England, on the 21st 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 13th 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.
Outro:
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!