#suchcritic

Just a little context before I begin, I am currently studying A-Level English in comprehensive school and am by no means a writer. I do a little in my spare time, but nothing noteworthy. Upon discovering that I would be studying ‘The Time Machine’ in depth, I kicked my arse into gear and finally finished reading it. This is what I thought.

First thing’s first, I will not even mention the science of how time travel is explained in this novel. I have looked into it with some interest and know that the science in the book is false. However, we must keep in mind that when the book was written, we knew less about our universe than we do now. Just based on that idea I can’t talk about the science without sounding like an obnoxious member of the 21st century. I’m sure that in another hundred years, we will look like the ignorant people of the past. The characters in this book are about as realistic as they get. They react to the Time Travellers tale as you or I may under the circumstances, and that is a huge compliment. The way they interact and exchange polite dinner conversation makes them seem somehow more ‘alive’, unlike I have read elsewhere. Generally speaking a dinner party tends to leave characters seeming a little wooden to me. Another story that handles that well is ‘An Inspector Calls’. Wells crafts a world that seems foreign to us simply through his description of the natural world. This impresses me because the natural world is how most of us would define our planet. Sure most people would say that buildings are a pretty clear indicator, however the natural world was always there, as opposed to the brief time we’ve been here, relatively speaking of course. This world of foreign agriculture and life unnerves the reader slightly, as it does the Time Traveller. It should. The way Wells writes always makes the reader suspect that something is not quite right. If the decline in scientific discovery and clear decline in intelligence isn’t enough to put you off, the wells (haha.) that nobody seems to draw water from are a pretty obvious indicator. That’s even omitting the statue that everybody seems to be terrified of. At least they are content picking their flowers and fornicating in the meadows… That came out creepier than I meant it to. The Time Traveller, as many characters in the novel, isn’t given a name. In the first draft of ‘The Time Machine’ named ‘The Chronic Argonauts’ he was named Dr. Moses Nebogipfel, however it seems that what happened to that name isn’t known. I choose to believe that he is remained nameless to say that Wells himself is the Time Traveller, as the narrator is named Mr. Hillyer, in an alternate timeline where he carries on down the scientific route with life, as he did for a time, but didn’t break his leg, meaning he never thought to write. This is unlikely, however it is fun to use one’s imagination, is it not? I am loathe to say something negative about this book because it is bloody well written and is definitely in my top ten books. However, it is closer to ten than one. This is primarily because of how the ending felt to me. It wasn’t badly handled by any stretch, but I just felt that it was being rushed a little. I can understand that for books like ‘1984’ because Orwell was actually fighting against death as he wrote it, however, as far as I am aware, there is no such excuse for ‘The Time Machine’. There was a large action scene leading up to the conclusion and a buildup to some overarching conclusion where he would make his daring escape back to his time fighting off Morlocks as he went. This was followed up by saying that he fought them off and escaped. I believe there were about two paragraphs dedicated to this as opposed to the several pages for the action scene. I’m sure the ending wasn’t rushed and took a long time to write and edit, but that is just the way it felt to me. Lastly, I would like to talk about the ideas the book presents. The idea that scientific discovery led to a more safe and peaceful life is a very real possibility. We’re nigh on that now and we aren’t quite at the year 8000000 yet. Wells says that scientists ran out of things to discover and intelligence began to decline. This I don’t think I can possibly agree with. You would think that as progress in made in research and development, it would lead to more possibilities, particularly in the field of medicine. Even once that is finished scientists can focus on religion! Surely simply running out of ideas isn’t enough to make humans stop caring about their own knowledge, i like to think that we are more ambitious than that. The lower population, due to better population control is believable, but I think unlikely outside of North Korea and maybe China. The idea that two social classes were formed that coexisted, both aware of their standing and still accepting of it is pseudo-1984 in my mind. I understand that I have already made that comparison, but in 1984 the working class are aware that they are ‘Proles’ and they accept that despite knowing that they are looked down on somewhat, and are made to live in worse conditions. Crappy apartments for the ‘Proles’ and the underground for the Morlocks.

Overall, I give this book 4 Eloi out of a possible 5. I highly recommend that you give this a read, whether you are a big reader of the genre or not.