The Time Machine
by H.G. Wells
published
February 1st 1975
(first published 1895)
by Berkley
edit
binding
Paperback, 141 pages
setting
United Kingdom
isbn
0425028534
(isbn13: 9780425028537)
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
discuss this book
| topics | replies | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Book Challenge: * *A-Z Title Challenge* | 65 | 361 | 1 day ago, 07:30PM | |
| SciFi and Fantasy...: * Master Science Fiction Book List | 12 | 376 | 17 days ago, 09:08PM |
groups with this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
Where's the love? Add this book to your favorite list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 6586)
All ratings |
5 stars (955)
|
4 stars (2014)
|
3 stars (1780)
|
2 stars (350)
|
1 star (80)
|
avg 3.67
Read in April, 2008
Ooo - I liked this a lot! What rich worlds Wells creates! In the year 802701 A.D., humans have evolved ("evolved"?) into two distinct species, borne from an increasingly growing chasm between the leisure class and the working class. The Time Traveler experiences this world in a way that is both entertaining and aphoristic. He finds that without challenges and change, humans have become simplistic and animalistic. He theorizes that "an animal perfectly in harmony with its environme...more
Like this review?
yes
(2 people liked it)
2 comments
Read in October, 2008
One of the most difficult courses I took in college was a class called Sociological Theory. The professor was either brilliant or a total nut, I’m still not sure, and one of the questions for our final exam was actually:
Why? (Use diagrams to support your response).
Ugh, ugh, ugh!!! I walked out of that class with a B and I kid you not, I have never worked so hard for a B in my life! I pity the one guy in my class who walked away with an A and don’t even want to thin...more
Why? (Use diagrams to support your response).
Ugh, ugh, ugh!!! I walked out of that class with a B and I kid you not, I have never worked so hard for a B in my life! I pity the one guy in my class who walked away with an A and don’t even want to thin...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
2 comments
Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
little boys and sci-fi fans
Stranded in India with nothing to read, I picked this granddaddy of science fiction up in an Indian 'American classic' print for 50 rupees (just over a US dollar) - a steal for both its literary importance and compelling story.
One of the first sci-fi novels ever to be written from one of the first writers ever to write sci-fi, 'The Time Machine' is a short but captivating journey into the early 20th century imagination - and a fascinating extrapolation of popular philosophies.
Though the ...more
One of the first sci-fi novels ever to be written from one of the first writers ever to write sci-fi, 'The Time Machine' is a short but captivating journey into the early 20th century imagination - and a fascinating extrapolation of popular philosophies.
Though the ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
I am sure that you have seen the movies that have been made from this book, there are quite a few and most of them are very entertaining. Unfortunately none of the movies that I have seen have captured the social meaning behind this book. Certainly they have the adventure part down pat, but the rest of it is changed, for the times I’m sure. I would advise those of you who love Sci-fi to read this book, and to those of you, like myself who have a hard time getting into that genera, look at t...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 1998
Time Machine was required reading for a course I took in college about the history/evolution of science and man's place in nature. Wells' classic, along with Shelley's Frankenstein and Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was written in response to the panic that ensued following Darwin's publication of The Origin of Species. People were freaked out by the idea that we evolved from "lesser creatures" and feared that if evolution explains how humans developed, then "de-eveolution...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
This was a surprisingly fast read. I enjoyed the narration greatly. Wells does a good job of including detail but not over doing the descriptions. The story was different than many movie versions I've seen, but I suppose that is the way it is when books are made into movies.
*Spoiler*
I was amazed that in all of the movie versions that I have seen of this book that none of them to my knowledge mention the fact that the Morlocks are cannibals. It is an intriguing idea to think that our descend...more
*Spoiler*
I was amazed that in all of the movie versions that I have seen of this book that none of them to my knowledge mention the fact that the Morlocks are cannibals. It is an intriguing idea to think that our descend...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
recommended to Cole by:
my friend Amirrecommends it for: everyone interested in science fiction
When I was in sixth grade one of my good friends, Amir, was reading a book by H.G. Wells called "The Island of Doctor Moreau". He told me that the book was very good, but that he also has written other very good novels. Taking his advice, the next day I went to Barnes and Nobles to get a book by H.G. Wells. The one that caught my eye the most was one named The Time Machine. When I got home I started to read it and I couldn't put it down. It was so good. I strongly suggest this book to ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
2 comments
Read in November, 2008
The well known plot of H. G. Well's The Time Machine (1895) is everything. In this short book Wells is a prophet and social critic on the grand scale, predicting a bifurcation not only of society but of the human race as well ... with grotesque consequences. Unfortunately, in The Time Machine Wells' artistry cannot keep pace with his message. His characters are flat and uninteresting: only two (Weena & the housekeeper) are even named, and neither of them utters more than a few ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Another fucking AWESOME book! That got turned into a fucking AWESOME George Pal movie back in the sixties! Don't know what it is about Wells. He only published a couple things, but they were great, visionary sci-fi reads for his time. And then he just disappeared... presumably to follow Jack the Ripper through time into the 1980s and engage him in mortal combat. Don't believe me. Ask Malcolm McDowell.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
A very interesting idea of the future. Nowadays, when we think of the future, we think flying cars and pink-hover boards, but if I'm not mistaken, this was written even before NORMAL cars were ever thought of, so this version of the future isn't so much about technological advances as it is human-changes. Very interesting, and a damn good read.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
Sci Fi Historians
I really was not very impressed with this book. The beginning was fine. It was a bit boring, but had a certain charm. However, for being a "classic" I found it very poorly written. It seems like at some point Wells just got tired of writing and so just put the most minimal ending on the book that he could.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
all who enjoy H.G. Wells classics
What if you invented a time machine that can travel to the distant future? What time period would you go? What would you do there? What if your time machine got stolen? To get some ideas, read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.
The Time Machine began with the Time Traveler busy working on a big project in his 19th century English laboratory. His project was the time machine. The time machine allowed the Time Traveler to travel through space and time.
“The time machine follows the principles o...more
The Time Machine began with the Time Traveler busy working on a big project in his 19th century English laboratory. His project was the time machine. The time machine allowed the Time Traveler to travel through space and time.
“The time machine follows the principles o...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1970
Classic science fiction from the pen of one of the masters, The Time Machine is a turn of the century (20th century, that is) novel-as-commentary on Well's views on social Darwinism and the dark side of utopia. A century later, it still reads well, in large part because the underlying issues and meanings are still relevant. With "The Time Traveller's" discover in the distant future of the seemingly advanced, peaceful, and fulfilled Eloi, he thinks at first that he has discovered...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
A classic, and a must for any sci-fi fan, simply due to the importance of the work. While I enjoyed this very much, and I felt for early sci-fi it is excellent,inventive, full of both imagination and social commentary, I'm also sure something like this written today would not cut it. H.G. Wells is to sci-fi what Black Sabboth was to heavy metal, the first and an important turning point, while someone like Isaac Asimov is more like 80's Metallica, truly perfecting the genre and taking it to new...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I thought this book was an easy book, and a good book to read as a "break" from reading. The beginning pulled me in, because it was cool to think about a boy traveling so far into the future. After a while, though, it got a little boring. He was way into the future, but not THAT much seemed different than our lives in the year 2008. I am sure it extremely hard for an author to write about the future because there is no way for them to know what would actually happen then. Even still, i...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I chose to read this book because I like H.G. Wells and people told me that this book was very good. They were right because I enjoyed this book. It was about a group of men that built a time machine. One of the men decided to go to the future and he did. he found himself to be thousands of years into the future. When he returned to where the time machine was, he saw that it was not there. He goes on this long journey to find the time machine and he eventually finds it and retunes to the p...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2008
recommends it for:
lovers of classic lit
Another classic that I took too long to read...
I enjoyed this, but am glad (I think) that I read it after seeing the movie. The movie was nothing like this, and I could read the book and be pleasantly surprised at the differences, rather than watching the movie after knowing the book and being incredibly disappointed.
It is a product of its era, however, and does read in the literary fashion that is common in other classics. If you like that style - as I do, when I'm in the mood for it - ...more
I enjoyed this, but am glad (I think) that I read it after seeing the movie. The movie was nothing like this, and I could read the book and be pleasantly surprised at the differences, rather than watching the movie after knowing the book and being incredibly disappointed.
It is a product of its era, however, and does read in the literary fashion that is common in other classics. If you like that style - as I do, when I'm in the mood for it - ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This was my favorite book was I was 12. I don't know why I decided to read it again, but I did. It was, predictably, a completely different novel than I remembered. I think part of the weirdness came from the new introduction (written by Paul Youngquist) that essentially described Wells as this totally insane person who attacked every person and every entity he experienced in his entire lifetime, often contradicting whatever attack he had made just days before. He responded to all the perceived ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
Our community is doing the "Time Machine" as its "one great read" selection this summer. Although the classic 1960s Rod Taylor movie is one of my all-time favorites, I had never actually read the book. Now I have. It's an amazing story, and I enjoyed comparing it to the movie -- they're different in several significant ways. However, as a work of fiction, I can't say it was a great read. The writing is rather dry, and the story is told in a curious dual-1st person style: it ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2005
recommends it for:
Those interested in classic science fiction
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
