A troubled insomniac in 1890s England falls suddenly into a sleep-like trance, from which he does not awake for over two hundred years. During his ...
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Feb 09, 2011
Ali
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Jul 02, 2010
John
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Feb 14, 2010
Thee_ron_clark
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Although I finished this a few weeks ago, I have been too lazy to update my reads here.
I could not find the version I have, which is titled, "The Sleeper Wakes." This was the closest one to it as far as I could tell.
Anyway, I am a huge fan of The Island of Dr. Moreau so I figured it couldn't hurt to read more wells.
The Sleeper Wakes is the tale of a man who falls into a deep death-like slumber for around two hundred years. When he finally wakes, the More...
I could not find the version I have, which is titled, "The Sleeper Wakes." This was the closest one to it as far as I could tell.
Anyway, I am a huge fan of The Island of Dr. Moreau so I figured it couldn't hurt to read more wells.
The Sleeper Wakes is the tale of a man who falls into a deep death-like slumber for around two hundred years. When he finally wakes, the More...
May 23, 2010
Simon
rated it:
Having to rate HG Wells out of five feels a bit like having to rate the sun ('quite pretty but a bit hot, three stars') or oxygen ('yawn, seen it all before, one out of five'). These are fundamental physical and cultural building blocks without which life as we know it today wouldn't exist so obviously any comment I have to make is about as significant as a piss in a hurricane. But anyway, here goes. This is a typically far-sighted novel, very political, fairly racist and just a bit sexist. A
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Dec 31, 2011
Christopher Rex
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HG Wells was a genius. Nuff said. The dude was so ahead of his time in terms of outright imagination and ability to express it in the written word. It's hard to even express the level of creativity and overall writing-ability displayed by Wells. This book is great. I'm not 100% convinced it is up there with "Time Machine" or "Doctor Moreaux" but it comes during the same time-frame when Wells was at the height of his power - a fact which is clearly seen in "The Sleep
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Mar 22, 2011
Petra
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H.G. Well's look at the future is interesting, as we are the future he tries to image.
Graham wakes from a deep sleep 200 years in the future, in the 2090's; not far from where we are today. He finds himself the King of the World, due to a combination of his money, inheritances from rich relatives & friends and 200-years worth of compound interest. In a sense, he's become almost a Messiah-like figure to the people of the future, with them filing by his sleeping body. Those who rule his For More...
Graham wakes from a deep sleep 200 years in the future, in the 2090's; not far from where we are today. He finds himself the King of the World, due to a combination of his money, inheritances from rich relatives & friends and 200-years worth of compound interest. In a sense, he's become almost a Messiah-like figure to the people of the future, with them filing by his sleeping body. Those who rule his For More...
Jul 31, 2011
Phil
rated it: 
Although I am not inclined to science fiction or to Victorian literature, I really did enjoy this book. I think perhaps that I can appreciate early sci fi more than more contemporary works. I like Wells' novel particularly because it deals with continuous social/political issues, while including Wells' spectacular vision of the future. For me, the parts focused on the spectacle didn't really appeal much (which is part of why I don't care for sci fi), but the thematic concerns dovetailed with my
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Jun 02, 2011
Ivan
rated it:
One of his best - riveting from start to finish.
Of all his prophesies, the most damning is that society remains largely unaltered. For all of man’s technological advances, we still suffer under an ever widening gulf of financial disparity; are the slaves of the Labor Company any different than political prisoners in China making our athletic shoes, or the migrant farm workers in the USA?! It’s a horrible blot on civilization (syphilisation?) that the filthy rich have unfettered inf More...
Of all his prophesies, the most damning is that society remains largely unaltered. For all of man’s technological advances, we still suffer under an ever widening gulf of financial disparity; are the slaves of the Labor Company any different than political prisoners in China making our athletic shoes, or the migrant farm workers in the USA?! It’s a horrible blot on civilization (syphilisation?) that the filthy rich have unfettered inf More...
Jan 01, 2011
April
rated it:
I borrowed this when I was in my post-apocalyptic/alternate-futuristic book mode, and was sorely disappointed in this one. It's a dystopian novel in which The Sleeper who sleeps for a couple hundred of years and wakes up in a whole different London, and has also become the richest man in the world due to his compounding interest rates (how about that!). I found I wasn't as engaged with this book at all. While the descriptions of the hierarchical working class system was neat (similar to Huxley's
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Jul 26, 2011
Randy
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I hadn't read any wells in a long time and thought i'd jump in with this story, a good job rendering a future world view in the likes of 1984 and brave new world, but just not of their ilk. it is telling that the same issues in the novel are around now and perhaps will be around forever, since authors of different eras have written of them. I got lost between the long, somewhat exhaustive descriptive writing, and would have appreciated more of a dialogue and larger, more complex plot. not a b
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Jan 04, 2010
Chris
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This book swings between gripping and dreary.
It's at its best during dialogue and key events in the story, but his descriptions of future architecture tend to be both numerous and overly verbose for my taste.
That said, there are a few places where his comments on the trends of future society are remarkably prescient.
If you take the time to read the forward written by H.G. Wells himself, you'll see he readily admits to it not being one of his greatest works. More...
It's at its best during dialogue and key events in the story, but his descriptions of future architecture tend to be both numerous and overly verbose for my taste.
That said, there are a few places where his comments on the trends of future society are remarkably prescient.
If you take the time to read the forward written by H.G. Wells himself, you'll see he readily admits to it not being one of his greatest works. More...
Aug 16, 2011
Zzoeeeee
rated it:
I LOVED this. It's going in my favourite books list. I'm creating a small shrine to it. I'm going to sleep with it under my pillow and wish on it.
Though I can also understand why some people wouldn't like it. The book was thick with long words and occasionally explored the seas of the unintelligable. But if you took it with an intelligent, open mind I think almost anyone would enjoy it.
The outlook of this book was rather bleak, it seemed humanity had no way of getting itself out of the mess it h More...
Though I can also understand why some people wouldn't like it. The book was thick with long words and occasionally explored the seas of the unintelligable. But if you took it with an intelligent, open mind I think almost anyone would enjoy it.
The outlook of this book was rather bleak, it seemed humanity had no way of getting itself out of the mess it h More...
Apr 25, 2009
Kristy
rated it:
Wells is hit-or-miss with me. I'm an avid sci-fi fan so I certainly can't just pass him by, but he's not always a smashing success to me. I really like War of the Worlds, but The Invisible Man and The Time Machine were both pretty lackluster. The plot of The Sleeper Awakes caught my interest, so I bought it - the Penguin Classics edition, which I recommend for anyone reading Wells. The Penguin Classics editions of his work has footnotes for all the weird words and references he uses that mod
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Mar 28, 2010
Mark
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This book was kind of all over the place in regards to a "science fiction" novel. Wells' descriptions of the futuristic world were sometimes vague and disorganized, which made it hard to envision what he was trying to depict. So relating to strict science fiction, there are better novels out there.
However, when you consider that Wells wrote this novel 4 years before the first flight (1899), and many years before other technological innovations, hie foresight becomes very More...
However, when you consider that Wells wrote this novel 4 years before the first flight (1899), and many years before other technological innovations, hie foresight becomes very More...
Aug 31, 2011
Alexander
rated it:
Very, very interesting book.
I loved the general dark undertone . The confusion of The Sleeper, the hopelessness of stumbling from one capitalist dictatorship into another... it was really well-written and the reader is just as confused as The Sleeper throughout the entire book.
I also loved the open ending. (I kinda want to write a sequel now.) And the fact that there was no lame love story involved.
Apr 09, 2010
Jer
rated it:
Wells is definitely a gifted author: his diction is impeccable, and he admirably describes the setting of the far future. This book, however good the writing, is quite the let down in the beginning, at least it failed to capture my attention. Wells tends to "overdescribe" the early portion of the book in my opinion, causing me to get lost and re-reading sections.
Mar 12, 2010
Daniel
rated it:
Good read, a lesser known book by Wells. The premise is that a man does a Rip Van Winkle - falls into a coma and wakes hundreds of years later to a drastically changed world.
I give it 3 stars, though it would be a 3.75 if I could fine tune it. It's imaginative, prophetic almost - but a wordy, hard read for some so not one I'd recommend to everyone.
I give it 3 stars, though it would be a 3.75 if I could fine tune it. It's imaginative, prophetic almost - but a wordy, hard read for some so not one I'd recommend to everyone.
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Sep 27, 2009
Dave
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Some of H G Wells predictions (it's a victorian novel remember!) during this book are amazing (televisions, aeroplanes, conveyor belts and the rise of capitalism) however I read this book on the back of "War of the Worlds" and on reflection that was probably a mistake. the book was easy to get in to but became quite demanding about a third of the way through and in my opinion not very rewarding. If you're going to read this book please don't expect anything spectacular and you might ju
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Jul 19, 2009
Laura
rated it:
The premise of the novel and the charm of some other Wells books attracted me to this, but it ultimately left me disappointed. I found it hard to ignore the racist and sexist undertones of the book and in the motivations of the main character, particularly towards the end. I realise that it is a book of its time, but it didn't feel up to the same standard as some of Wells' other works. Still, an interesting examination of a potential future of inequality and toil for the masses, seen through the
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Jul 26, 2011
Antti
rated it:
Interesting to read a book written in the 19th century about the future 100 years from now. Obviously Wells had no idea about cellphones, jet engines or anything that is everyday for us, so they're totally missing from the future too - the 2100s is so outdated already.
Oct 15, 2008
Emily
rated it:
A young socialist falls asleep only to awaken 200 years later. He finds that through his investments, he essentially owns the all the resources of the world and while he was sleeping, the world was ruled by a council in his stead. Now that he is awake, he is dismayed to discover even more inequality than when he fell asleep. He resolves to try to fix it. Interesting read for those of us who love the classic works of science fiction. Oh, and who doesn't love the name Ostrog. He was clearly
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Jan 29, 2011
Zach
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Oct 06, 2008
Tara
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To my shame, I've never read as much Wells as I would have liked. I've heard the radio plays for a ton of his stuff, but with the exception of the Invisible Man, I've rather neglected HG in favor of Orson. I did read this though, over a weekend with nothing to do, and I was rather more surprised than I thought I'd be. It's like Rip Van Winkle meets The Twilight Zone, and they have a bastard child who has yet another bastard child with The Bourne Movies. I found most of the political undertones t
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Jun 22, 2010
Sally
rated it: 
There was too much description in this book; it would have read better as a short story. As it was, it was tedious reading, and I would not have finished it if it were not a book club selection.
Oct 11, 2011
Andy
rated it:
idealistic 19th century liberal awakes from a 200 year coma to discover investments made on his behalf have made him owner of half the world
despite technological advances - massive inequalities and poverty remain for much of humanity - what to do?
despite technological advances - massive inequalities and poverty remain for much of humanity - what to do?
Dec 22, 2008
Anne
rated it:
My favorite Wells story so far (I haven't read them all). It's fun to compare his thoughts of humanity's future to where we are today.
Jan 11, 2012
Nightshade
rated it:
Maybe its the style it was written but after trudging a ways through this story it just never grabbed me. I will try again at a later date to read it but for now I have put it down as less than stellar story telling.
Nov 30, 2009
Paul
rated it:
Surprisingly witty, excellent, and obscure for something from Wells, though suffering from his usual inability to write an ending.
Feb 05, 2010
I'm currently reading the original 1898/9 version. I shall read the 1910 rewrite afterwards.
Jul 01, 2011
Bryna
rated it:
Didn't like this one much. A shame cause I remember really liking The Time Machine. Will give H.G. Wells another try sometime.
