What I liked the most about this book--what makes any dystopian view of society in science fiction good in my opinion--is that it was slightly crazy yet completely correct. The basic sociological idea behind the story is that if humans continue to separate themselves from all work and strive only for peace, prosperity and luxury in the personal realm, then we will quickly be divided into two groups-- (1)those who must work for (2)those who don't have to. It is the basic proletariat-bourgeoisie argument. However, it doesn't seem that Wells follows Marxism to the letter, as his futuristic realm involves much socialism, which he depicts as dumbing down the species considerably. It is as if he is saying that achieving our goals of social justice will make us lazy and stupid.
I sure felt stupid when I first started reading this book. It is a short novel, and I knew it was some type of science fiction--the title tipped me off there-- but I didn't bargain for having to look up two words in the dictionary before even finishing the first page! (If you're curious, the words are fecundity and recondite.) I also didn't imagine I would have a feminist qualm with Wells when it was all said and done. It is true I had been thinking about feminism during the first few days of reading this book, but I didn't think the two should meet. However, one of the first thoughts I had when finishing the novel was about the awful portrayal of women therein. There are only two mentions of women at all: one a servant; one a diminuitive twit, who follows the main character like a lap dog, is treated likewise, and eventually dies as a sacrifice for our hero's escape. Bad form, Wells.
On the whole, though, I did enjoy the book and the thoughts provoked since reading it.
(Review from my blog: http://thenext100books.blogspot.com) ( )

This 19th century story of a scientist who constructs a time machine and travels 800,000+ years into the future holds up remarkably well. I suppose this is in part due to how far into a strange future the narrator takes us, but also due to Well's writing style, which picks and chooses details carefully, smoothly dropping the reader into the worlds he creates. ( )

We never learn much of the identity of the time traveller (op cit, it does have two 'L's in the book, is that a British spelling?), the beginning of the book refers to him as the time traveller. The story is told in a first-person narration. He is British, and he is male, probably in his prime. It is the classic story, a bit different from the movie versions. We meet the Morlocks, and Weena, strange creatures we encounter only briefly, and learn of man's fate.

The story is well told and moves quickly. He doesn't pause to build suspense, we can feel the urgency of the time traveller's actions.

H. G. Wells suggests man is his own demise, one has to wonder if he was making a political statement, but doesn't stress it as we would expect authors to do today. The book is around 260ish pages, but felt shorter as it reads pretty easily. It is in the public domain and available for free from Project Gutenberg. ( )

http://www.book-blog.com/2009/11/well... ( )

A great, almost haunting novel. Wells does not get nearly enough credit for The Time Machine. There is much more here than meets the eye. ( )