The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a really interesting story! I've been trying to read more books for just about three years now, and I've finally decided that it was time for me to start going back and reading more "classic" literature. And, being the huge sci-fi fan that I've learned I am, I figured that there was nowhere better to start than with H.G. Wells, the grandfather of science fiction. And I'm so glad that I did! Because I really enjoyed this story a lot.
This is a 90 page book, so there isn't a lot that I can say without spoiling the story, but I will say that this book really used those 90 pages effectively. No word felt unnecessary, and each sentence felt rich and dense with information and meaning. I think that's a large part of why it took me so long to read this book, because I often found myself going back and rereading sentences to make sure that I understood every part of them correctly. At the risk of coming off very "new thing bad, old thing good" (because I swear I don't think that way), a lot of newer books I read have very simple prose. Reading them feels like eating popcorn or a bag of M & Ms; it's almost effortlessly for me to tear through a lot in one sitting. This book felt much more like eating a dense mousse or slice of cheesecake in the sense that the writing was great, but I really found myself struggling to sit through more than a handful of pages at a time, because there was just so much content in them that I couldn't stomach more than a little bite. I hope that makes sense.
I was also impressed with how thoughtful this book approached its themes. I remember when I read "A Clockwork Orange" a few years ago, I said that I really didn't like it in large part because I felt like it didn't do enough to discuss its core themes and philosophy. I think this book does a much better job of taking the time to introduce a problem or concept, and then give the character the space to think about and speculate on it in a way that provides some meaningful commentary to the reader. I'm trying so hard to avoid spoilers here, but please trust that this book does put in the effort to say something about the world it presents you with. I really liked that.
To sum it all up, I liked this book! I think it was really cool to read it as a time capsule (haha) since it is widely considered to be the first piece of Far Future Fiction. I also think it was really cool to read on its own, because even divorced from its historical context as a piece of foundational sci-fi literature, this is also a really fun book. And it's only 90 pages. Definitely recommend.
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