The Time Machine (1895 original; edició 2002)

So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’s successful career and earned him his reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth. There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well. Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells’s expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come.

After finishing the text of The Time Machine (1895) (or in its alternative original title “The Chronic Argonauts”, which I like a lot), I've noticed how my mind was highly influenced during its reading by David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) and the Miller brothers' Myst. On the one hand, I welcome the attempt by Wells to give the story a semi-scientific background in The Time Machine as opposed to space travel by magical/paranormal means in David Lindsay's text but, on the other hand, I find it quite difficult to empathize with the characterization of the varities of future humans, the Eloi and the Morlocks, which suffers from its hyperbolic message of class critique. In this aspect I prefer the characterization of Tormance's humanoid inhabitants, Joiwind and Panawe, and their balanced relationship with the rest of the planet's living beings (even though their prevailing notion of "purity" sounds very murky). I am also of the opinion that it would have been better as a series of novels with backward and forward time travel rather than as a single text with the account of only one journey to a future constructed to subtly introduce the reader to the socio-economic debate. Nevertheless, since the text is fairly short, I will reread it before closing its review. ( )

Marvellous. If only modern novels were able to pack as much wonder and intelligence into so few pages. ( )

Classic. ( )

A wonderful short story that you can read over and over. Didn't make 5 stars because there needs to be more of it, if that's fair because it is a short story. ( )