What The B@@K? #16 The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

What’s The Time Machine About?

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells was published in 1895. The Time Traveller, an unnamed protagonist, hosts a dinner where he presents a model of a time machine that can travel through the 4^th dimension of time. The group of skeptics, including local journalists this time, reconvene a week later and he tells his story about going 800,000 years into Earth’s future. He tells of how he encounters the Eloi, a small and gentle idealized group of humans. They live above ground in a tranquil society with simplicity and lack of curiosity.

The Time Traveller explores the future of earth, and he discovers the dark underbelly of the Eloi’s society: The Morlocks, a subterranean species that maintains machinery keeping the world operating, hunt the Eloi every new moon for food. The Time Traveller realizes that humanity evolved into two separate species, the decadent Eloi above ground, and the laboring Morlocks underground. His adventure takes a perilous turn as he tries to get his time machine back from the Morlocks before succeeding by escaping into the future. He witnesses the end of the earth and humanity before travelling back to his own time to tell his story.

Top Thoughts? (What Craig Liked/Didn’t Like)

I liked the overall idea and how the story was told. It’s a wonderful example of how to tell a story within a story (framed narrative) without ruining the plot or losing the reader along the way. Additionally, the verbose descriptions and ideological interpretations the Time Traveller has on his journey add more than they hurt the narrative to explain the differences and wonders of the future (IMO).

Now, one the flip side, the lack of characters in the future makes sense for the plot and society The Time Traveller finds himself in, but having additional characters like Weena really helped drive the pieces of the future story and differences in society (and the parallels). Additionally, while the verbosity of H.G. Wells is commendable, it does make it difficult at times, especially with antiquated words, to fully understand this novella. As a result, readers that aren’t as advanced may find this book challenging to read.

Book Discussion

Themes we’ll be discussing today: 

• Evolution and Degeneration

• Technological Progression and its Consequences

• The Nature of Humanity

Questions & Conversation Starters:

In no particular order (reference pages may vary by edition), let us know what you think in the comments section on any/all topics and questions!

1. H.G. Wells is rather verbose, is this a turn off to you and if not why? What good can come from removing the verbosity?

   1. What is your opinion of how sentences, communication in general, are simplified down to 2 words, removing most of the “excess” verbiage?

2. Chapter 4, The Time Traveller meets the frail future of humanity and is disappointed by how weak and unintelligent they are. Should he be surprised?

3. The Time Traveller explains what he believes happened to these people based on his perspective of society (at least half was true as he admits at this point).

4. (technological progression) Disease, food, labor, weather, disasters, economics, traffic, commerce, etc; all solved. Humanity became, because of all problems being solved, weak and fragile. Without toil or adversity, there is no progress. All that is left in this future is artistry and creativity and even that is on the wane. An automatic and decadent society!

5. The Time Traveller saved a female creature and finds what we might call humanity in a “queer friendship”. They end up becoming mates, which is abnormal for the creatures in a general sense as they flit between one thing and the next.

1. The pleasant and flitting passionate creatures fear only the dark. What’s in the dark?

2. (Evolution and degradation) A divergence of species into decadent and worker, the dichotomy that was sought to be removed in Communism. The Capitalist and the Laborer. The Haves and Have Nots (above and below ground). The Eloi and the Morlocks. (Reference: pg 63)

3. The Time Traveller isn’t really prepared as he was under the assumption future civilization would have everything he’d need, so he only took matches. What would you have taken if you could take one item?

4. Would you believe the tale of travelling 800,000 years into the future of humanity and then the crab people and then the eclipse at the end of the world if someone you think rarely/never lies told you?

5. The narrator (not the time traveller) goes back the next day to find the Time Traveller activating his time machine, so we know that the story was “real”. Where do you think the Time Traveller went?

Standout Lines:

• “Then I tried to preserve myself from the horror that was coming upon me, by regarding it as a rigorous punishment of human selfishness. Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon the labours of his fellow-man, had taken necessity as his watchword and excuse, and in the fullness of time necessity had come home to him... However great their intellectual degradation, the Eloi had kept too much of the human form, not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a sharer in their degradation and their fear.”

Next Books

1. December: Emergence (by me! Craig T. Stewart) interview with a special guest!

2. January: Anthem by Ayn Rand

3. February: The Emperors Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Top Books We’re Thinking about:

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novel that falls under the genre of Political Satire. It's a clever and insightful allegory about the rise of Soviet communism.

2. When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey is a novel that falls under the genre of Supernatural Fiction. It's a story of a young girl with a special gift and the mysterious events that surround her.

3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig is a novel that falls under the genre of Philosophical Fiction. It's a thought-provoking exploration of the nature of quality the meaning of life.

4. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut is a novel that falls under the genre of Postmodern Fiction. It's a complex and surreal exploration of the human condition.

5. Lost Horizon by James Hilton is a novel that falls under the genre of Fantasy. It's a story about a group of plane crash survivors who discover a hidden paradise in the Himalayas.

6. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is a novel that falls under the genre of Adventure Fiction. It's a classic story about a boy who discovers a treasure map and sets out on a quest.

7. (added by listener request) What If the Constitution Was Never Ratified? By Chuck DeVore

8. (added by listener request) The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter

9. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting!

10. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting!

Season 2 Book List:

1. September: How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe is a novel that falls under the genre of Fantasy. It's a humorous story about a group of adventurers who set out to defeat a demon king.

2. October: Shadow of the Hegemon by OSC

3. November: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

   • The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is a classic novel that falls under the genre of Science Fiction. It's the story of a scientist who invents a time machine and travels to the future.

4. December: Emergence (by me! Craig T. Stewart) interview with a special guest!

5. January: Anthem by Ayn Rand

6. February: The Emperors Soul by Brandon Sanderson

7. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting! (March) 

8. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting! (April) 

9. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting! (May) 

10. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting! (June) 

11. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting! (July) 

12. TBD – Send us recommendations by commenting!