La máquina del tiempo

Por H G Wells

Traducción de Rodolfo Martínez

La primera gran historia de viajes en el tiempo y una de las grandes novelas de ciencia ficción de todas las épocas. Una especulación arriesgada y sumamente aguda no sólo en lo científico, sino, y especialmente, en lo social y lo político.

El Crononauta de Wells recorrerá distintos momentos de nuestro futuro para acabar en una remota y aparentemente utópica sociedad en la que la humanidad se ha dividido en dos especies tan antagónicas como dependientes la una de la otra: los apacibles Elois y los siniestros Morlocks. La evolución social que prefigura ese escenario sigue siendo, más de cien años después de su publicación, uno de los momentos más brillantes y estremecedores de la ciencia ficción de todos los tiempos.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Sportula Ediciones
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 6 abr 2015
• ISBN: 9788415988755

H G Wells

H.G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English novelist who helped to define modern science fiction. Wells came from humble beginnings with a working-class family. As a teen, he was a draper’s assistant before earning a scholarship to the Normal School of Science. It was there that he expanded his horizons learning different subjects like physics and biology. Wells spent his free time writing stories, which eventually led to his groundbreaking debut, The Time Machine. It was quickly followed by other successful works like The Island of Doctor Moreau and The War of the Worlds.

Vista previa del libro

LA MÁQUINA DEL TIEMPO

H. G. WELLS

Primera edición: abril, 2015

Segunda edición: junio, 2017

Primera edición en Narrativa Breve: Noviembre, 2017

© 2017, Sportula, por la presente edición

© 2015, Rodolfo Martínez, por la traducción

Ilustración de cubierta: © Tithi Luadthong

Diseño de cubierta: Sportula

Publicada originalmente en 1895 como The Time Machine por William Heinemann.

SPORTULA

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Este libro es para tu disfrute personal. Nada te impide volver a venderlo ni compartirlo con otras personas, por supuesto, y nada podemos hacer para evitarlo. Sin embargo, si el libro te ha gustado, crees que merece la pena y que el autor debe ser compensado recomiéndales a tus amigos que lo compren. Al fin y al cabo, no es que tenga un precio exageradamente alto, ¿verdad

ÍNDICE

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

Epílogo

Sobre el autor

Sportula Narrativa Breve

I

El Crononauta, que así lo llamaré a partir de ahora, nos exponía una cuestión bastante complicada. Sus ojos grises brillaban y su rostro habitualmente pálido estaba arrebolado y lleno de vida. El fuego crepitaba en la chimenea y el suave resplandor de la luz eléctrica que emanaba de los lirios de plata se reflejaba a veces en las burbujas de nuestros vasos. El ambiente de la sobremesa no podía ser más agradable: recostados en nuestros cómodos asientos, creación del Crononauta, nos sentíamos completamente relajados y libres de preocupaciones. Él nos exponía el asunto de forma vehemente, señalando aquí y allá con el dedo, mientras nos dejábamos llevar perezosamente por lo agudo y fecundo de su pensamiento, siempre en busca de nuevas paradojas.

—Tenéis que prestarme atención, pues voy a cuestionar algunas ideas aceptadas por todos. Por mencionar una, digamos que la geometría que nos enseñaron se basa en una concepción errónea.

—¿No te parece que empiezas por el tejado? —dijo Filby, pelirrojo y discutidor.

—No pretendo que aceptéis lo que digo sin cuestionar nada. Pero creo que tras oír mis argumentos coincidiréis conmigo. Desde luego, sabéis que el concepto matemático de recta como línea carente de grosor no existe realmente. Así os lo enseñaron, ¿no? Igual sucede con el plano. No son más que abstracciones.

—En efecto —dijo el Psicólogo.

—Por tanto, un cubo, al tener tan solo profundidad, altura y grosor, tampoco tiene existencia real.

—Un momento —dijo Filby—, no estoy de acuerdo. Por supuesto que un cuerpo sólido existe. Es tan real como…

—Eso es lo que cree la mayoría. Pero pensadlo un momento. ¿Puede existir un cubo instantáneo?

—Creo que no te sigo —dijo Filby.

—¿Puede ser real un cubo que no prolonga su existencia en instante alguno del tiempo?

Filby se quedó pensativo y el Crononauta siguió hablando:

—Es evidente que cualquier cuerpo real debe existir en cuatro direcciones. Debe tener largo, alto, profundidad… y duración. Pero a causa de un fallo de nuestra percepción tendemos a olvidar esto último. En realidad hay cuatro dimensiones; tres a las que llamamos espacio y una cuarta que sería el tiempo. Sin embargo, existe una tendencia a trazar una división artificial entre las tres primeras y la última por culpa de que nuestra consciencia se mueve siempre en la misma dirección a través de esta: desde el inicio de nuestras vidas hacia su final.

—Parece bastante… Bastante claro.

Quien así hablaba era un joven que intentaba encender de nuevo su puro de un modo algo espasmódico.

—Y sin embargo lo que acabo de decir no lo sabe casi nadie —añadió el Crononauta de un modo repentinamente jovial—. La famosa Cuarta Dimensión no es sino lo que acabo de explicar, por más que muchos hablen de ella sin saber realmente a qué se refieren. No es más que otro modo de encarar la idea del tiempo. No hay diferencia alguna entre ella y las tres dimensiones del espacio, salvo por el hecho de que nuestra consciencia se mueve a través del tiempo. Sin embargo, algunos idiotas tienen una idea totalmente equivocada. Supongo que todos sabéis lo que se dice acerca de esta Cuarta Dimensión.

—No, yo no —dijo el Vicealcalde.

—Es muy sencillo. Nuestros matemáticos han definido un espacio de tres dimensiones, a las que podemos llamar largo, alto y profundidad, que puede siempre ser definido mediante tres planos, cada uno en ángulo recto con los otros dos. Algunos filósofos se han preguntado por qué sólo tres dimensiones, por qué no puede existir otra más en ángulo recto con las tres conocidas. Incluso han intentado construir una geometría de cuatro dimensiones. El profesor Simon Newcomb expuso este tema en la Sociedad Matemática de Nueva York hace poco más de un mes. Como sabéis, en una superficie plana de dos dimensiones podemos representar una figura de tres; por analogía, afirman que se pueden crear modelos de tres dimensiones que representen una figura de cuatro, siempre que sean capaces de dar con la perspectiva adecuada. ¿Queda claro ahora?

—Eso creo —murmuró el Vicealcalde, mientras fruncía el ceño reflexivamente. Sus labios se movían en silencio, como si mascullara un sortilegio—. Sí, creo que ahora lo tengo claro —dijo al cabo, saliendo de su ensimismamiento.

—No creo que os sorprenda si os digo que he estado algún tiempo trabajando en este asunto de la geometría de cuatro dimensiones. Y algunos de los resultados obtenidos han sido sorprendentes. Por ejemplo, aquí podéis ver un retrato del mismo individuo a los ocho años, otro a los quince, otro a los veintitrés y así sucesivamente. Todo esto no son más que secciones, por así decir, representaciones tridimensionales de un ser tetradimensional, captado como algo inalterable.

El Crononauta esperó a que hubiéramos asimilado sus palabras antes de continuar.

—Los científicos saben muy bien que el tiempo no es más que un tipo de espacio. Echad un vistazo por ejemplo a un diagrama científico bastante habitual, un registro barométrico. Esta línea que traza mi dedo muestra el movimiento del barómetro. Ayer estaba así de alto, cayó por la noche y esta mañana subió de nuevo hasta este punto. Desde luego, el mercurio no trazó esta línea en ninguna de las tres dimensiones aceptadas normalmente. Pero puesto que sí que la trazó, debemos concluir que lo hizo en la Cuarta Dimensión.

—Pero si el tiempo no es más que una cuarta dimensión espacial —dijo el Médico, sin apartar la vista de la chimenea—, ¿cómo es que siempre se lo ha considerado algo diferente? ¿Y por qué no podemos movernos libremente por él como nos movemos por las tres dimensiones del espacio?

El Crononauta sonrió.

—¿Seguro que te puedes mover libremente por el espacio? Podemos ir a izquierda y derecha, adelante y atrás con bastante libertad, es cierto, siempre hemos podido. Admitamos que nos movemos sin cortapisas en dos dimensiones. Pero, ¿arriba y abajo? Ahí nos limita la gravedad.

—No del todo —dijo el Médico—. ¿Qué me dices de los globos?

—Quizá. Pero antes de que existieran, aparte de algún que otro salto o un bache, el hombre no tenía libertad de movimiento vertical.

—Pero sí que podía moverse arriba y abajo, aunque fuera un poco —replicó el Médico.

—Hacia abajo mucho más fácilmente que hacía arriba.

—Y no te puedes mover por el tiempo de ninguna forma, no puedes escapar del presente.

—Querido amigo, no puedes estar más equivocado. De hecho, el mundo entero está totalmente errado en esa idea. Escapamos continuamente del presente. Nuestra existencia mental, inmaterial y sin dimensiones, se traslada por la dimensión tiempo, desde el nacimiento hasta la muerte, a una velocidad uniforme. Igual que nos moveríamos hacia abajo si empezásemos nuestra existencia a cincuenta millas sobre la superficie terrestre.

—Pero la diferencia es que puedes cambiar de dirección en el espacio, pero no en el tiempo —le interrumpió el Psicólogo.

—Y ahí está la semilla de mi descubrimiento. Aunque lo que has dicho no es del todo cierto. Por ejemplo, si rememoro algún acontecimiento de un modo intenso, estoy volviendo al instante en que tuvo lugar. Me abstraigo, como se suele decir, y salto hacia atrás, aunque sea por un instante. Por supuesto no somos capaces de permanecer en el pasado ni por un instante, del mismo modo que un salvaje o un animal no puede quedarse ni un instante flotando a seis pies del suelo. Pero un hombre civilizado es superior al salvaje en ese aspecto: podemos contrarrestar la gravedad con un globo. ¿Y por qué no podríamos suponer que llegará un momento en que seamos capaces de detener o acelerar nuestro tránsito a través de la dimensión tiempo, o incluso darle la vuelta y viajar en sentido contrario?

—Pero eso… eso… —dijo Filby.

—¿Qué?

—Va contra la razón —dijo Filby.

—¿Qué razón?

—Puedes argumentar que el negro es blanco, si quieres, pero no me vas a convencer.

—Seguro. Pero, en todo caso, te haces una idea de cuál ha sido el objeto de mis investigaciones sobre la geometría tetradimensional. Hace tiempo tuve una idea, apenas un atisbo, acerca de una máquina…

—¡Para viajar en el tiempo! —exclamó el Joven.

—Para viajar en cualquier dirección espacial o temporal que el conductor desee.

Filby luchaba por reprimir una carcajada.

—Lo he confirmado experimentalmente —dijo el Crononauta.

—Sería de gran ayuda para los historiadores —apostilló el Psicólogo—. Se podría viajar hacia atrás y verificar si la batalla de Hastings sucedió como nos han contado, por ejemplo.

—¿No crees que atraerías demasiada atención? —preguntó el Médico—. La tolerancia de nuestros antepasados hacia los anacronismos era escasa.

—Se podría aprender griego directamente de Homero y Platón —murmuró el Joven.

—En cuyo caso suspenderías cualquier examen moderno. Los académicos alemanes han mejorado demasiado el griego.

—Y

Comentarios para La máquina del tiempo

[tess_schoolmarm · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This is a novella about a time-traveller who firstly embarks to about 8270 AD (?) to the world of flesh eating Morlocks and peace-loving Eloi. I liked this book much better than The War of the Worlds as I think it has withstood the test of time a little better. I loved the vocabulary of Wells, much larger than today's writers and I even had to look up a few words to add to my word journal. Sci-fi is really not my genre at all (I usually despise it), but due to the writing and the short length of this book, it kept by rapt attention and I read it in one sitting. 88 pages

[jonfaith · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Regina Spektor was on NPR today speaking with Terry Gross. The NPR interviewer accomplished no favors. She asked woefully stupid questions about the Soviet Union and its relationship to WWII. this originated when Spektor noted that growing up in the USSR she always felt that the Great Patriotic War had happened recently, given its absorption into the collective consciousness. Emigrating to the Bronx, she was struck that such wasn't a universal condition. Such made me think of The Time Machine.

As with most archetypes of speculative fiction, the premise had been closeted in my brainpan before opening the book, yet, this one succeeded, especially as a treatise on species within or over time. I'm curious what Spengler thought of this?

[coach_of_alva · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I think this must have been one of the first novels to warn that the future might not be a Utopia. I found convincing because the unhappy future wasn’t caused by the establishment of an evil dictatorship or the destruction from a catastrophe. No, it came about as the logical climax of certain social trends, trends that are continuing in our time.What I have learned listening to audio versions of Wells’ classic science fiction novels, which I read when I was young, is that he not only an idea man but also a good novelist, with much skill at scene setting, world building, sharp characterizations, and sheer story telling.Scott Brick portrays the Time Traveler as an upper-class adventurer with a sneer in his voice that his terrible experiences do nothing to remove.

[branimal · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

A brilliant inventor creates the world’s first time machine. After explaining its inner-workings to guests of his weekly dinner parties, he arranges for a follow up meeting about a week later. When the group convenes, they find the scientist exhausted and weathered. After cleaning up and consuming a well deserved meal, he sits down to tell of his journey over 800,000 years into the future.

Damn, this book is old. In fact, I’m certain it is the oldest novel I've yet to read clocking in at one hundred and twenty one years since initial publication. Wells seemingly went to great lengths to explain to the reader how a theoretical time machine would operate and I often wondered if Wells had built one himself based on how detailed his explanations and theories were. It would certainly explain the theory that the author himself is the main character.

That isn't to say it’s too philosophical and technical, there is quite a bit of action and danger. The events in the future carried with it a constant sense of urgency. Whether the traveler is trying to understand his surroundings, avoid capture or trying to find his missing time machine, the action moved at a brisk pace. In fact, a memorable moment had the traveler racing forward in time, worrying that a pillar or some kind of concrete structure may now be erected in the spot he occupied when he initially began his journey. Would he become a part of the object when he slammed on the brakes or would his machine and body simply explode? The story would be a hell of a lot shorter if he ended up like Han Solo encased in carbonite.

While I enjoyed the world building and the spectacle of time travel, I found myself re-reading passages over and over again as I struggled with Wells’ writing. I’m sure prose like this was probably commonplace back in the late 1800s but it was a major hurdle for me in 2013. However, you probably don’t need my endorsement or recommendation, this book is certainly a classic that inspired generations of sci-fi writers - it’s just not something I think I’ll find myself picking up again.

Cross Posted @ Every Read Thing

[themythbookshelf · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The Time Machine proved to be a lovely, albeit short, read, even for someone who isn't that much of a science fiction enthusiast, but that's probably because I haven't read much of the genre. First published first in 1895, this powerful little book shattered literary ground with a single man, the anonymous Time Traveller, and his "squat, ugly, and askew" machine of "brass, ebony, ivory and translucent glimmering quartz" (110). The tale is told from the perspective of one of the man's acquaintances, who is invited to dinner to hear of his adventure upon his return. Naturally, the Time Traveller's account dominates most of the book, though I found that these two contrasting perspectives complemented each other nicely.The adventure of the Time Traveller consists more of him running around to recover his stolen time machine than anything else. The descriptions of the "post-human humans" he meets are, for this reason, limited, and so is the depth to which the landscape is explored. This read reminded me of two other works, both classics in their own right--Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. The former vaguely resembles this work in prose and descriptive style, while the latter, in its representation of the Eloi race. The Time Traveller describes the Eloi people, who we are the ancestors of, as innocent, pure, and child-like race, having degenerated into ignorance as a result of privilege and laziness. As the traveller reflects, "there is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change" and they serve as a wonderful representation of this (97). A dangerously similar description is found in Bartolomé de las Casas' anthropological account of the natives, which is recounted from the perspective of a European missionary. (The difference, however, is that de las Casas enthusiastically viewed them as perfect receptors of the Christian religion, while here such qualities ignite the total opposite reaction).Furthermore, as this is the first of Wells' works that I read, I'm not sure if this is his natural prose — it was elegant but a little too verbose for my taste. Nevertheless, it was acceptable because it suits the character of the Time Traveller rather perfectly. All in all, you do not have to be a sci-fi fan to appreciate this book, though I'm sure it would help.

[aspirit-1 · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

I really wanted to like this book but had to force myself to finish it out of a feeling of obligation. How can I consider myself a science fiction fan without having read Wells' The Time Machine?

My biggest issue with the story is that the only moments that felt realistic were within the narrator's home, in which too much was spent trying to hype up the time adventure.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more 15 years earlier in my own timeline.

[theampersand · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I read this one as a teen, but it's different, and, in some ways, better than I remember it. "The Time Machine" is, in some ways, an efficiently composed manly-man adventure story that comes complete with monsters, cool machines, and a beautiful, playfully sexual female companion. But in other ways you its a profoundly Modernist text that ably reflects the intellectual currents of its time. Both Darwin and Marx loom large here. Wells's take on human intelligence and endeavor seem directly drawn from the more muscular, violent interpretations of Darwinism: his deceptively peaceful future seems to contain a lesson about the necessity of struggle and suffering in human lives. Meanwhile, the future that the time traveler glimpses might also be described one of the possible fates that might, in the very long run, await a class-stratified society. I don't know too much about the author's politics -- though his character seems to have a low opinion of communism -- so it's hard for me to tell if this aspect of "The Time Machine" has more to do with socialist critique or the author's Englishness. Perhaps it's the latter: there's something about the Eloi, for all their tropical fruits and brightly colored robes, also reminded me of the sort of gently pastoral little folk you sometimes meet in British fantasy literature. After that, the book gets really wild, as the time traveler rockets billions of years into a far future where Earth has become both uninhabitable and almost unrecognizable. The images that Wells presents here are both memorably bizarre and desolate, and it's here that the book really earns its place in the cannon of dystopian science fiction. Indeed, for all the future's beautiful novelty, loneliness seems to be the emotional chord struck most often here. From being the only man with any need of his wits among the Eloi to being the human left to witness an earth taken over by strange, monstrous creatures, to being the only man at his dinner party who really believes that he has traveled in time, the time traveler is very much by himself at almost every stage of this book. Recommended as both a well-written story and an artifact of sorts from another intellectual age. Be careful what you wish for, Wells seems to be telling his readers: human progress doesn't always come as advertised.

[ameise1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Although this story was written in 1895 and one should Wells pay tribute about his vision of the future, the story do not grabbed me really. He described his landing in a country where there is only harmony and peace. At closer inspection there was still a shadow world. This should be the life of the rich and poor, which is not fully convinced me. He also flew in the distant future, where there were only giant crabs etc..It is probably due to me that this book is not really one for me.

[bryndahlquis · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Simply amazing, and very intense. I only put it down once, when it all started to overflow in my brain and I had to let it settle (plus it was two in the morning). It's the kind of book that can really impact your emotions, if that makes any sense. It made me feel lonely and awestruck and I'm finding it hard to stop thinking about it.

[ewyatt_16 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Things look bleak in the future as told by the Time Traveler in this classic. I read this curriculum book to prep for working with a class. This was my first eBook. I read it on the Kindle app (the book was a free download) for the iPad.

[ariesblue · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

a good fictional novel i have read many years ago......
human race has evolved into two species, the leisured classes and the working class ...

[ca8bookwyrm · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Another classic that I took too long to read...

I enjoyed this, but am glad (I think) that I read it after seeing the movie. The movie was nothing like this, and I could read the book and be pleasantly surprised at the differences, rather than watching the movie after knowing the book and being incredibly disappointed.

It is a product of its era, however, and does read in the literary fashion that is common in other classics. If you like that style - as I do, when I'm in the mood for it - then this is a good book to read.

[crazymamie · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This book was originally published in 1895, and, pardon the pun, it stands the test of time. Although the writing style is one you will recognize if you have read anything by say, Henry Rider Haggard or Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first person narration of the story still is adequate enough to pull you in and gives it the feel of an adventure being told to you orally. The first two chapters set up the story that is to be told by the Time Traveler, a scientist who has built a time machine capable of traveling into the future and back again. By chapter three, the Time Traveler is relating his tale of traveling a great distance into the future and finding that humanity has become two distinct species - one, the Eloi dwell above ground and are happy if not overly intelligent beings. The other species, the Morlocks, dwells below ground and represent a sinister working class. Excited by his success in time travel, the Traveler leaves behind his time machine to explore the new world before him only to find upon his return that his machine is nowhere in sight. Suspecting foul play, the Traveler realizes that it is very likely that he will have to venture into the underground world in order to retrieve his invention and travel back home.This story is cleverly told, but fell just a bit flat for me. I loved the vision that Wells shared in his futuristic tale, but wanted the Time Traveler to be smarter. Still, often people who are gifted in one area are lacking in another. I wanted a man who was intelligent enough to build a machine capable of traveling into the future to also be capable of forward thinking. He should realize that if he intends to travel into the future, he should pack provisions and think through some contingency plans before actually taking off. However, I could also see the mad scientist type who got caught up in the linear thought progression of time travel without stopping to think about practical matters. I think this book was perhaps supposed to be more of a study in societal development than a sci-fi tale, but it provides both and is worth the time it takes to explore it. I loved the museums that the Time Traveler encounters and was impressed by Wells ability to tell a story that can still stand up today, more than a century after he wrote it. "And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment.""My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just where the whole world has gone wrong. We are always getting away from the present moment. Our mental existences, which are immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave. Just as we should travel down if we began our existence fifty miles above the earth's surface."

[themulhern · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I believe this is the first of Wells' science fiction novels. It was published shortly before the turn of the century. The initial portion consists of a bunch of after-dinner chat about the science of time travel but the bulk of the book is the Time Traveller's tale of his experiences. In this part, the events follow very rapidly and somewhat chaotically upon each other, while the Time Traveller tries to make sense of the world he has arrived in. This book was intended to be a critique of the existing social situation in Wells' own time. Since the Time Traveller can not speak the language of the people of the future, and knows nothing of their history, he can only speculate about the true nature of their situation and how it came to be. He reminds his audience of this frequently, and thus Wells is not required to make his future entirely sensible or coherent, which is a nice trick. It _is_ hard for a modern reader to understand how the situation which the Time Traveller finds himself in could have come to pass. Wells writes well, and, as seems typical with his books, the Time Traveller readily admits his terror and distress at the situation in which he finds himself.The book ends abruptly, but very well and on a somewhat poignant note.In the museum in which the Time Traveller finds himself, there seem to be an excess of artifacts from the 20th century. Given that he has travelled to the year 800,000+, the items of the 20th century should not seem so significant.

[proustitutes · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I surprisingly enjoyed this book VERY much! It's tiny, for one thing--I read it in a single car drive to Orlando. Usually I wouldn't be able to afford so much praise to a tiny book. Novella, really. But this book is a glorious exception.

In it, a time traveler talks lucidly and plainly of his experiences traveling into the future. He sees two races of human-like species, descendants from modern day humans. However, they are "lower" than us and less intelligent life-forms.

Wells conjectures on what made them this way over the hundreds of thousands of years, and comes to the conclusion that our technology created a society that made it very easy for humans to survive. Intelligence no longer became a factor in reproduction, as is necessary to ensure intelligent offspring. Therefore you get this end result!

Wells wrote beautifully of social theorizing and what he suspects may happen in both the near and distant future. It's a great book for its time (written in 1895), with people just beginning to wonder about the ultimate effects of technology and increasing industry.

I also enjoyed, by the way, Wells' numerous comments about the continuing heart and sentiment and love of humans, and our capacity for gratitude, which he portrayed so very nicely in the endearing Weena.

[mcov_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The Invisible Man was an amazing book, its wide range of vocabulary and continuous amounts of action kept me interested the whole way through. Also the stories multiple names for the “Invisible Man” were great and also helped me get a better image of what people see when they interact with the “Invisible Man”. However what I didn’t like so much about this story is how the “Invisible Man” didn’t travel very far to spread his rage or to escape from being chased after from the town’s people. This story’s first couple of chapters were quite slow but yet very interesting, this allowed me to automatically know I was going to really take pleasure in reading this book. The beginning of this book caused me to change my thoughts of what this book was really about. At first I believed it was about an “Invisible Man”, meaning he could not be seen by anyone. Then, after reading the first and second chapter, my thoughts changed to make me think this book was about a man who no one would ever know, meaning he was unable to be understood by others. Around half way through the story, it’s revealed that he was in fact invisible, meaning he was not able to be seen by anyone. After finding that out, I kind of got lost in wondering what was going to happen next since he has been revealed and people know about him. This story foreshadows, allowing it to bring great interest and understanding about the future of the “Invisible Man” and the books beginning half to the readers.This story was a terrific story for me to read because if I were to have a super power, invisibility would be my first choice. I enjoyed being able to read what someone would do if they were invisible and what they would have to go through to get through their lifetime. An example I thought of from the beginning of this book was how does the “Invisible Man’s” family and him get along when they can’t see him? I found that out towards the end of the book which was great. The author, H.G Wells did a marvelous job describing the “Invisible Man’s” past allowing the readers to get a perfect image.The book’s worst part, that could have been changed, was the ending. The story had great excitement and energy leading into the ending which was where it all just stopped. The ending which was the chase of the “Invisible Man” was just too short and made the capture of him look extremely easy. Also the ending didn’t make too much sense to me. Griffin, the “Invisible Man”, was trapped on the ground being held down by Mr. Kemp who was surrounded by the town’s people. As they were calming down Griffin, his ability to become invisible was coming to an end, once he was able to be seen by everyone, they took him to the Jolly Cricketers which then ended the story. H.G Wells ended this great story with a horrible cliff hanger which would now lead you to know my reaction to this book, which is I would recommend this book but be warned it does not end the way I believe it should.

[shelley.s · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The Time Machine 4/5I really really liked this book, it was short and sweet and i loved it. It keeps you gripped and reading despite it being so short. I flew through it enjoyed every moment but didn't have that disappointment when i released id come to the end (it looks longer because of the notes at the back) as i found it was rounded off nicely (as i also found with The Isldand of Dr. Moreau) Defiantly will be reading more Wells this year!

[ashishg_50 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Story of time travel and imagination of future world.

[dste_2 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

 First off, I have to say that I enjoyed this book more than Wells' other book The Invisible Man. Unlike in that book, this one began by identifying the inventor of the time machine as a time traveler right off the bat instead of playing around with the revelation of an idea that’s contained within the title (as in, Oh, what do you think is up with this guy? He’s kind of weird and covered in bandages. He couldn’t by any chance be invisible, could he?) It also began by explaining the scientific theory behind the time machine, speaking of time as the fourth dimension and so on. I thought that the explanation of the underlying theory was one of the most interesting parts of [The Invisible Man], and the fact that this book began with something very similar ensured that it began on a good note. I also thought that it was a smart move on the author’s part to have his character travel exclusively into the future. He did mention the possibilities that existed if one travelled into the past, but usually in literature (and in theory) travelling into the past exposes one to all sorts of possible dangers and paradoxes: If you change even some small aspect of the past, is the present you return to affected in some major way? What happens if you go back in time and accidentally cause the death of one of your ancestors? etc. Travelling into the future can affect only events that haven’t happened yet, and thus vastly simplifies things. Travelling into the future also provided an opportunity for the author to engage in utopia and dystopia-type speculation. Yeah, that’s right, it’s both! At least, that’s my interpretation. I actually have no idea what all the literary experts out there classify it as. What I do know is that Wells takes some time to subtly take a dig at all the other utopia fiction of his time period: “This, I must warn you, was my theory at the time,” he says after explaining how the creatures of the time, the eloi and the morlocks, came to be. “I had no convenient cicerone in the pattern of the Utopian books.” Personally, I do think that the book was more interesting with the time traveler attempting to figure things out on his own instead of having another character explain everything to him. For one thing, it makes his final determination even more chilling. One thing that must be mentioned is that, because the story was told from the perspective of a character who is not the time traveler, the reader knows that the time traveller will make it back to his own time because he is telling the story after having already arrived there. That being said, I didn’t seem to mind, perhaps because there are further events after the time traveler tells his initial story. I thought this ending portion was one of the best parts of the book; I love the concluding lines especially.

[paakre-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

This is the first book I read all the way through on a Kindle, and watched my progress in "locations" instead of pages. Do all time travel books become about the history of technology and man's relationship to it? The narrator is a Victorian gentleman who reports on his trip to the future non stop, with no pauses, and no dialogue. It is hard to believe that a group of men, the other characters from his time period, no matter how stalwart, would listen to such a long story without interrupting once and questioning some of the details. But still, since I am reading time travel books (When You Reach Me, A Wrinkle in Time) I wanted to try the granddaddy of them all.

[fyrefly98 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Summary: His Victorian colleagues don't believe he's constructed a time machine, but the Time Traveller returns with a tale to tell, of his journey to the year 802,701. There (Then?) he found that humankind had evolved into two distinct races: the childlike Eloi, who live a life of leisure, free of worry, sickness, or care; and the Morlocks, who are more mechanically inclined but dwell exclusively underground. The Morlocks steal his time machine immediately after he arrives, and in his attempts to get it back, he discovers that the life of the Eloi is not as idyllic as it might seem.Review: As much as I love the genre of science fiction as a whole, The Time Machine is one of my first forays into its origins. I was already fairly well-versed in its plot from having read the fantastic The Map of Time earlier this summer, but I was surprised to find that the main point of the book was not the technology or its consequences, but rather a statement of Wells's beliefs about the effects of class division on the human condition. Of course, the social politics are wrapped up in a fantastical adventure story, but they're not buried particularly deep. I also didn't find the message to be particularly complex, or even particularly plausible.But, setting aside the underlying theme, Wells certainly manages to tell a good story. His vision of the Eloi's world is fascinating, and I spent a lot of time thinking about how things got from here to there. (I particularly loved the scene in the ruined museum.) Once the protagonist leaves the time of the Eloi, he goes even farther into the future, and Wells's vision of a desolate Earth under a dying sun is nightmarishly vivid. It's a very short book - barely long enough to qualify as a novella, really - and part of me wishes it were longer, with a more complex plot. The prose, while not as dense as I was expecting, did take some getting used to, but overall it was definitely worth the read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: It probably should be read by every sci-fi fan, particularly those interested in time travel stories, as a basis of where the genre started; it's quick enough and with an interesting enough story to win over even the more ardent avoiders of the classics.

[boundtogetherforgood · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This is a short book. I found that I was sort of drawn into the story, eventually. I certainly think that if I'd written it I'd have gone in different directions, quite literally, probably the past! But that wasn't his intention. Wells intended to go where others hadn't been in thought or deed. I suppose that is what stirred me to read it, knowing that it was one of the first of an entire genre wondering where the future might take us. I probably won't read any more Wells books unless I find 'The Invisible Man' which I had begun and then lost but was enjoying more than The Time Machine at the beginning of the two books. I have recently seen the statue of the alien that someone created in honor of a character in Well's book War of the Worlds. That also stirred my interest in finishing the book.

[vanishext · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Great time travel classic. I have read it three times.

[ejp1082_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I'm not sure that this is a great novel in its own right, or that it's held up well over time (pun intended, har har).The most interesting aspect to me was the fact that Wells devoted a good portion of the books opening to explaining the idea of time travel itself. Not how the time machine itself worked - Wells skillfully avoids any attempt to explain that, to his credit. But rather, he presumably felt that "time travel" would be so alien a concept to his readers that it warranted a lengthy exposition. This more than anything illustrates just how groundbreaking the novel was. But while interesting on a meta level, it's a bit dull for a modern reader to plow through.It was also interesting on this level: all science fiction is inherently about the present, and in this case, it said a lot about late 19th century London. Wells took Darwin's (then still new-ish) ideas about evolution, and invented a fictitious time traveler so he could take them to a logical conclusion and use the story as a warning and bit of social commentary. Again, to the modern reader it seems a bit ho hum, but it's fascinating on a meta level.We're all familiar with the basic elements of the story. The time machine, the Eloi, the Morlocks. But surprisingly, that's about all there is to the novel - he makes a trip to the future where he discovers them (spurred by his machine being stolen), and there's little else in terms of story. Wells offers very vivid and captivating descriptions of the world, but there's not that much action. Further, the narrator seems kind of detached from it all, despite living through the experiences. There's no exploration of some of the implications of time travel, only this thinly veiled warning about the future.In short, if one is interested in a science fiction classic, it's a worthwhile read. But as a novel in of itself, it falls fairly flat.

[lovinglit · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The main man holds court in his parlour in late 1800s England with a story of his incredible travels through time. His chums are advised to listen carefully and to not interrupt. The story begins with conversation on the possibility of time travel itself, and continues with the event having happened. Time travel, in this case, means going forward a lot of centuries to an improbably futuristic year of 800,000 and something. Humans have evolved into two separate sub-species, one placid pleasant lot living above ground and a light-hating flesh-ripping lot who dwell in subterranean darkness. The time machine itself goes AWOL and our man is understandably in a panic about getting it, and himself, back. A rollicking and gripping story which surprised and delighted me.

[auntieclio · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

This is a seminal work of science fiction, and as such blazed the trail for the genre as a whole. Reading it over 100 years after initial publication, gives me a sense of understanding science fiction. While taking this into consideration, as well as being a product of the Victorian era, I still found The Time Traveler to be more than a little overwrought in this tale. One surprising thing I learned was that Kodak did indeed have a camera available in 1895 and HG Wells must have been very well informed.

[sweetbriarpoet · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I liked The Time Machine. I think it is a perfect classic sci-fi read, especially for those new to the genre, or those who want to know how the genre began. The existentialist themes in the book were probably very important during the time the book was written, but it does leave a desire for more description of the new world and the technology. However, the read is short, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to fly through some sci-fi.

[ricardob-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I've watched many movie and tv adaptations of HG Wells Time Machine, but reading it is a totally diferent experience.

Some will call it science fiction, others social criticism but I find it to be an adventure; and what a beautifully told adventure it is.
The time traveler telling its journey into the unknown future is filled with wonderful details and very interesting ideas of mankind evolutions and legacies.

A classic that is great to read.

[m2campanella · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

When reading a book, if you know how the book ends before you reach it, it is only the quality of the keeps you going. Unfortunately, if writing is, as Nabakov says, all in the quality of writing then this one seems rather thin. it is the idea, more than anything else, that caries it. And whilst the idea was brilliant when it came out, now it is worn and worn again. Getting to the end was something of an ordeal. Interesting note that no one mentions is Wells' socialistic view of how society divides into Morlocks and Elois.

[brittlandess · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

The Time Machine begins with an unnamed narrator speaking of how he met the Time Traveler whose name is not given. He tells of how he and a group of other people came to hear about what the Time Traveler thinks of time travel and the fourth dimension. This is then followed by the Time Traveler showing a miniature version of the time machine and tells of how it disappears as well as telling them his plans. A week passes before the narrator tells of how the group came back and waited for the Time Traveler as he had specified. When the Time Traveler comes into the room they are waiting in, they find him a mess and, after eating, learn of where the man had been and what had happened. The story from then on is continuous dialogue, save for the end and some actions by the Time Traveler, as the Time Traveler tells his story. The Time Traveler tells of how the trip through time was and what the land he saw upon arrival was like. He told of the creatures that were our descendants and how they acted. The Time Traveler described how humanity had changed and how Earth had also changed. Later on the night he arrives, the Time Traveler find that his time machine had been stolen. The Time Traveler speaks of his panic and tells of how he had spent that first night in the future. The day after the Time Traveler arrives, he tries to talk to the people in an attempt to find the time machine. He talks about Weena, a girl with whom he becomes friends with after saving her from drowning. The Time Traveler and Weena gain a deep friendship. Later, the Time Traveler catches the first glimpse of the Morlocks, a race that has also descended from humanity and those that stole the Time Traveler’s time machine. Living underground with great eyesight in the dark, the Time Traveler decides one day to go down a deep hole to where he had seen one climb. He describes how terrible this was for him after they had started to poke and touch him. The Time Traveler had run and started to realize that the darkness in which the Morlocks lived in was what terrified the “Eloi”, the race that the Time Traveler had become familiar with. The Time Traveler, also afraid of the Morlocks by this time, decides to go to a place he had seen earlier to try to take shelter during the new moon. Going to what he dubs the Palace of Green Porcelain, the Time Traveler finds out that this place is actually a museum which has various things that the Time Traveler knew of from his time as well as some newer things. This gave the Time Traveler a chance to get a weapon and some more matches, something that he had used to ward the Morlocks off when they came too close. On the way back to where Weena lived, the Time Traveler and Weena were attacked by the Morlocks while they set up camp in a forest at night and, unfortunately, left the fire unattended long enough for it to go out. The Time Traveler ends up running out of the forest as well as setting fire to it, leaving Weena who, if she wasn’t eaten by the Morlocks, to burn. As the Time Traveler returns to where the Eloi had mostly been, he sees a door which had been previously locked open. He heads down, thinking that if the Morlocks are down there, he would use the matches to ward them off. This backfires when he is unable to light a match and, luckily, clambers onto the time machine and goes further into the future. This results in the Time Traveler seeing the sun become large and create a constant sunset. The Time Traveler is nearly attacked again by large crablike creatures before he decides to go back to his own time finally. The tale ends with him arriving the week after he had previously talked with the group. When the Time Traveler finishes his story, many of the people do not believe this account while the narrator is curious. The day after this, the narrator goes to the Time Traveler who has decided to go to the future and take pictures as proof. After this happens, the Time Traveler is never seen again.Reading a book such as the Time Machine was different. The way the Time Traveler remained nameless is certainly interesting. How many of the characters remained nameless was actually very interesting. I like how H. G. Wells wrote the book. It was somewhat confusing at first since I was unable to tell from what sort of view I was reading from. I liked the way that the story was told through the narrator’s point of view but also had the Time Traveler tell of what the experience was like for him. The description of the Eloi and the Morlocks was incredible. The way that the Time Traveler described the future made it seem like a believable account of time traveling. The story is definitely great and understandably a sort of classic.