The Time Machine

It seems a recurring theme with me lately has been late 19th century novellas and my love-hate relationship with them. Death in Venice was much more enjoyable than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Alice in Wonderland twosome lived up to my expectations while Carmilla lived down to them. Venus in Furs was surprisingly fascinating. Robin Hood? Surprisingly boring. Anyway, the good news is that The Time Machine not only falls into the "enjoyable" category, but also might be my favorite "dystopian future" tale of all time. The thing that may surprise you most about it is that it's really got nothing to do with time travel or time machines at all. Yes, a time machine is built, but the protagonist simply takes it some 800,000 years into the future and spends the majority of the story hanging out in that era. I won't give away any spoilers, but let's just say that the future of mankind is a far, far cry from what he had been expecting. H.G. Wells did a great and very creative job detailing the potential dangers of rampant and unbridled capitalism and the widening gap between the upper and working classes - remember, the year was 1895 - without ever actually telling the reader that he was doing so. It was a perfect example of "showing and not telling" and for me it was far more effective than some other lengthier novels that tried to convey similar messages. Oh, and did you know that Wells was the first guy to coin the phrase "time machine?" I guess he was also a pioneer when it came to the idea of time travel, at least as a plot device. Crazy. The extent to which I enjoyed The Time Machine makes me want to check out some of H.G. Wells' other classics like The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man. And I probably will look into both of those tales. But not yet. Not yet.