The Time Machine

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CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, May 31, 2010 - Fiction - 82 pages
H. G. Wells wrote "The Time Machine" in 1895; it was his first science fiction novel, and has remained one of his best. In "The Time Machine," a Victorian scientist develops a time machine and travels 800,000 years into the future, to an age when mankind has split into two separate species. One group, the spawn of capitalist ease and affluence, has been reduced to the mental and physical level of children; the other group has become feral after eons of industrial toil. Neither group is human any longer; culture and intelligence have died out forever. In fact, with the social tables turned, the "lower" orders now use their "betters" as a food source! Questions relating to human progress imbue "The Time Machine," as do questions relating to whether or not a world infested with problems truly is worse than a world without any trouble. H. G. Wells vision of human decline was subversive and eloquent, and offered a wry counterpoint to the Victorian cult of progress. The penultimate chapter -- in which the time traveler voyages 30 million years into the future, to an era when the sun is dying, humanity is long-extinct, and lichens have inherited the earth -- is heartbreaking. No doubt "The Time Machine" will outlive many other classics, for generations to come!

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About the author (2010)

H. G. Wells was born in Bromley, England on September 21, 1866. After a limited education, he was apprenticed to a draper, but soon found he wanted something more out of life. He read widely and got a position as a student assistant in a secondary school, eventually winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Science in South Kensington, where he studied biology. He graduated from London University in 1888 and became a science teacher. He also wrote for magazines. When his stories began to sell, he left teaching to write full time. He became an author best known for science fiction novels and comic novels. His science fiction novels include The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Wonderful Visit, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon, and The Food of the Gods. His comic novels include Love and Mr. Lewisham, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, The History of Mr. Polly, and Tono-Bungay. He also wrote several short story collections including The Stolen Bacillus, The Plattner Story, and Tales of Space and Time. He died on August 13, 1946 at the age of 79.

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