The Time Machine - H.G.Wells - Book Review

                                

One genre that fascinated me greatly during my childhood was science fiction. I used to read many abridged books of Jules Verne. Those were my versions of fantasy at that time. One writer I largely overlooked at that time was H.G. Wells. Forgotten, for a long time, I recently saw a collector's edition of 'The Time Machine' in the library and was quick enough to grab it to experience H.G.Wells.

The story is set in the Victorian Era, where the author, with a handful of people, gathers at the house of a scientist who claims to have invented a time machine. The second time he visits the house, the scientist claims to have actually done a time travel. Most of the story follows the scientist's experience during the time travel and what happened after that.

First of all, what a concept! I have always dreamed about being able to time-travel during childhood, and this book brings vivid childhood memories. Yes, this is a classic and needs patience to read. The reading was very slow at first. This picked up pace when the scientist started describing his time travel experience, and the tempo kept on till the end. HG Wells has blended science, society and philosophy in a balanced way. There are instances where you can experience deep philosophy as you read on. The Victorian Era was well depicted. There are scenes towards the end where the scientist time-travels on a fast-forward mode to somewhere in the far future and back. Those portions, even though of a few pages, were spellbinding for me. I could not help but wonder about the thought process.

 

In short, despite being a slow-paced read, this is a wonderful classic that triggers the thought and imagination of time travel in every person who reads it.