The Time Machine

H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine had been on my to-read list for a very long time. Since I’ve enjoyed so many novels in which time travel of one sort or another has played a role, I thought I really should read the granddaddy. Well, now I have, and I don’t have to do that again.

Nope, I didn’t much like it. Too heavy-handed, and I don’t agree with what seems to be his political philosophy.

It didn’t help that the edition I was reading (and to which the link will take you), a “Barnes and Noble Classic”, was atrociously footnoted and end-noted. Some of the footnotes are moronic (they explain the metaphorical use of the word “tentacles” and the plain use of words like “acacias” and “tree-bole”), yet the editor lets “In the matter of sepulture...” go undefined. But the worst offense of both the endnotes and the footnotes is to reveal information about the plot and characters in advance. Avoid this edition at all costs!