h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Time Machine by HG Wells.

First published in 1898. You can find the entire text of this book in a variety of formats with a quick Google search. The chapters (well the first couple at least) are quite short so it's not too straining to read on a PC or palmtop screen.

In the UK it's available at 4.99 published by Everyman. Not very common 2nd hand for some reason.

As you've suggested the book do you fancy giving a quick precis about the book: ie a bit about wells, his other work, how he came to write it, what influenced the book, opinions at the time, what makes you want to read it etc. Just to whet our appetites.

As far as I know, The Time Machine is a novel about a man who invents a machine which propells him 800,000 years into the future. There he discovers utopia, but on closer inspection discovers that - as ever - all is not as it seems: there exists a "hidden barbaric and depraved underclass."
Published in 1898, the book was an instant bestseller and kickstarted a mini-boom in time travel novels.

There are a few reasons I've wanted to read this book and, just as importantly, discuss it with others:

- Politics. Is it a critique of Victorian capitalism, an examination of the Marxist idea of commodity fetishism? Fear of a new age? Fin de Siecle angst?
- Science. I've always had it in my head that Einstien came up with the idea of Spacetime, but the opening chapter (which I read last night) has a pretty good desription of it, despite predating Einstien's big idea by a couple of years.
- Adventure. I've read The Shape Of Things To Come, and Wells seems to be bursting with invention.
- Future. I've read a few older prophetic novels recently (Brave New World, nineteen eightyfour, something by EE. Doc Smith) and wondered why I'd never got round to this one.

So are we going to divide up the book into amounts to be read each week / few days then? I've not dug out my copy yet, i don't know how long / many chapters etc it is.

An intriguing opening chapter (for flinch's benefit the book is in twelve chapters with a brief epilogue).

The language is strange, with many now obscure words and usages (eg recondite and fecundity), however it is well written with a nice rhythm to it.

Only one character is named, Filby, the rest are all described by their job or character type (Medical Man, Very Young Man, etc). I suspect that this is a carefully chosen characterisation. By specifying the character in this particular way, Wells draws on the reader's own perception of the type of character evinced by the name. The oddity, Filby, is curious, any thought on why he's different?

As Andy says, Wells introduces the concept of Space/Time with a fairly short but astute description. Just enough to lay the foundation of the novel without confusing the reader, but an important scientific concept that must have been new at the time. I wonder where Wells got it from?

Wells also raises some of the issues of Time Travel but quickly dismisses these. I think he does this to show that the narrative will not be about the obvious paradoxes of time travel, nor about taking advantage of it, thus opening the way for both he and the reader to focus on what follows. I believe that Wells may also give some indication of the direction this will take with some of the characters comments, such as his own character's suggestion that the future may be "a society erected on a strictly communist basis".

Any other thoughts, anyone?

Are the chapters of pretty much equal length? So at twelve chapters thats three chapters a week by my reckoning yes?

And if i could be so bold as to sugest we adjourn to http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A688340 to descuss the individual chapters. Lets not give anything away to anyone who hasn't started reading yet.

I'm just of out to collect my copy now. See you there.

Fancy linking to that from the UserSpace, whoever has the login?

Sorry, flinch. The book is a bit variable in chapter length, but it's not very long.

I've started a thread under the entry for The Time Machine and copied the above post into it.

How do we actually want to do this, create a thread for each chapter? It could get unwieldy for longer books. I would prefer that we hold the basic discussion on one thread for each book.

Any other views?

As we have a page on which to discuss the book below http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A688340 i suggest that we discuss each book there. Either chapter by chapter, or, we divide each book up into four equal parts (weeks) before we start reading, and discuss them in a week by week forum.

And then once we've finished we can carry on discussing the both and anyone who wants to read the book later can join in.

I also think that the individual book pages should become guide entries.

Just picked up a deadwood edition from the library (one of four copies on the shelf) though I started reading on the 'net the other night - because that felt suitably futuristic. I also managed to find a copy for my PDA, so now I can't get away from the B****y book!