The Time Machine

Gr 7 Up—This sci-fi classic from 1895 features formal, old-fashioned language that may prove formidable to contemporary students. At the start of the novel, distinguished men have gathered to discuss science, politics, and philosophy in an inventor's home. They debate the possibilities of a fourth dimension with their host, who asserts his polemics and endless theories with bombastic arrogance. Demanding experimental verification, the guests are shown a model of his actual time machine. One morning the following week, the Time Traveler presses the ebony levers of his contraption to the year 8271 AD and comes back in time for dinner with an unbelievable story of his adventures in the great beyond. Listeners learn of a bizarre culture of fun-loving, child-like folk called Eloi and blood-thirsty night creatures, the Morlocks, who steal the time machine to lure the traveler into their clutches. Barely escaping with his life, he journeys on to see a disturbing, dying Earth, and, overwhelmed, returns home to tell his story. This adventure ends with a mysterious second trip that will intrigue students, if they can persist through the verbiage. An abridgement for students would be a better choice; this deserves to be heard, but despite Derek Jacoby's crisp British narration, it is not accessible to modern audiences in its original form.—Lonna Pierce, MacArthur and Thomas Jefferson Elementary Schools, Binghamton, NY