The Time Machine

Something that I find to be really clever about H.G. Wells’ work, The Time Machine, is how well it has aged. Despite being over a hundred years old it still has the ability to excite the reader and produce intrigue. This is due to Wells’ talent as an author and storyteller. What I find to be so fascinating is that although it is framed as a sci-fi story Wells’ writes it like an adventure novel. I feel like this might be overlooked by many modern day, American readers because we are so used to adventure storytelling that it has become the dominant story type within our pop culture. I’m doubtful though that this would’ve been so obvious over a hundred years ago. I’m thinking about other works like We and Metropolis that don’t frame their stories this way. The story seems to work more as an adventure story more so than sci-fi. For example if you replaced the time machine with some other form of transportation, like a boat, the story wouldn’t change too much and the adventure elements would still be apparent. Being stranded on an island with strange inhabitants has been told many times. I believe this focus on adventure, exploration, and action is what allows this work of literature to remain so long in the public eye. It is so readily accessible for modern audiences and it stems from not choosing to exhaust the reader with older, sci-fi concepts and instead focus on adventure.