In summary, a no-name intellectual invents a time machine and attempts to convince a group of his fellow chaps, one of which is our narrator, all to not so much of an avail. Regardless a couple of people show up later to see the debut of his time machine, only for him to show up unfashionably and just generally unfashionable, sporting tattered clothing and several injuries. Turns out he's been time traveling! After our Traveller gets cleaned up and enthusiastically wines and dines, everyone gathers around him to hear his story, and he warns them not to interrupt. From then on, our narrator writes down what the Traveller says word for word, forcing a change in perspective. The Traveller then describes how a test run of his went drastically wrong, going forward all the way to the year of 802,701. There he meets the Eloi, a benign but stupid race of small, childlike, frugivorous humans, and his machine gets stolen by their carnivorous, smart, white-furred and ape like counterparts, the Morlock. Stranded in the past and slowly trying to figure out his situation, our Traveller befriends an Eloi named Weena, who joins him on most of his endeavors despite being blissfully unaware of what's going on. The Traveller travels about the immediate area, learning and speculating a bunch of things about the state of the world, like how the dynamic between the Morlock and Eloi is akin to that of herdsman and cattle, and he infers that this is the result of heavy handed capitalism that segregated the upper and lower classes from each other in the past. The Traveler becomes resolved to retrieve his time machine from the Morlock, so he ventured off with Weena only to discover an old museum with just the supplies he needs for his conquest. While heading back to the first town I which he arrived, the Traveller and Weena are forced to make camp due to sheer exhaustion, which is a bit of a problem considering the ever present threat of the nocturnal Morlock. Despite setting fire to several bushes be setting up a fire of his own, the Morlock persist in their pursuit of him and Weena as soon as his fire goes out. Weena dies an unspecific death, the Traveller bludgeons plenty of Morlock to death, only for others to be so blinded and terrified of the Traveller's spreading bushfire that they accidentally throw themselves into it in a panic. The Traveller heads to go get his time machine, which the Morlocks try to use as bait (keyword: try), and successfully travels out of that disturbing era. He winds up going forward for a while, witnessing the gradual desolation of Earth up until a pout 30 million years in the future. He then comes back to the present, passes out on a work bench, come downstairs to meet his dinner guests, and we cut back to the Traveller and his guests in the smoking room. No one really believes him aside from the narrator, despite him showing things like flower Weena put in his pocket or the actual, worse for the wear Time machine. Everyone departs, but our narrator visits the next day, hoping for some answers to the inane story. The Traveller ask for him to wait a modest thirty minutes so that the Traveler can go back to the future for proof, only to disappear for three years and counting.
That's quite a lot, right? It's actually a rather quick read, as I got through it I'm about six hours with a nap somewhere in between. While Wells was the first to introduce the concept of the Time machine and time travel, this was actually his second book to utilize (and popularize) it, the concept actually first appearing in his short story 'The Chronic Argonauts'. After that, his writing career took off successfully.
A lot of his books are written highlighting central underlying beliefs of his, those in The Time Machine being ones that covertly chastise the evils of capitalism via the state of the Eloi and Morlock future, where humanity has undergone divergent evolution that resulted in the presence of the dumb and beautiful upper dwellers and the smart, dexterous and ugly under dwellers. The Traveller infers that they came about as a result of the poorer class working in an underground industry to supplement the upperclass who were privileged enough to live on the surface in luxury, over time this dynamic leading to the species that are the Morlock and Eloi respectively. Despite the Eloi being the descendants of the upperclass, the Traveller notes how the dynamics have changed, where I read of slaving for their leisure, the Morlock raise them for consumption, providing necessities like clothing and sandals and allowing them to grow. The Traveller empathizes more with the plight of the Eloi, because as dumb as they are, their forms are visibly identifiable as human. Other than all this, suggestions of the political kind are less prevalent throughout the book.
Overall, it was a good book. I've said it before, but now I really do understand how foundational it is. The very beginning opens up with one of those zany scientific explanations that, while disproved by modern science, are neat and concise in theory. It may not be some Red Mars level science spiel, but it still floats my boat. The plot itself was pretty engaging and everything that was implied was easy enough to figure out without much difficulty. I'm glad I read it all to be honest, because it was a fun read, and like my last independent project over Ghost in the Shell, it was something my dad's wanted me to read for a long time. I would definitely recommend the book if my plot summary has spoiled or dissuaded you enough.
