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The Time Machine

by H. G. Wells

After dinner, the Time Traveller explains the fourth dimension.

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Original language: EnglishLevel: Advanced3,172 characters · ≈ 5 minSource: Project Gutenberg

Opening lines

The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burnt brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere, when thought runs gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new…

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About the book

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist, the Time Traveller, who journeys to the year 802,701. The story opens with the Time Traveller explaining the fourth dimension to his guests after dinner. Widely credited with popularizing the concept of time travel by machine, it is also read as a commentary on the class divisions of Wells's era, making it worth reading on both counts.

About the author

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres, who wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories. He is best known today for his groundbreaking science fiction, including The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: The Time Machine (CC BY-SA)

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