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Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Time Again Again and Back

I begin with two interior photos of a book. The first is a random and disjointed detail, but hopefully apposite:

The volume is from our shelves (dream boutique section) and presently sits on the table to my left. It is dusty, old, green and very thick. It  contains "Seven Famous Novels by H. G. Wells". I began reading it 6o years ago. Here is page 3:


In 1960, an excellent film was made of the story. It rather graphically cautions against an overly simplified future. We have not traveled so far into time as Mr. Wells speculated, but we are still way the heck in the future --and I get nervous about the details. Certainly book sales have declined along with their lessons from the past. Will knowledge and civil liberties follow?
The Time Machine, 1960 clip



I've blathered sufficiently and on schedule --time for a shower. However, I'll leave a summary inquiry for readers to consider in the privacy of their own thoughts --and hopefully leave some solutions, further questions or both in the comments section: Are we Eloi, Morlock, and without dusty old green books, can we even answer the question?

40 comments:

  1. Can't seem to get the soundtrack up. No matter, this film made an indelible mark on my memory. Are we Eloi or Morlock. I'm inclined to the view that most people are Eloi. Further, they don't even care, and will not do so until it's too late.

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    1. Tom, extreme polarization of human character was simplified for the sake of the story but will remain increasingly complex in reality. We could be largely more Eloi than Morlock, but our survival instinct will push back destructive effects of kakistocracy --I hope.

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  2. Hi Geo - you've sent me over to check out Mr Parham ... the video clip was interesting ... I'm really so unread - it's embarrassing ... but I need to read some of Wells' books. 800,000 years ahead ... who knows where we'll be ... and will our books be dust and how far will our knowledge have gone. Take care and thanks for this introduction to Mr Wells and his Time Machine - cheers Hilary

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    1. My pleasure, Hilary. I hope your acquaintance with the author's facile mind brings you joy.

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  3. Geo: Another wonderful and provocative post.
    H.G.Wells remains one of the masters. Some call it Science Fiction others refer to it as Speculative Fiction. I like that. I think a case can be made that much of science follows the trails and adventures of that literature. Writers like Wells point us to the stars of invention and innovation.
    And here you have chosen a wonderful scenario and employed it as a mirror for our consideration. The Eloi and Morlocks are powerful "evolutions" to study and indeed they may be prophetic.
    For years I have argued that we becoming a divided people--divided between those are entertained and those who are educated. I fear that far too many have opted for entertainment and that in turn has paved the way to a world where opinions are as powerful as fact, where celebrity and popularity are worshiped and pleasure and martialism trump everything else.
    Here's a line from The Time Machine-Once again Wells is prophetic.
    “I grieved to think how brief the dream of the human intellect had been. It had committed suicide.”

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    1. Dear Tom, thank you! Although 1st-attracted by Wells' fiction, I saved up and bought his 2-volume "The Outline Of History" in my 3rd year of high school. It still holds a shelfspace of honor between Bertrand Russell and Martin Buber --only our humor shelf is in alphabetical order, except for Douglas Adams, whose humor and philosophy have no borders.

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  4. Hi, Geo. There seems to be a pause in comments, but I'd like to mention HGW's works are widely read here in the frozen north. --Sven

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    1. Hi Geo, How are you? I came here for the entertainment but am leaving a little more educated thanks to you and Tom, and yet still entertained. So thank you.

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    2. Dear Sven, I attribute today's paucity of comments to mass media coverage of impeachment proceedings against our chief executive. I wasn't among the viewers, but hope the initiative will at least dissuade this country from trying to buy yours.

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    3. Beloved Chickens' Consigliere, Hi! I am fine. It does indeed seem to be the stuff of chautauqua, which should both entertain and instruct. Considering his long experience in the field, I know Tom's journalistic instincts are on alert right now. He's a reliable resource.

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  5. I've never read The Time Machine but - yay for IMDb and it's movie plot summaries! - I've just gotten the gist of it. I'll be looking for a copy so as to read it in original form.

    I hope we are not in an irreversible point in time right now, with its alternative facts and upside-down logic coming from the highest office in the USA.

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    1. 0_Jenny, films tend to take liberties with the original story, but the fundamental theme is usually intact. Just remember, Wells got "Time Machine" published in 1895 --all the pastiches, bells and whistles got added after, but generally did it justice. That theme is, in physics, mind and matter are simply two ways of organizing events and reversible points are abundant before, during and after lies and illogic obtain.

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  6. I know there are some H. G.Wells somewhere on the shelves in my house in Georgia. I’ll go there soon and check. I still have at least 5 to 6,000 books to check and give away. I don’t want to move too many to Nashville. It is hard for me to give books away, some I have not read yet. Right now am trying to read the French books (in French) – I guess in a way to find myself somewhere else, mentally if not physically. Not easy for me to live in a red state….

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    1. That's a lot of books to get back into circulation --I faced similar numbers and problems when my parent's library had to be cleared. I kept all volumes by Verne, Hugo, Wells, Alger, Jules Laforgue for my own shelves then sold some --to bookstores-- and donated thousands of others to public libraries. It's heartbreaking work, but once completed, eases the burden and returns these books to readers, where they belong --and always will.

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  7. The future is always in question and it used to be fun to speculate. When those before us have guessed somewhat correctly, it is even more fun. Now, though, change is ten speed and three years ago I would have never expected that the world, especially our once respected and caring country, would be where we are today.

    I will go now and reacquaint myself with Wells.

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    1. Agreed indeed, Arleen. US is currently in a popularity slump. Too many tantrums thrown too close together. Reading Wells helps --I'm going to do it too.

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  8. I'm afraid we have both eloi and morlock....the morlocks are winning at the moment. What we need is a hybrid of some sort.

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    1. Good idea, Delores! A hybrid, Moreloi(?) --sounds like some kind of mushroom. But I like the idea.

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    1. Dear Powdered Toast Man, that much is certain!

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  10. It's always thought-provoking... and a teensy bit frightening... when some of those dusty old books from way back impart wise insight that's applicable to today's world. Yes, some concepts are timeless and universal, but it makes one wonder if Welles was simply a brilliant man or the eloi/morlock split in society was inevitable.

    Still, I remain an optimist. I will ever believe there are more of us who truly care than there those who serve only self, and I also believe we will prevail in the end. Truth will and must win over falsehoods. America will once again become a beacon of hope in the world. (And that's the truth! PFFFFFT!)

    And I, dear Geo, may have to dust off some of my old books and read them again. In my spare time. :)

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    1. Dear Susan, I admire your strength. This country must strive to equal Emma Lazarus's poem (or Dylan's "Sad-eyed Lady of The Lowlands") and we try. I wake each day a frenetic optimist but do not remain one for long. However, if I can solve some few problems around me, get encouragement from good minds like yours --perhaps accompanied by a Tomlin Edith-Ann raspberry-- I can cope, recover and be fit for my own thoughts by bedtime. I have measureless faith in new generations. A good old book to get me sleepy also helps.

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    2. I'm beyond tickled that you recognized the Edith Ann raspberry. :)

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    3. Couldn't forget her. Especially wonder what happened to that huge rocking chair she sat in.

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  11. Dusty old books are key! The colours may vary but must convey gravitas. Fond memories of that film, am curious to watch it again.

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    1. Pietas, severitas, disciplina, dignitas, and virtus, compose a long wagon train, dear Lisa, but you're right, gravitas unites them all. Enjoy the film!

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  12. Geo, I think the world was a better place when real books did not have to compete with computers at the public library. I fear there will be no real books in the future - even dusty ones - so I'm quite happy to live in the present where it's still possible to find a book or two at the library. Reading Emily Dickinson online is a mistake. Her great voice can only be heard in a book. I think Mr. Wells somehow knew that progress is not always a good thing. It's possible to experience a perfect moment right now - there's really no need for a time machine. I thank you for a most thought provoking post!

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    1. Dear Dylan, even publication --which included posthumous editing and punctuation of her poems-- could not compete with the reality of Emily's poems being found, fair copies sewn together in her room and tucked under her bed. Her original manuscripts have emerged in our time. One gets little sense of that online but we are lucky to have them. She was a very private person, but remains a great spirit. And thank YOU for a most thought-provoking comment.

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  13. I thought I had commented earlier but apparently I didn't press the right key. Does that make me an eloi? Dusty old books are key. Right now I'm reading "My Journey to Lhasa" by Alexandra David-Neel, originally published in 1927. It's a remarkable story; fascinating, gripping and, at times, funny.

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    1. Thanks Bruce, A. David-Neel's book sound really intriguing. I will explore my sources for it. The only book I've got (somewhere) is a 1930s edition of Richard Halliburton's travels that includes Lhasa. It's not "Seven League Boots" which is buckram bound in green and dusty, but another title with "Marvels(?)" in it. If it's here, I'll find it.

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  14. 1960 was the best version of the movie. Yvette Mimieux and Rod Taylor plus other cast I liked were great. Eloi or Morlock? What if there were some sex and a hybrid emerged? Now there is a thought.

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    1. Dear Susan, indeed an intriguing thought! But I have trouble imagining Ms. Mimieux as half Morlock.

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  15. I'm not sure I'd want to be either an Eloi or a Morlock. Well, I KNOW I don't want to be a Morlock.

    I saw the movie long before I ever read the book. But the movie is the reason I read the book, and both were very compelling.

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    1. Dear Lori, thank you. Sounds like we had similar progress to the story. Wells had such a firm background in science, physics, speculative anthropology and literary excellence that the bar was set higher ever after.

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  17. that was an interesting movie clip! I'm afraid some of my old books are getting nearly that frail.

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    1. There's a closing scene in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" where Montag seeks out the Book People, who --in the dystopian future-- memorize books and teach them word for word to younger people. If I remember correctly, Bradbury finished the ms. on a rented typewriter in a library basement. I like to believe there are Book People preserving and transmitting ideas that live in print.

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    2. You know, I've read "Fahrenheit 451" (years ago) but never saw the movie... another for the list.

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    3. An enjoyable, thought-provoking film, Jeff. Good choice!

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