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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ich tu mich immer etwas schwer damit, mir eine meinung zu kurzgeschichten zu bilden. oft habe ich einfach das gefühl, dass das potential nicht ausgeschlöpft wurde. das gleiche problem hatte ich hier auch - das buch hätte für mich besser funktioniert, wenn es länger (und aus kuno's perspektive über seine reise zur oberfläche und allem davor und danach) gewesen wäre.
trotzdem ist es sehr beeindruckend und auch gruselig, dass e. m. forster das buch 1909 geschrieben hat. besonders toll fand ich: "Wir haben [die Maschine] erschaffen, uns zu dienen, aber sie dient uns nicht mehr. Sie nimmt uns das Gefühl für den Raum und den Sinn für Berührungen, sie betäubt alle zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen, reduziert Liebe auf einen fleischlichen Akt, lähmt unsere Körper und unseren Willen.", und natürlich das ende.
trotzdem ist es sehr beeindruckend und auch gruselig, dass e. m. forster das buch 1909 geschrieben hat. besonders toll fand ich: "Wir haben [die Maschine] erschaffen, uns zu dienen, aber sie dient uns nicht mehr. Sie nimmt uns das Gefühl für den Raum und den Sinn für Berührungen, sie betäubt alle zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen, reduziert Liebe auf einen fleischlichen Akt, lähmt unsere Körper und unseren Willen.", und natürlich das ende.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Interesting! Maybe this is what the world would have developed into if lockdown had extended for generations.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
To say this was written in 1909, I was absolutely amazed at how closely this related to present day! The Machine stops is a short story that managed to fill me with dread in such a short amount of time. While it's interesting to compare the futuristic technology with today's technology, it made me reflect on our society in the current state that it's in. The idea of being encouraged to live in solitude with no concern for true human connection may sound silly to us right now, but there are factors here that are very real in our present, or that are heading in that direction.
No sense of space... this really stuck with me. This is clearly so ahead of it's time and manages to stay frighteningl relevant to this day!
As for the second short story, for the majority I was not entirely sure what was happening and when I had finished I was not entirely sure on the message of the story, either. However, Forster still can cleverly pull me in with his words and transfix me into this world, ultimately filling me with dread once more. And strangely that's what I loved the most.
No sense of space... this really stuck with me. This is clearly so ahead of it's time and manages to stay frighteningl relevant to this day!
As for the second short story, for the majority I was not entirely sure what was happening and when I had finished I was not entirely sure on the message of the story, either. However, Forster still can cleverly pull me in with his words and transfix me into this world, ultimately filling me with dread once more. And strangely that's what I loved the most.
My brother recommended this to me as strangely apt for a covid ridden 2020.
With talk of isolation and a machine that fails.
The fact that Forster writes about a connected world in 1909 is madness.
What occurs within is humanity all over.
With talk of isolation and a machine that fails.
The fact that Forster writes about a connected world in 1909 is madness.
What occurs within is humanity all over.
Written as a rebuttal to the positive view of the advancement of technology portrayed in many of H.G. Wells’s novels, this short story predicts so much of our modern world in a horrifying fashion.
A good Dystopian story.
A good Dystopian story.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This story was mentioned in Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia, and it sounded so fascinating that it made me want to read it. It really is mindblowing the way in which Forster's vision ended up predicting so many current technologies, as well as the effects they would have on us, and offering a bleak - but not at all laughable, all things considered - future for humanity.
However, as a story, I found the writing style a slog and it was hard to stay engaged - it actually took me over a month to finish reading it.
However, as a story, I found the writing style a slog and it was hard to stay engaged - it actually took me over a month to finish reading it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was written in 1909, before AI was invented. Reading this in 2025 made me feel a sense of dread. We're already beginning to see people's overreliance on AI - People go to Chatgpt for ideas, writing, doing their work for them... As AI is developing it makes you wonder whether humans will enter a lifestyle like that of this book. What if the machine represents AI?. This book is short but poignant. It certainly is dark and bleak. But, it's incredible - particularly when you think that it was written a century ago.
I came across E. M. Forster’s novella, “The Machine Stops,” while looking for short titles my library could offer to help achieve my 2020 reading goal.
“A Room With A View” is in my top 50 books and was published in 1908, one year before “The Machine Stops.” In 1910, Forster published “Howard’s End.” This novella, one of a future time and which humanity is generally isolated physically, while being connected via something like the Internet, lives underground after prior generations had contaminated the planet’s upper surface. Forster’s vision of the world in this book is all-too-familiar to those of us in pandemic 2020.
A major theme in this forward-looking work is humanism. Humans become reliant on and then deify The Machine, going so far as to forget that The Machine was created by man and eventually stops because man has forgotten how to tend to it. At its heart, characters like Kuno, who question single-/close-minded worship and who value personal connections, are the heroes.
It was very interesting to read this book not long after H. G. Wells’ “The Time Machine;” some of the themes around colonialism, class, and humanism up here and both books, although in different ways.
“A Room With A View” is in my top 50 books and was published in 1908, one year before “The Machine Stops.” In 1910, Forster published “Howard’s End.” This novella, one of a future time and which humanity is generally isolated physically, while being connected via something like the Internet, lives underground after prior generations had contaminated the planet’s upper surface. Forster’s vision of the world in this book is all-too-familiar to those of us in pandemic 2020.
A major theme in this forward-looking work is humanism. Humans become reliant on and then deify The Machine, going so far as to forget that The Machine was created by man and eventually stops because man has forgotten how to tend to it. At its heart, characters like Kuno, who question single-/close-minded worship and who value personal connections, are the heroes.
It was very interesting to read this book not long after H. G. Wells’ “The Time Machine;” some of the themes around colonialism, class, and humanism up here and both books, although in different ways.
Awesome that it's so old, difficult to actually enjoy. Worth reading for historical interest.