767 reviews for:

The Machine Stops

E.M. Forster

4.01 AVERAGE

challenging dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense

Genuinely quite unsettling, and I think it has a very useful message-- especially for our current society. Only loses points because it was,,, quite heavy handed. I would have appreciated a bit more subtlety. Very readable, though!

111 years old and still relevant to our current day technological dependencies and pandemic-induced isolation. The writing itself is nothing special but for Forster to more or less predict the future ensures that this one is worth reading. While the ending wasn't entirely what I expected, it definitely is what I wanted.
dark mysterious tense
mysterious reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
challenging mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
reflective fast-paced
fast-paced
adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Brilliant short story, unbelievably from 1909 but still basically is the Matrix. I've read other Forster but never science fiction before, not sure if he wrote more in this genre. He manages to predict the internet, AI, screens, zoom calls, TED talks, list goes on, and weaves a horrifying future where humans live in tiny honeycombs with every need seen to by The Machine.