Scan barcode
msherself's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
slushysands's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mte_english_1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Very good short dystopian story. Relevant, Social Media, Isolation and etc. The story was read and discussed by my English students.
isitcake's review against another edition
4.0
Very memorable novelette on letting technology do too much for us. I can't believe this is from the early 1900s. So the machine is envisioned like machines were back then - everything is "mechanical" with buttons and switches. This book reminds me of so many other movies and books. Where the first generation built the machine and every generation after that has forgotten how the machine works even as they come to rely on it for everything, even worshipping it.
But it's also fascinating about humanity being in isolation. Another reviewer said "alone together" and it's so true. Everyone communicates through screens instead of in person. They live in their hexagonal rooms their entire lives. It's also contemplative about what people do when there's no jobs for them to do. They don't have any original ideas, they fill their days with meaningless "lectures" regurgitating info from past people.
Idk just a crazy book.
But it's also fascinating about humanity being in isolation. Another reviewer said "alone together" and it's so true. Everyone communicates through screens instead of in person. They live in their hexagonal rooms their entire lives. It's also contemplative about what people do when there's no jobs for them to do. They don't have any original ideas, they fill their days with meaningless "lectures" regurgitating info from past people.
Idk just a crazy book.
nebulous_tide's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve read and re-read this short story several times. Of all stories I’ve ever read, this one comes up in conversation the most. I have bought copies for people to read because my copy is always lent out. It is so relevant today, but especially in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the parallels with Forster’s world were uncannily true to life. I’d give this one a bonus star if I could. I urge you to read it - it’s only 48 pages long.
ninethreeo's review against another edition
5.0
I've giving this books 5 stars because the ideas within it have stayed with me since I read it 20+ years ago.
I'd been thinking about it recently and decided to re-read. Reviews have noted its prediction of instant message/internet but the bit that stays with me is the machine's delivery of the physical goods we need to survive and live.
Vashti needs only to press a button to have her food instantly delivered. Music and literature/lectures are delivered instantly.
Although the tech to do this is glossed over/clunky in this novella I'm finding interesting parallels with how things are going. Amazon Prime. Argos 3 hour delivery. Deliveroo. Kindle. iTunes.
Enjoyed re-reading this.
I bought it from iBooks and had it delivered instantly.
I'd been thinking about it recently and decided to re-read. Reviews have noted its prediction of instant message/internet but the bit that stays with me is the machine's delivery of the physical goods we need to survive and live.
Vashti needs only to press a button to have her food instantly delivered. Music and literature/lectures are delivered instantly.
Although the tech to do this is glossed over/clunky in this novella I'm finding interesting parallels with how things are going. Amazon Prime. Argos 3 hour delivery. Deliveroo. Kindle. iTunes.
Enjoyed re-reading this.
I bought it from iBooks and had it delivered instantly.
saintakim's review against another edition
5.0
"Oh, I have no remedy — or, at least, only one — to tell men again and again that I have seen the hills of Wessex as Ælfrid saw them when he overthrew the Danes."
On vit dans une société.
On vit dans une société.
dromwald's review against another edition
4.0
Over a hundred years old now I first read this short story back at school. I didn't realise then how prophetic this work was (It certainly envisioned what we now know as the internet) and whilst some of the predictions from a practical sense might not have come to pass (yet) one can see the dangers in a world where people increasingly live their lives through their phones and tablets and fail to actually experience the beauty around them as they indulge in the sanitized 'selfie' vision of life.