You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
janwe 's review for:
The Machine Stops
by E.M. Forster
"The Machine Stops" - 5 stars
"The Celestial Omnibus" 4 stars
"The Machine Stops" is a science-fiction/ dystopian short story about people living in beehive-like rooms beneath the surface. The people no longer communicate face-to-face with each other, only through technology, which reminds of internet. The people also move mainly in moving chairs, because their physical abilities are impaired, as they are no longer needed within society, which reminded me immediately of the people on the space-ship in Disney’s “Wall-E”. However, don’t get me wrong, this story deals with serious topics. It questions (like most dystopian stories) free will, narration of truth, individuality, societal structures … etc.
"The Celestial Omnibus" is a surreal dream-like gothic short story. Through an alley “To Heaven”, a boy is transported in some kind of alternate reality, or a dream world (reminded me a bit of Alice in Wonderland – only for grown-ups). In this dream world he meets personalities of literature and important `free thinkers`. I thought this story was really interesting, however I need to reread it, in order to fully understand it. What I enjoyed the most about the surreal short story, was the way literature is represented. The boy seems to literally experiences the written words (i.e. the metaphorical language that is been used in the original literature). After the boy, his father also goes to the allay - however he is not so lucky as his son. The ending was a bit of a shock for me. I guess the fact that the boy survives the ride stands for the innocence of childhood. As a child, he is able to literally enjoy the metaphorical language in their magic without understanding its true meaning. Therefore, the boy, unlike his father, is able toexperience and enjoy the magic of the "To Heaven"-Allay. The title of the alley "to Heaven" also refelcts this notion of innocence, as a boy his age might not understand the concept of death, which is conveyed in "Heaven", whereas his father as a grown-up is fully aware of the fact that going "to Heaven", means to die.
"The Celestial Omnibus" 4 stars
"The Machine Stops" is a science-fiction/ dystopian short story about people living in beehive-like rooms beneath the surface. The people no longer communicate face-to-face with each other, only through technology, which reminds of internet. The people also move mainly in moving chairs, because their physical abilities are impaired, as they are no longer needed within society, which reminded me immediately of the people on the space-ship in Disney’s “Wall-E”. However, don’t get me wrong, this story deals with serious topics. It questions (like most dystopian stories) free will, narration of truth, individuality, societal structures … etc.
"The Celestial Omnibus" is a surreal dream-like gothic short story. Through an alley “To Heaven”, a boy is transported in some kind of alternate reality, or a dream world (reminded me a bit of Alice in Wonderland – only for grown-ups). In this dream world he meets personalities of literature and important `free thinkers`. I thought this story was really interesting, however I need to reread it, in order to fully understand it. What I enjoyed the most about the surreal short story, was the way literature is represented. The boy seems to literally experiences the written words (i.e. the metaphorical language that is been used in the original literature). After the boy, his father also goes to the allay - however he is not so lucky as his son. The ending was a bit of a shock for me. I guess the fact that the boy survives the ride stands for the innocence of childhood. As a child, he is able to literally enjoy the metaphorical language in their magic without understanding its true meaning. Therefore, the boy, unlike his father, is able toexperience and enjoy the magic of the "To Heaven"-Allay. The title of the alley "to Heaven" also refelcts this notion of innocence, as a boy his age might not understand the concept of death, which is conveyed in "Heaven", whereas his father as a grown-up is fully aware of the fact that going "to Heaven", means to die.