Scan barcode
A review by rbruehlman
The Machine Stops, The Celestial Omnibus, and Other Stories by E.M. Forster
3.0
So I am going to put my biases here upfront to put my review in context: I do not like E.M. Forster, have never liked E.M. Forster, and probably will never like E.M. Forster. He's just not my jam.
I picked up this book specifically because I wanted to read "The Machine Stops", at my manager's suggestion after a discussion about dystopian stories. The other stories in this collection... well... I read them, because they were there.
Thoughts on "The Machine Stops" ... it was okay? It was pleasantly weird reading a futuristic dystopian short story from an author who normally writes about insufferable upper-class British people. This story was pitched to me after I complained about how much I dislike the Metaverse and compared it to the sad interactive TVs of Fahrenheit 451. He noted the people in this story interact solely via what sounds quite a bit like Zoom.
The people in this short story live tiny, isolated, self-absorbed lives, where technology has obviated any need to interact with one another or with their environment. For as obsessed as this society is with "ideas", the inhabitants of this society seem empty, selfish, and lacking in curiosity. I would describe it as a commentary on what you give up more generally when you rely too heavily on machines and have instant gratification. People have forgotten how to enjoy nature and to be curious about the world around them, because they can get instant gratification at their fingertips, without doing a thing.
I felt frustrated by this story, though, and I think it might be be because I read it expecting a commentary on technology's ability to socially isolate, when in fact it was more of a commentary on overreliance on technology. Consequently, I was hoping he would explore the resulting shallow social ties or loneliness. Instead, he instead focused on people's lack of curiosity and low tolerance for inconveniences. I guess I just didn't relate to that as much? Excessive hedonism isn't really something I worry about too much.
I think I struggled a little fully engaging with the story because some of what made it dystopian didn't feel terribly realistic. For instance, I can't imagine in what world people would opt for perpetual night over perpetual day-time. There were other small instances like that where I felt like I had to suspend belief, but couldn't actually see it happening, no matter how advanced technology gets. The best dystopian stories are ones where you can be like, "yep, I can totally see that happening, and that's really scary."
As for the other stories: I really liked "The Celestial Omnibus". It reminded me of the magic of childhood. The other stories ranged from just okay ("The Other Side of the Hedge", "The Road From Colonus", and "The Curate's Friend") to eyeroll ("The Story of Panic") to pure drudgery I was desperately counting the pages to finish ("Other Kingdom").
This particular book had the strangest editing of any book I've ever read. Many back-and-forth dialogues were not spaced apart; one, two, or four dashes were used for interjections; presumably italicized words were instead flanked by underscores. It was really weird! I wouldn't recommend buying this particular book from this publisher.
I picked up this book specifically because I wanted to read "The Machine Stops", at my manager's suggestion after a discussion about dystopian stories. The other stories in this collection... well... I read them, because they were there.
Thoughts on "The Machine Stops" ... it was okay? It was pleasantly weird reading a futuristic dystopian short story from an author who normally writes about insufferable upper-class British people. This story was pitched to me after I complained about how much I dislike the Metaverse and compared it to the sad interactive TVs of Fahrenheit 451. He noted the people in this story interact solely via what sounds quite a bit like Zoom.
The people in this short story live tiny, isolated, self-absorbed lives, where technology has obviated any need to interact with one another or with their environment. For as obsessed as this society is with "ideas", the inhabitants of this society seem empty, selfish, and lacking in curiosity. I would describe it as a commentary on what you give up more generally when you rely too heavily on machines and have instant gratification. People have forgotten how to enjoy nature and to be curious about the world around them, because they can get instant gratification at their fingertips, without doing a thing.
I felt frustrated by this story, though, and I think it might be be because I read it expecting a commentary on technology's ability to socially isolate, when in fact it was more of a commentary on overreliance on technology. Consequently, I was hoping he would explore the resulting shallow social ties or loneliness. Instead, he instead focused on people's lack of curiosity and low tolerance for inconveniences. I guess I just didn't relate to that as much? Excessive hedonism isn't really something I worry about too much.
I think I struggled a little fully engaging with the story because some of what made it dystopian didn't feel terribly realistic. For instance, I can't imagine in what world people would opt for perpetual night over perpetual day-time. There were other small instances like that where I felt like I had to suspend belief, but couldn't actually see it happening, no matter how advanced technology gets. The best dystopian stories are ones where you can be like, "yep, I can totally see that happening, and that's really scary."
As for the other stories: I really liked "The Celestial Omnibus". It reminded me of the magic of childhood. The other stories ranged from just okay ("The Other Side of the Hedge", "The Road From Colonus", and "The Curate's Friend") to eyeroll ("The Story of Panic") to pure drudgery I was desperately counting the pages to finish ("Other Kingdom").
This particular book had the strangest editing of any book I've ever read. Many back-and-forth dialogues were not spaced apart; one, two, or four dashes were used for interjections; presumably italicized words were instead flanked by underscores. It was really weird! I wouldn't recommend buying this particular book from this publisher.