THE TIME MACHINE

The time machine has been an icon of popular imagination for decades, but H.G. Wells's original novella inspired them all. This version is worth a listen for two good reasons: Scott Brick's impassioned performance and the clarity of Wells's writing. The author's nightmarish vision of a devolved future 80,000 years hence, delivered over cigars and brandy in a proper British drawing room, charms and fascinates. Naturally, his guests, like proper Brits of the age, hemmed and hawed, and doubted. Although hoary and pretentious, The Time Machine addresses our insatiable need to know what lies in store and our terrible fear that it may be worse than we'd even imagined. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 03/JAN 04]