Journal Entry 1 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Saturday, November 20, 2004

Pre-numbered label used for registration.

Well-cared for paperback. Classic pre-Golden Age Sci-Fi, but it's a duplicate, so it has to go.

The Time Machine--In the heart of Victorian England, an inquisitive gentleman known only as the Time Traveler constructs an elaborate invention that hurtles him hundreds of thousands of years into the future. There he finds himself in the violent center of the ultimate conflict between beings of light and creatures of darkness.

The War of the Worlds--Martians invade Great Britain, laying waste turn-of-the-century London. This tale of conquest by superior beings with superadvanced technology is so nightmarishly real that an adaptation by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater sent hundreds of impressionable radio listeners into panicked flight, forty years after the story's original publication. 

Journal Entry 2 by MollyGrue at on Saturday, December 18, 2004

Released on Saturday, December 18, 2004 at about 6:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at RABCK in By post, Sent to another BookCrosser Controlled Releases.

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Sent to Perfect-circle. Happy reading! 

Journal Entry 3 by perfect-circle from Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Monday, January 24, 2005

Arrived today, a lovely surprise. Thank you very much 

Journal Entry 4 by perfect-circle from Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Sunday, July 17, 2005

I've never read The Time Machine before and, tbh, didn't enjoy it all that much. Can't put my finger on why, really, it just didn't sit right for me.

On the other hand, War of the Worlds is a big favourite of mine. I did a personal study of it for my English Lit A-level, alongside Day of the Triffids, looking at apocalyptic fiction and the aftermath for the characters. I find it such a plausible read and despite the fact that it was written over 100 years ago, I don't think it feels out-dated.

Thank you MollyGrue for passing these on to me. 

Journal Entry 5 by perfect-circle at Coffee Traders, Northumberland Place in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Thursday, August 11, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (8/11/2005 UTC) at Coffee Traders, Northumberland Place in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom

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RELEASE NOTES:

To be released either at or after the Newcastle meet tonight. 

Journal Entry 6 by Vroomfondel from Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Thursday, August 11, 2005

Perfect-circle gave me this as 'The War of the Worlds' is on my wishlist. Many thanks! 

Journal Entry 7 by Vroomfondel from Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Monday, April 09, 2007

'The Time Machine':
I didn't this particularly highly. I think it was trying to be some kind of comment on the state of the world, but if it was it didn't come through to me. This is going to be a cop-out comment, but it was just too "wordy"!

'The War of the Worlds':
A much better read. One of the things that made it stand out for me was that it wasn't just about the 'action' - at least half of the words in the book are there to convey feelings. The way that London was laid waste to made me think of what happened to the city during the Second World War, nearly fifty years later.

Updated 11 April: On its way to CaterinaAnna after spotting both of these on her wishlist. 

Journal Entry 8 by Caterinaanna from Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, April 16, 2007

Awaiting me at work today. Looking forward to re-reading both.
Thanks Gothmarcus. 

Journal Entry 9 by Caterinaanna from Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Friday, March 28, 2008

How did I get two months (nearly) behind with my journal entries? I read this at the start of February and so I'm unable to recollect any specifics I wanted to note at the time.

The Time Machine does seem, as Gothmarcus has said, to be a commentary on the state of the world at the time it was written - one that was still valid when Metropolis was filmed years later. It's easy to imagine the Lang's society gradually evolving to the one described by Wells, but I felt the scientist was far to quick to fear the underground dwellers and returned with less sympathy for them, or desire to change the world than would the hero of the same story written by another author (don't ask me to say who - have you seen the time of this JE? in the holidays?). Socially aware, but not enough to want to be active, is my impression of Wells from this story.

The War of the Worlds is, I agree, a much stronger story. The way in which it shows different reactions to the crisis - all ultimately futile - and demonstrates the power of nature in its well-known ending has not dated at all. OK, so we are no longer worried about technologically advanced Martians, but is it ultimately thanks to Wells that plenty of precautions will be taken before any Martian soil samples are sent plummeting back to Earth? 

Journal Entry 10 by Caterinaanna at Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, June 09, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (6/9/2008 UTC) at Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

BCUK NSSSSS
Hoping to deliver by hand this evening. 

Journal Entry 11 by safrolistics from Newbiggin-By-The-Sea, Northumberland United Kingdom on Sunday, June 22, 2008