Synchromysticism

" Synchromysticism:
The art of realizing meaningful coincidence in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance."

- Jake Kotze

January 21, 2024

H. G. Wells and The Time Machine?πŸ•š⏰πŸ•›

To me
"time travel" is nothing but an interesting thought experiment, which makes for a good (or bad) time at the cinema or in the living room, but as a reality I feel is impossible to achieve.
October 21 is Back to the Future Day ... If You Can Travel Back to 2015 That is?⏰
Having just read H. G. Wells' book 'The Time Machine' ... or listened to it being read to me on a free audio recording ... because it is one of the 1001 books I must read before I die, according to one of the books I'm currently reading, I watched the 2002 movie of the same name, which was directed by Wells' great grandson Simon Wellsthinking it would be a faithful adaption of the book ... but it wasn't. 
I think I came to the conclusion that the film would be faithful to the book because the 2002 movie poster was used by the audio book recording on the Apple Podcast series I listened to.
The Time Machine (2002 film)
While I didn't mind the 2002 movie as a good popcorn movie, it probably deserves its 28% Rotten Tomatoes splat rating. 
Luckily, I only paid $1 for the DVD from an Op shop, so it's not like I paid to see the movie at a cinema, otherwise I might not have enjoyed it so much.
I must say that it was interesting reading the 1895 novel and watching the 2002 movie from a 2024 perspective.
And I even found some rather good podcasts by searching for podcast episodes of Wells' novel 'The Time Machine', such as the 'Novel Conversations' podcast and 'The Ralston College Podcast'.
Novel Conversations
Evergreen
Podcasts
The 'Novel Conversations' podcast even had a podcast episode about 'Jude the Obscure' the last book I read/listened to before reading Wells' book -
Jude the Obscure: The Last Book of Thomas Hardy's I Must Read Before I Die?⛪πŸ’ŒπŸ“š
Novel Conversations 
Evergreen Podcasts
And oddly enough, the latest 
'Novel Conversations' podcast episode is also about a Wells' book, 'The Invisible Man', which I haven't read.
Ep. 25 - Theodore Dalrymple on
H. G. Wells's 'The Time Machine'
Listening to 'The Ralston College Podcast' episode above about 
H. G. Wells, he sounds like the polar opposite to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in many ways-
1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories & The Best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?πŸ“šπŸ”
The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and His Beliefs?πŸ”
I haven't seen the 1960 movie 'The Time Machine' yet, but it does look like it might be a more faithful adaption of the book than the 2002 movie from the clips that I have seen of it.
And in the 2002 movie version, was that a shout out to Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' when Alex goes to the year 2037 and sees the moon fall apart?-)
Even when the time machine lands in the year 802701, it is on July 16th, which is either a shout out to the date the Apollo 11 took off from the Earth to the Moon, or Kubrick's last film 'Eyes Wide Shut', which was released on that date in 1999 ... or both?-)
The Apollo 11 jumper in 'The Shining'
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
At least having now read 'The Time Machine' I now know where the idea for the BBC TV series 'Dr. Who' came from ... not that I'm a fan.
"Doctor Who first appeared on the BBC Television Service at 17:16:20 GMT on 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of announcements concerning the previous day's assassination of John F. Kennedy."
Wow, talk about timing?!
I noticed that my local council library had a display case full of 
'Dr. Who' memorabilia around Christmas time, on my last visit to take my PKD novel back, so I guess Sci-Fi is pretty popular right now with library patrons -
Listening Instructional Educational Services or LIES Inc.?πŸ’»πŸ€
Making a case for Dr. Who at my local library?-)
Human Is ... Science Fiction?πŸ¦ πŸ”¬
Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy
While I can't say that I'm much of a Sci-fi fan as far as reading books goes, I don't mind a good Sci-fi movie or TV show ... 'Dr. Who' not being one of them for me though. 
I have been watching a "Sci-Phi" show on 'The Great Courses' streaming service, which is a series of lectures by a bit of a Dick (or should that be a Johnson?-) named David Kyle Johnson, who starts each show off with a Dr. Who like intro.
I've only watched about 5 lectures so far, but he strikes me as a bit of a Dickhead;-)
And one thing that disappointed me while watching the 2002 movie version of Wells' book was no giant crabs:-(

UPDATE: January 22, 2024
I was searching for Apple podcasts about H.G.Welles before going to sleep last night and found these two recent Australian radio show podcasts:-)
I had a chance to see Richard do a book talk last year in my hometown, but not having read any of his books, I was not familiar with his work, so didn't go.
If only I had a time machine, right?-)

No comments:

Post a Comment