Reviews

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

trin's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 Insanely prescient dystopian sci-fi by E.M. Forster of all people. He predicts, eerily: email, FaceTime/Zoom, and pretty much internet culture as a whole. How bleak they all seem to him is actually much more frightening than the actual apocalypse the story eventually devolves into. 

crystalstarrlight's review against another edition

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4.0

Bullet Review:

+ Was this written yesterday?!

+ Brilliant. Stunning.

+ Forster utilizes science fiction in a masterful manner, effortlessly painting the picture of the rooms, the arduous flight to visit Kuno, the inanity of life of repeating ideas.

+ Is this review just a repeating of another's ideas? How much of modern society is just second, third, fourth hand repetitions of someone else's brilliant ideas?

+ Will this happen when our modern machine stops? When we can no longer plug in to the internet to sequester ourselves in our cubicles?

+ Go out and look at Orion before we need a respirator.

gerbenletzer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

glittery_witch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

fatimasiddiqui's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

A very well-crafted sci-fi novella that poses a lot of interesting 'ideas' to consider. 

psychogen's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No

3.5

offworldcolony's review against another edition

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4.0

A frightening look forwards to our near future.

queerditchmarsh's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Incredibly prescient story considering when it was written! People have pointed out many of the similarities between this world and our own present but the one that sticks out to me a lot is the annoyance at having one's time "wasted" by communication not focussed on one's job. Any human connection is met with an annoyed attitude and "make it quick, I don't have time for this" as if the Machine and one's content output is more important than even family.

pkamara's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

joillian's review against another edition

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mysterious

5.0