HG Wells – Cannonball Read 17

Life is always happening and has happened and will happen

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan

June 12, 2025 by LittlePlat 1 Comment

One of Chekhov’s earliest stories was a parody of mental arithmetic questions asked of schoolchildren, of which Chekhov’s question 7 is typical: Wednesday, June 17, 1881, a train had to leave station A at 3am in order to reach station B at 11pm; just as the train was about to depart, however, an order came that the train had to reach station B by 7pm. Who loves longer, a man or a woman? Who? You, me, a Hiroshima resident or a slave labourer? And why […]

For a moment she stood gaping at him, too surprised to speak.

The Invisible Man by HG Wells

October 14, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

This is another of the classic HG Wells science fiction stories from the 1890s, the others being The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Time Machine, and The War of the Worlds. He would go onto much more different kinds of novels later. We begin in a country inn where a mysterious guest has shown up with luggage full of strange bottles and books, and the guest himself is dressed from head to foot in mysterious wrappings like a mummy. Immediately the object of curiosity, it’s brought to a […]

The last vestige of human taint had vanished.

The Island of Doctor Moreau by HG Wells

January 25, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

So I don’t think I can honestly give this book a fair shake. For one thing, it’s too famous, too goofy, and too parodied. I voraciously watched the 1996 movie version that had Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer and David Thewlis in it. I’ve even seen the 1970s version with Michael York and Burt Lancaster. And of course, there’s the famous South Park parody of it, that I swear I will never wipe my brain of. So the book is actually quite short and kind […]

It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning

The Time Machine by HG Wells

January 21, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Yet another book that feels like I have read it before, maybe multiple times, because of how familiar the material, the plot, the theme, and the language in this books are. I’ve read a handful of Wells’s books in the past– namely The War of the Worlds. And so I really felt like I had read this one. And if I have, it’s likely that I read the Great Illustrated Classics edition. You know the ones, right? Anyway, what I didn’t realize about this book […]

No False Promises of Hoverboards in this Future

January 26, 2016 by HasenKlub Leave a Comment

The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, was published 121 years ago in 1895. And yet, ingress77 and I somehow managed to completely coincidentally read it the exact same time. I only mention this, because 1) I found this amusing, and 2) to get in front of any juicy Cannonball scandal. I specifically did not read the other review, so any similarities are purely due to ingress77 traveling forward in time by a few weeks and plagiarizing my review (in what was really one of the […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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