In 1990, 10-year-old Aubrey Adderley’s mother takes Aubrey to an autograph signing by Hollywood Legend Gene Kelly. She is slightly surprised by his reaction to her, but puts it out of her mind. As she grows up however, she becomes an adoring fan of Mr Kelly.
In 2006, while housesitting for the parents of a friend, she discovers a time machine in the father’s office. With the help of the machine and her best friend Rusty, Aubrey travels back and meets Gene at three very different times in his life. She starts to fall for the man behind the movie legend she has always adored, but Aubrey belongs in 2006. Can two people from different times ever find happiness together?
I’m in two minds about this book. There were both good and bad parts; the main good point being that the author is clearly a big fan of Gene Kelly and her passion for her subject comes through well (as I am also a big fan of Gene, I can fully appreciate this).
However, it sometimes reads as though the story is author’s own daydreams about a favourite film star, and that the time-travel element has been thrown in as a plot device to allow her to meet him. Although fantasy fiction always requires the reader to suspend their disbelief, I found it hard to do here. (It seemed that most of the characters who knew about the time-traveling accepted it with little difficulty – and also worked out how the machine worked, with relative ease.)
Aubrey herself was actually a very likeable main character, feisty, impulsive, loyal and sweet, and she was well described. I also liked Rusty, and of course Gene himself, who is portrayed as the kind, honest and funny man which I like to think that he was in real life.
There were a couple of elements which jarred slightly. The main problem was more to do with editing than the story itself. I don’t mind the odd spelling mistake in a book, but there were quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes here (and at one point Aubrey puts a skirt on, only to raise her pant leg a short time later, in the same scene). It shouldn’t reduce anyone’s enjoyment of the story however. My main objection to the story though (and there are spoilers here, so you may not wish to read on if you’re thinking of reading this book), is that I found it slightly disrespectful to Gene’s extremely happy marriage. A fair proportion of the story takes place in 1957, which was after the amicable ending of Gene’s marriage to Betsy Blair, and prior to his extremely happy marriage to Jeanne Coyne – which was cut tragically short by Coyne’s death at the age of 50. Although I am certain that this was not the author’s intention, the book kind of gives the impression that throughout his marriage to Coyne, at least part of Gene’s heart lay with Aubrey, and this made me slightly uncomfortable.
Overall however, this was a fairly enjoyable book, and worth reading if you’re a Gene Kelly fan (I kept hearing his voice in my head whenever his character spoke). It’s flawed, but enjoyable, and if Charlotte Sadler writes any more books, I would be tempted to pick them up.
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‘The Time Machine’ by H.G. Wells
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged classic, future, mankind, sci-fi, social commentary, time travel on September 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »
This is a very short book (91 pages) which I read in one sitting, and which is perfect for a lazy afternoon (which was when I read it). The book tells the story of a man, who is always referred to simply as The Time Traveler, who invents a time machine, which takes him to the year 802,701. There, he finds that the human race has evolved into two species’ – the Eloi and the Morlocks. On the face of it, the Eloi seem to live a wonderful existence, filled with pleasure. However, the time traveler discovers that, as they want for nothing, and therefore have nothing to strive for, the Eloi have also seemingly lost the ability for intelligent thought. (Without goals, there is no need for strategy and forethought). However, there is a darker reality lurking underneath the surface (both literally and figuratively), in the Morlocks – a species who only come out in the darkness, and who inspire fear in the Eloi.
To say more would be to give away too much of the plot, although it is at this point that the story really began to take root. Suffice to say that I ended up feeling more sympathy with the Morlocks than the Eloi; I have no idea if that is what the author originally intended.
However, I do believe that this book may have revealed Well’s fears for the future; if the upper classes never have to do anything for themselves, they will not be able to look after themselves, and therefore must rely on the lower classes to provide everything they need.But in return, they must give something back to the providers…as demonstrated in quite a clear fashion in this story.
It’s hard to describe how I felt about this book. It is of course a classic, and with good reason. Yet, I found it very difficult to engage with any of the characters. However, I did enjoy it and would definitely recommend it to others. It is one that I have kept, and will almost certainly reread at some point in the future, as I think it could well be a book that becomes more enjoyable with each reading. It definitely made me consider reading more books by the same author. It’s certainly clear that Wells had a vivid and intelligent imagination.
(For more information about the author, please click here.)
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