The Machine Stops - Softcover

Forster, E M

Softcover

ISBN 10: 168422098X ISBN 13: 9781684220984

Publisher: Martino Fine Books, 2017

Synopsis

2017 Reprint of 1909 Edition.  The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel is permitted, but is unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine with which people conduct their only activity: the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge.  It is intended as a chilling reminder of the possible consequences on over reliance on machines and the changes to human capacity and character that could result from this over dependence.  Consider a classic of the science fiction genre and a prescient warning about our reliance on machine technology.

About this title

About the Author

Edward Morgan Forster, OM (January 1, 1879 – June 7, 1970), was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. Forster's humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect." Forster was gay, but this fact was not made public during his lifetime. His posthumously released novel Maurice tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.

Edition details

• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 168422098X
• ISBN 13: 9781684220984
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 34