MovieChat Forums > The Time Machine (1960) Discussion > 'Which Three Books?' - No Qualifications

'Which Three Books?' - No Qualifications

posted 15 years ago by Poisoned_Dragon1964
140 replies | jump to latest

The two extant threads on this board arrogantly shut off discussion, forbidding "Bible bashing," and questions/criticism of others' (possibly lame) choices. Here, discussion and criticism are welcome.

My choices? Well, it sure as hell wouldn't be a Bible or any other religious text. Religion's track record leaves much to be desired, and if there's not any religion to be found among the Eloi and the Morlocks, then it's evidently something the designers of the "perfect world" felt it was better without.

I'm not sure I could make a choice from what we've got. The books available in our time have not solved our problems. I would like to broaden the choice. Before choosing three books, I would prefer to look in what Wells refers to as "the Golden Age," the time during which all the problems had been solved, prior to the decay of the great Quiet. Perhaps there's better books later than our time. Having a Time Machine would make that possible.

§« The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. »§

[–] zooeyhall 9 years ago

1)A general book on ethics and philosophy.

2) A book on history, showing the general story of mankind.

3) A good overall general book on science. If you have the correct ideas, you can figure out how to build things without detailed plans.

[–] Poisoned_Dragon1964 9 years ago

Good choices.

§« https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhG6uc7fN0o »§

[–] appealing_talent 9 years ago

"1)A general book on ethics and philosophy.

2) A book on history, showing the general story of mankind.

3) A good overall general book on science. If you have the correct ideas, you can figure out how to build things without detailed plans."

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I can't believe it took over 10 pages of comments for someone to finally to come up some useful tomes and viable reasons for choosing them. Bravo Zooeyhall...! The Eloi were simply bred for the Morlocks to eat and after the Morlocks are destroyed the Eloi must have a chance to flourish and evolve in order for civilization to continue. Under the circumstances, books that stimulate the imagination and give the Eloi incentive to learn, create - as well as take care of themselves - would be necessary and the types you listed would certainly serve those purposes.

[–] zooeyhall 9 years ago

Thank you for the compliment! I, too, shake my head at some of the demented comments on this thread. I strongly suspect that many of them are adolescents (and adults who never managed to get past adolescence).

To elaborate on some of the reasons for my choices:

1) A good overall book on human ethics and philosophy would help the Eloi to understand the nature of mankind, and mankind's efforts to understand their place in the Universe and their reasons for being here. And despite the religion bashing so prevalent on this board, the fact is that the great religions have contributed IN A POSITIVE WAY to the overall moral development of Humanity.

2) A book on the history of mankind. Not one that goes into details about what King Glotz did to King Gloop. But one that tells the story of man from his pre-historic origins to the global civilization that exists today.

3) A book on science and mathematics. Ideally one that devotes itself to explaining the general physical laws that govern nature and the universe. Mathematics would be the language the Eloi would use to extrapolate and develop from the knowledge of those basic laws. With these two powerful tools, the Eloi could develop their own technology. Think about it---if you know about electricity and binary mathematics, you can build a computer.

In response to Philby's question as to "which three books to rebuild a civilization", these would be my answer(s).

Having said WHAT 3 books would be best, I am wondering what actual TITLES might be good candidates?

[–] appealing_talent 9 years ago

Yes, I understand why you qualify the books and your explanations are quite sound. The best authors and titles, of such volumes, would be worth researching. Also, lest we forget, since the Morlocks previously fed the Eloi, after those cannibals are annihilated some sort of knowledge of how the Eloi should plant and harvest crops for food would have to be obtained, too... Maybe the ethics/philosophy can be learned and practiced by some other means than reading about such and a practical Farmer's almanac could substitute for your first book choice. Although I must confess The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu immediately popped into to my mind when I read that description. 😇

[–] steely3000 9 years ago

I agree with you about the philosophy/ethics book George might choose (if he does). We have to consider what books George has in his library, and what he would want to take with him. Yeah the Tao would be good, or Nietzsche, but would he have these? He'd have the Bible no doubt, but would he really take that? It seems George would be astute enough to teach the Eloi about ethics without the aid of a book, and to encourage the Eloi to think for themselves.

And I do think a book that covers health and medical procedures (not sure what book that would be) would be brought, if the subject isn't included elsewhere.

[–] calastir 9 years ago

My choices are practical so the Eloi won't have to take centuries to rediscover these facts.
- A book on Chemistry
- A book on Math & Physics
- A book on Biology & Medicine

As for the rest, I say let them start with a clean slate.

[–] Bavarian 9 years ago

A book about gardening / agriculture.

Cooking / preserving food for the winter.

A one-volume general encyclopedia, like Meyers Universal-Lexikon or Bertelsmann Volkslexikon in Germany with the basic knowledge about history, ethics, religions, philosophy, medicine, first aid, nature, physics, math, chemistry, hunting, metallurgy, minerals, ore.

P.S.: A Bible would be extremely stupid, just like a Quran.

[–] steely3000 9 years ago

This list is very good. I agree about the Bible, George would not bring a Bible. He saw what happened to civilization in 1966, he went through 3 wars (not including with the Morlocks). He would want the Eloi to start on their own, with their own views about how to live life and about God etc.

We have to remember George was an inventor, and his books were pre-1900. Filby mentioned that George would have a plan for the Eloi; plus he only had a minute to think about it, which leads me to believe the 3 books were books he went to often, or knew exactly where they would be located in his shelf.

I think he would bring a book about agriculture and cultivation. I'm hoping that same book would get into cooking and preserving, and not need to be two separate books.

I think he would bring a book about medicine, health, etc, as you said. I would hope a 1900 book would discuss germs, sterilization, etc. and would also go into philosophy and math as you said. A good all-around book; the Lexicon you mentioned I believe had like 16 books and George couldn't take them all (unless he wanted to start with his favorite and come back later, which of course he could).

The third book might be something like Robert's Rules of Order or some other parliamentary procedure book, where the Eloi can set up a government with a person in charge and with voting and all that neat stuff. Another idea might be More's Utopia as someone else mentioned. Anyway it would be some book where the Eloi can create a government on their own.