The earth's surface is no longer habitable. All humanity is sequestered beneath the ground, couched in isolation and contentment. The Machine provides the needs of humanity. Mankind becomes subservient drones to the life-supporting Machine. But what happens when the Machine stops? This story was voted one of the best novellas up to 1965. In 1973 it was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two.
Average Rating: (From 4 Reviews):
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excellent
From Natasha Covich of bellbird park, Australia on .
excellent yet again.
Brilliant
From Sarr1e3 of Hitchin, United Kingdom on .
An excellent narrated E M Forster short story.
Highly recommended
Excellent
From W Lorien of Clare, Ireland on .
A brilliantly read story as always. The concept of a technology manipulated Utopia/Dystopia over-shadows our modern experiences remarkably and to think that this was written in the early 1900's! I would highly recommend this short story.
Dystopian
From Anonymous of LA County, California on .
This is not what I expected from an E.M. Forster piece, but I was very positively impressed. The short story is dystopian, but in the light of today's world where Twitter and Snapchat are replacing real face-to-face human interaction, where technology is the new religion, and where the atmosphere is getting more and more polluted, it rings alarmingly prophetic. There is no "good ending" either. But I would strongly recommend the story. It makes you think.
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