A Scientific Romance: A Novel (original 1997; edition 1999)

Literary science fiction. Time travel, post-apocalyptic. A young man travels to the future to look for a cure for the disease that killed his girlfriend, and is killing him. Boy, is he in for a surprise. Some of it I liked, some of it I didn't, and some of it went right over my head. I can see strong connections between this book and the author's pessimistic non-fiction work, A Short History of Progress. ( )

A mixture of time travel and post-apocalyptic fiction, this journal is written by David Lambert, an archaeologist who finds Wells' actual contraption 100 years after the events related in [The Time Machine]. Mourning his lost love Anita who has recently died at age 32 of BSE (mad cow disease), and himself diagnosed with early stages (they ate the same contaminated food while on various digs), he sets the machine for 500 years hence and takes off, hoping to find science that will allow himself to be cured and save her if he can reverse course to before she was infected. What he finds is retold in a series of letters which are part memoir of their times together and part travelogue of his adventures in 2501.

The story is dense with description and literary allusions, and a familiarity with London, England and Scotland is advised for full appreciation. David and Anita traveled around the UK together, and the time machine is found in, and subsequently arrives in, greater London. David's time in the future parallels much of the traveling they did together, and each new day brings both discoveries and memories, which entwine in the letters. It's tough going occasionally, especially for someone not familiar with the geography, and there were times I wasn't interested in his memories but just in finding out what happened next. Still, it's moving, although emotionally difficult to process, and hanging over all the proceedings is the specter of David's brain deterioration and the effect it may be having on what he is experiencing and writing. ( )

Wow. This was a stunning book. Compelling, emotional, original, and just plausible enough to make you worry (if you're the worrying type). ( )

I bought this book because I love Ronald Wright's writing. When I found out what it was about, my entusiasm waned...but only temporarily. Once I started reading this story of time travel, I was drawn into David Lambert's life.

David Lambert attains access to H.G. Wells' time machine and finds that it actually works. He is living in London in late 1999; he is alone and isolated from both his best friend (Bird) and his former lover (Anita) who has recently died. He has just been diagnosed with an incurable disease, and decides to travel back in time to save Anita and himself.

His isolation is only made worse by his plans as he finds himself 500 years into the future and seeminly the only person left on earth.

The writing is beautiful and every section made me think about isolation vs. community, about all the "things" we accumulate and discard in our lives, about getting what we wish for, but not always how we wanted it, about.....

A great read! ( )

I bought this book because the title immediately put me in mind of the genre of "scientific romances", fantasy works that were precursors of modern science fiction, exemplified by H.G Wells and other Edwardian & late Victorian writers. I was right in this, Wells is a very minor character, but I was still happy that I read it.
The story is a member of that rare club of stories that focus on planet Earth after all the humans have gone away. This theme gives these tales an unmatched power and resonance (everyone _is_ dead after all!). These tales have been termed "empty world" stories, Google for the term and I expect that someone will have provided a list (thus saving me the trouble).
What sets this tale apart, and puts it in the company of the greats is that the character of the narrator does not get submerged, and we still care a lot about him, poor bugger.
This is what fantasy should do. A story that cannot possibly happen (to use Lovecraft's definition), but that still resonates with the reader nevertheless.

Oh yes, and the narrator is an archaeologist, so he is in the future looking at his past as our recent future trying to understand it. Great stuff. ( )