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A Scientific Romance [Import] [Paperback]

Ronald Wright (Author)

3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews) |

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Product Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Vintage Canada (1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0676971075
ISBN-13: 978-0676971071
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces

Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,768,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TRUE Scientific Romance..., December 2, 2005

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: A Scientific Romance: A Novel (Paperback)

David Lambert, museum curator and lonely man, finds out that H.G. Wells's novel about a Time Machine was based on a real machine. He finds the machine and throws himself 500 years into the future. Why? Well, he has his reasons.
What does he find? Mostly he seems to find pieces of his own past as he explores the ruins of mankind's future. Yes, ruins. Something went wrong, very wrong. And now David tries to find out what went wrong as at the same time he tries to find answers to his own ruined life.
For a first time novel this is a GREAT first. I hope to see more novels from this author.

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine science fiction with an ecological twist, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Scientific Romance (Hardcover)

If I was being uncharitable I would label this book "science fiction". Like HG Wells, however, the author effortlessly transcends the boundaries of genre. This is a book about humankind, *now*, and about how we are on the verge of sending our world spiralling into ecological destruction. It is also a moving love story, an ironic elegy for the human race, a brilliant adventure yarn and a rigorous and thoughtful read. I have re-read it several times: every time I return to it I get out of it something fresh and new. The closing quotation from Tennyson embodies the sweetly elegiac tone of the book:

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall,/ The vapours weep their burthen to the ground,/ Man comes and tills the fields and lies beneath,/ And after many a summer dies the swan./ Me only cruel immortality / Consumes: I wither slowly in thine arms,/ Here at the quiet limit of the world.

Highly recommended for all eco-warriors, romantics and lovers of excellent modern literature!!

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exquisite time travel romance for readers of all genres..., August 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Scientific Romance: A Novel (Paperback)

I stumbled on this small masterpiece quite by accident & found it to be a rare find. It is truly a romance per both definitions proffered by the amazon review. The author is masterful in drawing the reader into the book. I felt as if I had travelled in time myself & felt vague unrest when i washed up "back" in the 20th century. I hope the author will loose his time machine again(soon). If you're looking for the usual time travel clap-trap look elsewhere... marvelous meditions on humankind & the milk of human kindness... imagine my surprise when I read that a group was mass distibuting a "jesus video" in which all the actors were native people except for a caucasian actor playing the lead... life imitates art once again... it's all in this wonderful book...highly reommended.

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› See all 26 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A great setup, and some good wordplay, but ultimately goes nowhere
Time travel with the original, H.G. Wells, time machine. A future London depopulated. Industrial archeology. An incurable disease. Read more

Published on February 12, 2009 by Michael A. Duvernois

2.0 out of 5 stars Starts Well; Goes Nowhere
The Wells time machine premise is great. The archaeological theme is handled well. The first 125 pages or so are pretty absorbing. Then it takes a dive. Read more

Published on April 29, 2008 by J. Daugherty

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book by its title
Silly title, absorbing novel. I was disappointed by the ending - it was unmemorable, which is why I don't now recall what it was - but I was impressed with the structure of the... Read more

Published on December 12, 2007 by P. Wesley Smith

2.0 out of 5 stars Sloppy Plot Devices
This is an interesting concept novel used to drive home a point about technology and scientific hubris run rampant that eventually chokes our planet and all but destroys the human... Read more

Published on November 15, 2003 by C. Baker

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Concept, Boring Writing
First the concept - A man with an uncurable disease, discovers a time machine created by an associate of H.G. Wells. Read more

Published on December 2, 2002 by Michael A. Newman

4.0 out of 5 stars a good premise, a good book, could have been even tighter
I certainly wish Wright would write some more novels. He's mostly a travel writer, but has proven with this release that he's capable of a lot. Read more

Published on April 2, 2001 by David Myers

2.0 out of 5 stars "Scientific Romance" has little of either.
Truly a fascinating premise...I've always wanted a time machine of my own, but the protagonist wastes his opportunity. So does the author. Read more

Published on June 6, 2000 by V. Mike Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars a real page turner
This is an enthralling read, beautifully written, and the story has stayed with me since I read it last year. Read more

Published on April 24, 2000

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh
Although the premise is interesting, Wright did not do justice to his own idea. The story is slow-moving and totally unbelievable. Read more

Published on April 9, 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars An imitation of H.G.Wells
Although I describe this book as an imitation of Wells, I liked the story. The visual image of a London turned into a jungle alone made the book worth reading. Read more

Published on April 2, 2000

› See all 26 customer reviews...

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Dear Bird: A message in a bottle. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Canary Wharf, Lady Macbeth, Uncle Phil, Great Glen, King Canute, Loch Ness, Canvey Island, Isle of Dogs, Christmas Eve, David Lambert, Midnapore Mews, Glen Nessie, Tatiana Cherenkova, Easter Island, Great Hall, Miss Frank, British Museum, Castle Nessie, Iron Age, Urquhart Bay, Yukon Thaw, Brompton Road, Cassel Reekie, Daily Trumpet, East End

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 65 books:

The Time Machine / The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells on page 19, and page 86
Invisible Man, The (scholastic Classics) by H.G. Wells on page 55, and Back Matter
Invisible Man by H G Wells on page 55, and Back Matter
The Invisible Man (Tor Classics) by H. G. Wells on page 55, and Back Matter
The Invisible Man (Scholastic Classics) by H. G. Wells in Back Matter

See all 65 books this book cites

11 books cite this book:

A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright on 4 pages
Stolen Continents: 500 Years of Conquest and Resistance in the Americas by Ronald Wright in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Deluge (Early Classics of Science Fiction) by Sydney Fowler Wright in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman on page 103
On Modern British Fiction by Zachary Leader on page 231

See all 11 books citing this book

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