The Time Machine book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Chapters 1 to 6

1. What would persuade you to take the Time Traveller's claims seriously?
2. How much should witnessing the model vanish settle the guests' doubts?
3. Is agreeing to hear the battered host without interruptions a fair way to judge his account?
4. What expectations do the hail, strange monument, and graceful inhabitants create about the future?
5. Is the Time Traveller fair to feel disappointed by his hosts' limited curiosity?

Meeting 2: Chapters 7 to 10

6. What might make patient observation more useful than desperate searching when the machine disappears?
7. How should panic affect our trust in the Time Traveller's reading of the clues?
8. What can friendship after a rescue reveal that observation alone might miss?
9. How cautiously should the Time Traveller treat his theory of class division?
10. Is the chance of recovering the machine worth descending underground with only matches for protection?

Meeting 3: Chapter 11 to Epilogue

11. What does finding survival supplies in abandoned galleries suggest about the value of things left behind?
12. Does entering the open chamber seem more like courage or desperation?
13. How does the vision of a dying earth change the meaning of the earlier worries about human decline?
14. How much should the unexplained landing position matter beside the signs that the Time Traveller has reached home?
15. How should evidence of another journey affect the guests' doubts about the first account?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.