“The Machine Stops” is about
Ah, you know what? No. I’m not going to say anything. Sorry, this isn’t a review. I can’t talk about any aspect of it without giving it away. Just go read it. Now.
Still here, eh? You didn’t listen to me. Well, that’s okay. I have a rebellious streak too. Fine, I’ll give you two pieces of information about this story: One, it was written in 1909. Two, it can be read in about half an hour.
The rest is for you to discover. And believe me, it’s worth discovering. Go read it. Here, it’s online at Wikisource, by a stroke of convenience the irony of which you can’t fully appreciate until you finish it.
If you want, feel free to come back here and talk about it once you’re done, if you like. Or maybe you’ll prefer to go for a nice long walk outside instead. 🙂