The Invisible Man
By H.G. Wells
★★★☆
A young scientist finds a way to make himself invisible, but his success leaves him outcast from society. The Invisible Man is the story of a person who loses his humanity while pursuing an illusive scientific experiment.
This famous book is really more of a cautionary tale than a scary story. The main character, Griffin, is not a likeable guy. He’s rude and often cruel. Every choice he makes is driven by his underlying desire to further his own goals and his selfishness leaves him oblivious to the wellbeing of others.
The narrative itself is a bit stiff, but that’s to be expected in most Victorian literature. We see the outside world’s view of Griffin long before we learn how this happened to him. By the time he lets his side unfold it’s difficult to connect with his character.
It was much more tragic than I expected. It reminded me of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The author blends science with morality to highlight the importance of considering both elements in your life. What is the power to make yourself invisible worth if you lose your soul by doing it?
Read for the Victorian Literature Challenge hosted here.
7 comments:
we read the same book for the same Challenge! Here are my thoughts on the book: http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/the-invisible-man/
Another classic I haven't read. Love those covers though. It presents quite the illustration challenge I would imagine.
I'll never forget when I saw the movie version, starring Claude Rains. Wow.
wordsandpeace - Great review! I didn't know H.G. Wells' first name was Herbert.
Jenners - I know, but they did a great job.
Bybee - I haven't seen that, but I just added it to my Netflix queue.
This is one of those classics I always think I should read but haven't yet. Thanks for this review - I think I'll pick it up sooner than later!
Your description of The Invisible Man reminds me of the protagonist from The Time Machine. Wells seem to have a penchant for creating characters who are too focused on their scientific experiments to care about anybody else. :)
Brenna - It's a quick read.
Darlyn - I know! I wonder if he was that way with his writing.
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