The Invisible Man (Signet Classics)

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It's a hit!

Since HG Wells wrote The Invisible Man in 1897, the title character has been the subject of countless reinterpretations and parodies in several for... (show more)

Since HG Wells wrote The Invisible Man in 1897, the title character has been the subject of countless reinterpretations and parodies in several formats. This made reading the original book somewhat of a challenge. The first few chapters were particularly difficult. The townsfolk were all freaked out about the mysterious bandage-wrapped stranger staying at the inn, while I couldn't stop thinking, "People. Come on. You've never heard of Claude Rains?"

I knew I was being facetious. Wells obviously couldn't help it that his creation has become a pop culture icon, or that I happened to be reading his book more than a hundred years too late. It was a little disappointing, though. Wells was clearly trying to build tension in those early chapters, but from my smug 2008 perspective, it just wasn't happening. ("Gee, I don't know. Maybe he's invisible or something...")

Fortunately, once the plot got away from the inn and the seemingly endless variations on "OMG BANDAGES!" things picked up considerably. Wells put a lot of thought into the day-to-day details of a completely new (at the time) physical condition. Once I managed to get my snark to shut up, I could appreciate exactly how ground-breaking this book really was. It's a truly original premise, and it's executed very well.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Wells presents invisibility and its physical and moral consequences from every possible angle. Even if you think you know the basic story, some aspect of Wells' version will surprise you. (show less)

 

 

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No, it's a flop!

"The Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells, not to be confused with Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," is a fun and imaginative book. Wells describes all of ... (show more)

"The Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells, not to be confused with Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," is a fun and imaginative book. Wells describes all of the problems of being invisible well. It is difficult for the invisible man ...to go down the stairs because he can't see his feet; he is unable to wear clothing and is subjected to the elements of nature; dogs bark at him; people bump into him, and his outline is seen in the rain. The Invisible Man is driven to make himself invisible out of greed and ego and all the things he thinks he will be able to get away with, but in the end he discovers that he is unable to accomplish anything without companions and finds himself truly alone in the world and unable to make any human connections. He becomes more diabolical and violent and in the end is killed by the townspeople. Wells creates great contrast in describing the tension in the interactions with the common folk of rural England and the invisible man. The book is well done and entertaining. The best line in the book is, "The stranger was undoubtedly an unusually strange sort of stranger." (show less)

 

 

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  When I was a young teen, I was assigned Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for school reading, and surprised myself by enjoying the experience tremendously. I had always thought that they, like anything belonging to the body of work we now refer to as the horror genre, must be gruesome, sensational, and morally reprehensible. Instead, I discovered dark and probing examinations of the human condition, although the degree of their ... (show more)

  When I was a young teen, I was assigned Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for school reading, and surprised myself by enjoying the experience tremendously. I had always thought that they, like anything belonging to the body of work we now refer to as the horror genre, must be gruesome, sensational, and morally reprehensible. Instead, I discovered dark and probing examinations of the human condition, although the degree of their success obviously differs from individual to individual (I myself am far more fond of Dr Jekyll than Frankenstein). Since then I have read several more works in the same vein, including The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Phantom of the Opera, and last week I thought it would be a good idea to add The Invisible Man to the list, especially in view of the Halloween weekend coming up.

  In many ways it reminds me of Stevenson’s earlier masterpiece. Both combine horror and science fiction elements. Both feature the results of scientific experimentation gone awry and threatening to terrorize humankind (in this aspect it is similar to Frankenstein as well). And finally, both adopt a similar literary method of getting at their respective mysteries by starting with the peripheral accounts of side characters and leading up to the protagonist’s revelatory confession.

  Of course, finding such similarities caused me to make comparisons between other aspects of the two novels, which is always dangerous when one of the pieces examined is an old favorite. Certainly Wells’ prose is not in the same league as Stevenson’s; when I recently goaded my father into reading Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one of the things that he raved to me about was the beauty of Stevenson’s writing. While reading The Invisible Man, very few descriptions or turns of phrase stuck out to me—and when they did, it was more often than not because of the very awkwardness of them. In passages of dialogue, the difficulty of the reading could be blamed on Wells’ use of local dialects, but obviously that does not prove a fitting excuse elsewhere. That said, I also suspect that my edition (1992, Dover Thrift) contained typos: there seemed to be verbs missing in odd places.

  The characters, too, are often less than sympathetic. While most of the rabble the Invisible Man encounters during his stay in the town of Iping (I - XII) seem to be good people, we don’t get to know them very well, and when they are hurt or terrorized, one doesn’t quite know how to react. The Man himself evokes some pity owing to the misery of his condition and the onset of insanity, but he is so cruel that one can feel no more emotion towards him than towards a rabid animal; moreover, he is not as complex as one could wish—there is no visible struggle between good and ill in his soul. Dr. Kemp is virtually the only character worth cheering for but is, again, rather flat as a whole.

  Finally, I do have to question Wells’ prerogative in titling the book The Invisible Man, given that the characters’ invisibility is supposed to remain a mystery up until Chapter VI! Ah well, it would make little difference nowadays.

  A few passages of the book were genuinely impressive, and its quality as a narrative improved in the latter half, changing my evaluation of it from dislike to indifferent respect. The Invisible Man’s unveiling was truly thrilling, and his great narrative (XIX - XXIII) actually quite interesting, although a little bogged down by the details of the pseudo-science. (Again, Stevenson really had the right idea in keeping the nitty-gritty of his scientist’s experimentations obscure.) I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of humor present in the first half of the book, especially relating to the person of Mr. Thomas Marvel.

  Given the cultural impact of the idea (I still want to see the Claude Raines movie), I think it’s worth reading once, but I for one found it hard to love. (show less)

   

   

  by Nathan Graham on Nov 08, 2009 at 06:29AM

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  So, I recently finished reading this book.... It was all right- but very hard for me to get through as most of it didn't hold my attention. It didn't really get interesting until the end- and I really did like the ending. It picked up beautifully and was written likewise. It really did leave you with a lot to think about, which for me made up for most of the book. Simply antagonizing someone who's different is pretty shallow, but the author left room for you to ask yourself what really went o... (show more)

  So, I recently finished reading this book.... It was all right- but very hard for me to get through as most of it didn't hold my attention. It didn't really get interesting until the end- and I really did like the ending. It picked up beautifully and was written likewise. It really did leave you with a lot to think about, which for me made up for most of the book. Simply antagonizing someone who's different is pretty shallow, but the author left room for you to ask yourself what really went on in the main character's head. Anyway, warning, the beginning and middle are blah but the end is fun and I thought it was worth it. Anything that is thought provoking is usually a good thing. (show less)

   

  by Lisa Williams on Apr 07, 2009 at 10:27AM

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