Author: H.G. Wells
First Published: 1897
Publisher: Modern Library
162 pages (paperback)
The first H.G. Wells book I ever read was The Island of Doctor Moreau, and even though I’ve only read one of his books, I liked it enough that I considered myself a fan of his works. The Invisible Man is now my second Wells book. I picked it up as an easy and light read for commuting to and from school. It’s great reading some of the first science fiction stories written, and The Invisible Man is one that, for me, has always seemed like a pretty famous one. I really enjoyed this book, it was clear and easy to read.
The story begins with innkeepers Mr. and Mrs. Hall taking in a mysterious, nameless guest who is dressed in a hat and heavy coat, with bandages wrapped all around him. The stranger keeps to himself in his room for the most part, but everyone begins to grow suspicious about him. Eventually, they find out this stranger, Griffin, is an invisible man! He was originally a scientist, and being invisible was interesting and neat at first, but he quickly realized how burdensome it was. He is trying to become visible again, but with no luck so far. When no one will help him and try to capture him, Griffin’s temper fires up and plots a reign of terror against the small town.
I thought at first, being an invisible man, it might be about a guy who was scared about what was happening to him and desperately trying to fix himself. I suppose that’s what I would do if I ever found myself in his position. I never expected the invisible man to go crazy and start trying to kill people! When I thought about it, I guess it does make sense though. Being invisible surely could drive someone mental, and it does feel like Griffin, in this book, felt angrily jealous of visible people. I do think he started to go off his rocker there a bit, towards the end, though I think he was a person with anger issues to begin with. It’s really quite crazy how Griffin, a man people can’t even see, stirs up an entire town to start a sort of witch hunt for him. I mean, the guy’s invisible, you can’t see him! How can you find someone that is literally impossible to see? It kind of goes to show that anyone can cause a ripple in a pond, although of course, it helped that Griffin was sufficiently ambitious already.
This is science fiction after all, and I was pleased that there was an scientific explanation for how it is possible Griffin became invisible at all. Of course, it’s pseudo-science since humans can’t really become invisible (… as far as I know … !!) but it just goes to show how Wells established himself as a sci-fi writer and not simply a fantasy writer. Otherwise, this entire story can be brushed off with a magical explanation. But it’s not magic, it’s science!
This was a great read and it’s a very short book to boot, so if you like sci-fi, or you like classics, or you just like books in general, try giving this book a go!
P.S. The book edition I posted for this review is not the actual edition I read. I actually read this edition, which is free ebook with the iBook app, on my iPhone. It didn’t have a “cover”, so I just picked a random one as a stand in. I didn’t actually read this Modern Library classic edition, but I liked the cover.
My Rating: 4/5
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