The Invisible Man (Signet Classics)
by H.G. Wells
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Book Summary Information
Author: H.G. WellsIntroduction: W. Warren Wagar
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-03
ISBN: 0451528522
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: New American Library/Penguin Books
Book Reviews of The Invisible Man (Signet Classics)
Book Review: A Bit Dated in Parts, but Otherwise Has Stood the Test of Time
Summary: 3 Stars
H.G. Wells certainly wasn't the first author to write stories involving something or someone who is invisible but his novel was definitely the first big hit of the invisible man genre. It is also easily the best known and widely circulated of the invisibility stories written before the 20th century. In fact with maybe the exception of H.F. Saint's Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1987) (which was later turned into a Chevy Chase movie which although enjoyable, was nowhere near the masterpiece that book was), Wells' 1897 classic is still probably the most well known of the genre today. This book also has had a number of movies made based on its story and as well has had a few sequel books written by other authors in the modern era such as Legacy of the Invisible Man by Dave Ulanski and The Invisible Dirty Old Man by Richard S McEnroe, both based on relatives of or people who found possessions of characters from Wells' story.
This was one of H.G. Wells first stories, it was actually originally a short story as were most other invisible man stories pre dating it which Wells later came back and expanded to the length it is now. Being one of his first stories the quality of the storyline isn't always sensational and is in fact rather slow moving in parts for the reader. A large number of words Wells picked to use, unfortunately for him have also dropped out of the English language meaning you've either got to look them up or just take a wild guess as to what he is referring to. The best parts of the story were when Griffin was recounting how he became invisible and the events straight after in London to his friend Kemp. The novel really would have benefited from more of this type of storyline. Saying that though if you're a fan of the invisible man genre you definitely need to check this out. Better stories have been written in the modern era that go more into depth with the problems an invisible man faces and have a lot faster paced storylines such as H.F. Saint's Memoirs of an Invisible Man as well as Donald E Westlake's novel Smoke.
The version of this book I have also has a lengthy intro by someone called Christopher Priest who is obviously a hard core fan of Wells. While it is great for fans of this genre to learn about other stories about invisible people (although it is certainly no comprehensive list there's many titles missing) unfortunately though Priest's bias shows as he makes some ludicrous claims about other stories being based on Wells' story which if he actually read these books, aside from having an invisible character have nothing more to do with this storyline at all then the this book does when compared to the invisibility stories that Wells must have read before writing this.
Anyway if you have no idea what this novel's about the basic storyline is a man named Griffin wrapped in bandages who never takes of his coat or gloves checks into a small town hotel. Obviously trying to keep his secret Griffin is quite short with the busybody landlady and others who just walk into his room uninvited and keep pestering him about things that are non of their business. Small town bigotry and gossip has locals assuming he is either a member of an undesirable to them race, criminal or something worse, so when there is a burglary in town he is the main suspect. Not being treated the way he should be he decides he'll become even more abusive back to them so it is not long before a physical fight breaks out, the police get involved and he is forced to shed his clothing, expose his secret and escape. Not having the most pleasant of personality certainly doesn't help stop those he has enlisted to assist him from betraying him and stealing his possessions. Griffin decides that if he is going to be labelled and treated as a ruthless monster he will go one better and become an even worse and feared villain then their lies ever wrote in the papers.
Summary of The Invisible Man (Signet Classics)
This masterpiece of science fiction is the fascinating story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.Classics Books
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