This is the story of how one angry, naked, sneezing albino managed to terrorize the English countryside. To be quite honest, I expected a bit more from the people who single-handedly fended off the Nazis. But Wells seemed to think his fellow countrymen would be a bit too inept to toss a sheet over the shivering bastard, and punch him in the throat. Instead?This:Attention:1) There may be spoilers for this 100+ year old book in the review.2) Only comment if you have a WORKING sense of humor.3) Seriously. Read # 2 again before you correct my review.When I first started reading, I assumed that The Invisible Man would be about a guy who was slowly driven mad by this unusual condition.Nope.He was a world class douchebag long before his experiment to become see-through. Although, if I had to point out one major difference between his beginning vs. his end? Well, I'm guessing his dick & balls hadn't permanently retreated into his body before he became the World's Meanest Nudist.Really, dude? Really? Winter is not kind to nekkid folks. As every Mad Scientist will tell you, you've got to plan ahead. Mother Nature will not bend to your nefarious whims! Turn on the Weather Channel next time, moron.So, Griffin (that's the Invisible Man's name) discovers a magic not magic formula that allows his molecules to have less surfaces for light to refract off, and if he combines that with electrocuting not electrocuting himself with some sort of a radio wave contraption, he will become invisible.Pseudo-science, FTW! He tested it out on a cat, and it sorta worked. Except for the cat's eyes. Don't worry, though. The cat is fine! Not really. It's probably dead.One thing I found interesting was that until his body absorbed food, it remained visible. Which led me to spend quite a bit of my afternoon thinking about whether or not you could see his poop moving through his intestines. And if it did remain visible, that meant his Kryptonite could quite literally be cheese! Think about it, people. You could track him if he's constipated!Ha! I'll bet those assholes at MENSA are totally rethinking that rejection letter now.Yeah, so all they had to do was get a big cauldron (or Fry-Daddy) bubbling with oil, and then cook up a shit ton of mozzarella sticks. If placed strategically around the village, they could have had Griffin backed up and praying for prunes in no time. Between the groaning and visibly distended intestines, it would have been Problem Solved within two days. BOOM!Ok, so Wells does his dead-level best to make invisibility seem like a curse, but the reality was this was an AWESOME power. He's fucking invisible!The only reason Griffin wasn't immediately the richest man in the kingdom, was due to his a-hole personality. All he had to do was tell people about his amazing discovery! Instead, he shoots himself in the dick trying to keep it a secret. Sure, the people in that first hillbilly town might not have been receptive. At least, not at first, anyway...Witchcraft! Kill it with fire, Cletus!But show up at a Science Fair (or wherever smart people hang out), and he would have been carried off on his peers' weak & nerdy shoulders!I mean, his buddy Kemp was thoroughly impressed...until he started voluntarily boasting about his somewhat ill thought-out crimes, and revealing his idiotic plans for world domination. Which, by the way, was the least well planned villain plot...ever...in the history of badly planned villain plots!Terror? A reign of terror? That's it?! What's the endgame, Griffin?Give me all your money! Or Terror!Make me king of the world! Or Terror!WTF, man? I think you're overestimating yourself a bit there...Sure, it's a bit spooky that you can't be seen, but, eventually, even the stupidest of villagers will band together & figure out that you can be taken down by a dog with a good nose...or cheese!Which is pretty much what happens.Except for the part about cheese. If only they had consulted someone with my level of genius intellect, poor Adye would still be alive. Tsk.He stupidly tries to implement his Reign of Terror, and manages to get a few good shots in, but eventually becomes the recipient of the ass beating of a lifetime.Moral of the story: Even if you're a genius, don't be a dick.You will inevitably freeze your balls off, catch a nasty cold, and end up bludgeoned to death by people with half your intellect. Because all us stupid people know how to wield sticks, goddammit!Buddy Read with Jeff, Delee, Evgeny, Tadiana, Stepheny, Will (be gentle it's his first time), Dan (he found a free copy!), Dan 2.0 (if he can remember his password), Alissa, Christopher, Steve, Jess, Licha, MIRIAM (because she can't quit us!), Jenna, (latecomer) Auntie J, Ginger & Carmen (cutting it a little close there, Carmen!). Honorary Buddy-Reader: Karly *The Vampire Ninja & Lumi...Lumin...Sparkly Monster*We gotta do this again, guys!
“A method by which it would be possible, without changing any other property of matter—except, in some instances colours—to lower the refractive index of a substance, solid or liquid, to that of air—so far as all practical purposes are concerned.”“You make the glass invisible by putting it into a liquid of nearly the same refractive index; a transparent thing becomes invisible if it is put in any medium of almost the same refractive index. And if you will consider only a second, you will see also that the powder of glass might be made to vanish in air, if its refractive index could be made the same as that of air; for then there would be no refraction or reflection as the light passed from glass to air.”H.G. Wells is not merely the forefather of science fiction, he is also the forefather of hard science fiction. I think he explains his science and pseudoscience better than most of today’s sci-fi authors.One thing that bothers me about the concept of an invisible man in general is that they seem to be considered as more of an unstoppable threat than they need to be. If I can go a little off tangent for a sec, the idea occurred to me while I was watching The Hollow Man. While the psychopathic invisible man goes on a rampage, everybody is whirling around trying to protect themselves. When the invisible man is coming at them why does it not occur to any of them to render him visible by throwing – say – a bucket of paint, a bag of flour, ink or even a goddam cup of coffee over him or his general direction? Even Wells does not consider this line of defense even though he does deal with the issue a little in this passage:“I could not go abroad in snow—it would settle on me and expose me. Rain, too, would make me a watery outline, a glistening surface of a man—a bubble. And fog—I should be like a fainter bubble in a fog, a surface, a greasy glimmer of humanity.”Unfortunately Wells does not do anything with this observation; no wonder Mr. Invis (his name is actually “Griffin”) runs rings around the hapless cops and everybody else. The smartest “good guy” in the book suggests everybody in the country locking their food away to starve him out, sniffer dogs, powdered glass and whatnot when all they is to do some literal mud slinging. If he is coming to the house scatter lots of flour or sand all over the floor etc. The fact that nobody makes an effort to render him visible in some way seriously weakens the book for me; after all science fiction is all about exploration of ideas and possibilities, taking things to their logical conclusion*. The way the invisible man is finally dealt with is not very impressive.The Invisible Man is one of Wells’ less epic works I think, but many of the negative GR reviews I have read seem to ignore the fact that Wells imagined the concept in 1897! It is easy to dismiss such a commonplace sci-fi /fantasy trope today but Wells pioneered it along with other sci-fi staples like alien invasion, time traveling and genetic engineering. He may not have invented all these concepts himself but he was (probably) the first to use them in fiction. Seriously, do not badmouth H.G. Wells.How about themes, motifs and subtexts then eh? I have pondered long and hard and I conclude that summer is the best season for invisibility. So if you are going to go for an extreme transparency makeover do it in summer or you will catch your death! I am also concerned about Griffin’s invisible cat which remains at large. Actually one interesting theme is how adaptable the British public seems to be about “weird shit going down” such as the advent of an invisible man. They are all happy to lock up their food and find ways of depriving him of his sleep etc. Making him visible is probably not cricket.In any case – despite its logical flaw – The Invisible Man is a lot of fun, definitely worth a read, and it won’t take up much of your time._________________________Notes:The original title of the book is “The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance”. Obviously the word “romance” here is not referring to holding hands and red roses, the older meaning of “a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life.” seems to apply. As for “grotesque”, Griffin (Mr. Invis) would not seem grotesque by today’s standard, “badass” would probably be a more contemporary adjective.* I am also a little uncomfortable with the idea of Griffin running about au naturale, penduluming outrageously. I think he should wear a little thong at least, surely most people won't notice a little thong floating about.I listened to the free Librivox audiobook of The Invisible Man very nicely read by Ms. Cate Barratt. Thank you!
What do You think about The Invisible Man (2002)?
A scientist invents a invisibility drug and slowly goes mad. Chaos ensues!I read this as part of a colossal Invisible Man group read. We're all familiar with the basics of the tale. For a story written before R'lyeh sank beneath the waves, it was surprisingly readable.So a scientist named Griffin invents a serum that makes him invisible. What's he do with it? Become an even bigger douche nozzle! Griffin becomes invisible and is suddenly above the law, stealing as he sees fit and cheapshotting people who can't see him. Sadly, I think a lot of people would let their id take over under similar circumstances. While on the surface, it's the tale of a dickish scientist, it's more about what people do when no one is watching and what they'd do without fear of punishment.The book is pretty slim and Griffin spends most of it being a bullying shit to people when he's not relating his backstory. The concept is still interesting after all these millennia but I like the works inspired by it better than the genuine article. 3 out of 5 stars.
—Dan Schwent
My second H.G. Wells novel. Honestly, I didn't enjoy The Invisible Man quite as much as I did The War of the Worlds. The storyline and writing were both top notch, but I just found it hard to REALLY enjoy a novel in which I totally despised the main character. In all actuality, I guess my feelings towards the protagonist/antagonist (yes, both are the same character) would be considered a win for the author, as I feel that Wells didn't intend for the reader to truly like this character. What I find interesting is that as I was reading the novel, I did feel a bit of sympathy for the main character's plight from time to time, but then he would do something so over-the-top or horribly nasty that I would immediately lose any sympathetic feelings and replace them with something more akin to loathing. I did enjoy the novel for the most part though and Wells crafts a wonderful story that keeps the reader interested throughout. I found the science behind his explanation of events to be sufficient to carry the story especially considering the time in which it was written and think that this is another fine example of early Science Fiction before Science Fiction was actually defined as a genre.
—Stefan Yates
In which it is demonstrated that invisibility, like wealth, looks, talent, etc doesn't count for much if the possessor remains an asshole. For this much-anticipated buddy read with Ann, Jeff, Delee,Tadiana, Stephany, Evgeny, Jess, Auntie J, Licha... sorry, other readers, I've run out of steam on the hyperlinking, maybe later... I used the Modern Library Classics edition subtitled "A Grotesque Romance." To my great disappointment, the library refused to lend me the one subtitled "a fantastic sensation."
—Miriam
