1.28.2011

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Magazine in 1897, and published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who theorises that if a person's refractive index is changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb or reflect light, then he will be invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but cannot become visible again, becoming mentally unstable as a result.


Erin- It has been quite a long time since I read this book. Once again, a general lack of desire to read made it near impossible for me to finish this book, let alone write anything about it! But, I got through it and finally turned the last page. My insights: it was sad and lonely and probably didn't help my downer mood lately. A combination of icky weather and some H.G. Wells had me down in the dumps! It took reading the entire Harry Potter series to get back into the swing of things! But moving on... Poor Griffin. It wasn't entirely his fault (especially for my mood :) He really does discover something amazing, I mean invisibility has its benefits for sure (think HP invisibility cloak...). But temporary invisibility would be the key. Unfortunately, through some poor choices, Griffin is forced to destroy the machine that made him invisible, rendering him permanently invisible until he can make a new "machine" (ps. I could be way wrong about the details of this... I am trying to recall from memory and I suppose I could look up the entire synopsis on Wikipedia but that just seems unfair. Call me an elitist.). And soon, chaos takes over. He tries to stay sane but soon resorts to criminal behaviors and next thing you know, we have a full blown sociopath! It was a real psychological thriller and definitely was thought-provoking (when I wasn't glaring at the book out of the corner my eye, where it was guilt-tripping me to finish it). If you really think through being truly invisible, there is a lot of variables! Clothing is number one. Unfortunately Griffin wasn't able to invisibilify (my own word, hehe) any clothes, so the poor fellow had to run around naked in the winter! Unless he bundled up and pretended to be a burn victim. Sad. And cold. He can't eat because the food is visible as it makes it way through his GI tract. Also, any snow or rain drips down and reveals him, along with dirt and mud. I mean this is 19th century people! Mud everywhere, mud streets, mud sidewalks, mud mud mud! And what would you do if you saw some muddy footprints, and muddy feet but no body!? FREAK OUT! Unfortunately, Griffin meets a sad end and when he dies, his invisibility leaves him; his killers, who really were just trying to protect themselves, are faced with a thin, naked man, bloody and bruised. See what I mean! Its a downer. But at least it is out of the way and done. I can officially say I read The Invisible Man and I am glad it is over. Jamie, you are exempt from writing anything about this novel because it took me over a month to write up my thoughts!

And for any readers, you few and far between (if any), do you like knowing the books ending? Or does it just give it away? I am thinking we may need to revise our reviews on here to maybe leaving at least some parts up for surprise... We will see. We are now reading things in a mishmash order so bear with us (or don't... hah).

Jamie - Blah! Too long ago to really remember. Ummmm... I didn't love it but found it enjoyable to read. Honestly anything would be enjoyable after readying The Turn of the Screw! The book was a little misleading because it called it a "grotesque romance" so I was all set for some love! To my disappointment, the love story was between the main character and power. Poo! This is a really insightful review, I know! lol ;)

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