Reviews - The Invisible Man

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I have no doubt in my mind that with The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells created a great premise to examine the story's central conceit; that our humanity unravels if we're not perceived.

The story starts so well. We effectively see the Invisible Man through a pub landlady's eyes. There are hints at an uncanniness and altered state – growling dogs, sudden appearances, but it’s not confirmed until a dramatic anger-induced reveal. Here, the careful pacing gave way to a frenzied sequence of events that I expect was to mirror the Invisible Man’s state of mind, but I felt resulted in a narrative that lurched rather than flowed.

There were elements that I enjoyed – Marvel’s unwilling cooperation, fearful escape and eventual machinations was a lovely arc for a side character in the short novel. The other characters offered fewer hooks to hang off. And the central character is unlikeable with on-page bigotry. I’m reading this in 2025 and some of the language was difficult.

But despite the themes, this isn’t really a character study. It’s a plot-driven story that races toward its inevitable climax. I’m glad that to have read this book at last and the idea is reason enough for this to be a classic, but the execution didn’t grab me as much as I’d hoped.