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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
I just could not follow anything that was going on. I was just really bored.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Confession time, when I picked up this book randomly at the library one day, I somehow had the plot completely wrong. Years ago, I’d watched the movie “The Invisible Man” from 2020, and while I knew there was an older movie as well as a book with the same name, I somehow always just assumed that the plot was identical. Which it decidedly wasn’t. So, I already started the book with wrong expectations.
Though I doubt that knowing the actual plot from the get-go would’ve saved this book for me. It’s only 161 pages long, but I struggled with it so hard. It was an absolute pain to read. It started out well enough, with the Invisible Man coming to the town of Iping and lodging there, peaking the people’s curiosity about his strange looks and what they meant. But it all went downhill from there.
The majority of the book followed the exact same story line: people tried to capture the Invisible Man (Griffin) and didn't succeed, and Griffin got out of every bleak situation. Which would be great if you wanted him to get away, but he was simply insufferable all book long. He was always angry, rude, narcissistic, putting the blame of his actions’ consequences on everyone but him - and let’s be real, no man with the deliberate goal of being invisible could possibly have good intentions. Is there anything you could do (aside from stopping your fear of being perceived) with invisibility that wouldn’t absolutely violate other people’s privacy, trust, and boundaries?
The way the story was written also made all the chases so hard to take seriously. It genuinely made me picture it like a chase scene out of a cartoon, with people being stacked on top of each other in their haste to catch an invisible man. Knowing that Griffin couldn’t wear clothes in those scenes, since clothing itself didn’t become invisible, made it all even sillier. Just picturing this guy trying to trip up people and hitting them left and right while his dick was just out to the world flapping around sent me into orbit.
The storytelling itself felt a bit odd to me. The narrator was omnipresent, sometimes hinting at the fact that it was an actual person writing this account, yet you never learnt who was actually talking. There were also a lot of footnotes, some of which added a bit of context to the story (oftentimes explaining the usage of a word), but sometimes they felt a bit redundant and silly. I didn’t really need to know the plot errors Wells made; not that they weren’t interesting, but they didn’t change anything about the way I felt about the story.
The book also had instances of racism and antisemitism sprinkled in. Probably should’ve expected to see something problematic to be honest, seeing as this came out in 1897, but it certainly didn’t heighten my enjoyment.
Overall, the insufferable main character coupled with the tedious plot and the racism and antisemitism all meant I just had the worst time reading this book. God, did I hate this. I am still curious about some of Wells’ other works, such as "The Island of Dr. Moreau", but I will certainly go into those with apprehension now.
Though I doubt that knowing the actual plot from the get-go would’ve saved this book for me. It’s only 161 pages long, but I struggled with it so hard. It was an absolute pain to read. It started out well enough, with the Invisible Man coming to the town of Iping and lodging there, peaking the people’s curiosity about his strange looks and what they meant. But it all went downhill from there.
The majority of the book followed the exact same story line: people tried to capture the Invisible Man (Griffin) and didn't succeed, and Griffin got out of every bleak situation. Which would be great if you wanted him to get away, but he was simply insufferable all book long. He was always angry, rude, narcissistic, putting the blame of his actions’ consequences on everyone but him - and let’s be real, no man with the deliberate goal of being invisible could possibly have good intentions. Is there anything you could do (aside from stopping your fear of being perceived) with invisibility that wouldn’t absolutely violate other people’s privacy, trust, and boundaries?
The way the story was written also made all the chases so hard to take seriously. It genuinely made me picture it like a chase scene out of a cartoon, with people being stacked on top of each other in their haste to catch an invisible man. Knowing that Griffin couldn’t wear clothes in those scenes, since clothing itself didn’t become invisible, made it all even sillier. Just picturing this guy trying to trip up people and hitting them left and right while his dick was just out to the world flapping around sent me into orbit.
The storytelling itself felt a bit odd to me. The narrator was omnipresent, sometimes hinting at the fact that it was an actual person writing this account, yet you never learnt who was actually talking. There were also a lot of footnotes, some of which added a bit of context to the story (oftentimes explaining the usage of a word), but sometimes they felt a bit redundant and silly. I didn’t really need to know the plot errors Wells made; not that they weren’t interesting, but they didn’t change anything about the way I felt about the story.
The book also had instances of racism and antisemitism sprinkled in. Probably should’ve expected to see something problematic to be honest, seeing as this came out in 1897, but it certainly didn’t heighten my enjoyment.
Overall, the insufferable main character coupled with the tedious plot and the racism and antisemitism all meant I just had the worst time reading this book. God, did I hate this. I am still curious about some of Wells’ other works, such as "The Island of Dr. Moreau", but I will certainly go into those with apprehension now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent
Wells was indeed the father of science fiction. I don't think anyone today could've come up with something like this.
Dark but good... sometimes less is more and that is the case with this story. :)
Dear god I couldn’t wait for it to end. Just an angry man bitter about the fact he can’t go on a bloodthirsty rampage. Like I get it. Invisibility would make you feel unstoppable but come on dude.
this books main crime is being extremely boring. from the blurb on the back on my copy, i assumed i would be reading about a mans descent into madness after turning himself invisible. thats not what its about. why is every single action every character does described in detail? how does such a short book feel so long???
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Antisemitism, Murder
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes