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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Had Moreau had any intelligible object, I could have sympathised at least a little with him. I am not so squeamish about pain as that. I could have forgiven him a little even, had his motive been only hate. But he was so irresponsible, so utterly careless! His curiosity, his mad, aimless investigations, drove him on; and the Things were thrown out to live a year or so, to struggle and blunder and suffer, and at last to die painfully."
Dr. Moreau reminded me a bit of Dr. Mengele, playing God with lives just for the hell of it. It's a very readable novella, dabbling in questions of ethics and morality in science, God and grand design versus nature and primal instinct.
Dr. Moreau reminded me a bit of Dr. Mengele, playing God with lives just for the hell of it. It's a very readable novella, dabbling in questions of ethics and morality in science, God and grand design versus nature and primal instinct.
dark
The format of this book is similar to that of Dracula and Frankenstein, with the story being told through letters and journals. However, this one held my attention better than either of the other two.
The story has a bit of the Lovecraftian xenophobia, where anything that isn't a "normal" civilized human being is grotesque, although Wells does a better job of providing actual descriptions than I can remember from any of Lovecraft's writing.
Like nanites in modern sci-fi, vivisection is the magic science of the day. It can accomplish pretty much anything, including enhanced intelligence. The same sort of brain procedure was done in Flowers for Algernon, but it seemed more silly here, probably because of the other physical impossibilities that came along with it. Wells had studied biology, so he must have included all this to make the story more fantastical.
The social atmosphere is wrapped in conservative morality where, for example, female "beasts" were expected to dress demurely, and vivisection without anesthesia is perfectly okay, as long as there's an agreeable reason. The presumption that humans are superior and special creates a nice conflict with the premise that a human can be crafted out of animals (as if that weren't already the case).
At the end I was left wondering if the protagonist's modified view of humanity was meant to be a feral delusion, or instead a newly enlightened perspective. I'm going with the latter, no matter what Wells may have intended. I haven't seen the movies based on this book, but I could tell while reading it that it'd be a great movie candidate. Lots of bizarre visuals, action, and suspense.
Does the dog die? Yes, literally, along with many others. The entire story is based on animal cruelty. It doesn't get terribly graphic, so I don't regret having read it, but I probably also won't feel the urge to read it again. I prefer my horror to be animal friendly. That aside, I thought it was well written, so I'll be picking up more books by this author. (Yeah I know, how have I not read Wells before this.)
The narrator was fantastic, he had a perfect voice for the intellectual protagonist and did a great job on the other characters as well.
The story has a bit of the Lovecraftian xenophobia, where anything that isn't a "normal" civilized human being is grotesque, although Wells does a better job of providing actual descriptions than I can remember from any of Lovecraft's writing.
Like nanites in modern sci-fi, vivisection is the magic science of the day. It can accomplish pretty much anything, including enhanced intelligence. The same sort of brain procedure was done in Flowers for Algernon, but it seemed more silly here, probably because of the other physical impossibilities that came along with it. Wells had studied biology, so he must have included all this to make the story more fantastical.
The social atmosphere is wrapped in conservative morality where, for example, female "beasts" were expected to dress demurely, and vivisection without anesthesia is perfectly okay, as long as there's an agreeable reason. The presumption that humans are superior and special creates a nice conflict with the premise that a human can be crafted out of animals (as if that weren't already the case).
At the end I was left wondering if the protagonist's modified view of humanity was meant to be a feral delusion, or instead a newly enlightened perspective. I'm going with the latter, no matter what Wells may have intended. I haven't seen the movies based on this book, but I could tell while reading it that it'd be a great movie candidate. Lots of bizarre visuals, action, and suspense.
Does the dog die? Yes, literally, along with many others. The entire story is based on animal cruelty. It doesn't get terribly graphic, so I don't regret having read it, but I probably also won't feel the urge to read it again. I prefer my horror to be animal friendly. That aside, I thought it was well written, so I'll be picking up more books by this author. (Yeah I know, how have I not read Wells before this.)
The narrator was fantastic, he had a perfect voice for the intellectual protagonist and did a great job on the other characters as well.
“Sí. Estas criaturas que ha visto son animales tallados y moldeados en nuevas formas. A eso, al estudio de la plasticidad de las formas vivas, es a lo que he dedicado toda mi vida. Lo he estudiado durante años y he ido ganando conocimientos con el tiempo. Veo que me mira horrorizado y, sin embargo, no le estoy contando nada nuevo. Todo estaba ya en los inicios de la práctica anatómica hace años, pero nadie tuvo la audacia de abordarlo. No es simplemente la forma externa de un animal lo que puedo cambiar. También podría forzarse una modificación permanente en la fisiología, el ritmo químico de la criatura… entre otros, la vacuna y otros métodos de inoculación de materia viva o muerta son ejemplos que sin duda le resultarán familiares”
This is the fourth of H G Wells' pioneering SF novels that I've read. The others being 'The War of the Worlds', 'The Invisible Man', and 'The Time Machine'. This one was an interesting short read. It felt like it was almost an H P Lovecraft story. It teetered on the brink and I wonder how much of an influence it was. It lacks cosmic horror, but you'd only need a tweak or two here and there for it to turn into one.
It also, perhaps less obviously, reminded me a bit of Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. I know H G Wells was something of a socialist, but this could be read as a book about Empire and its peoples if you wanted to do so. I'm sure people that know Wells' work can tell me more.
Fundamentally though this is the story of an scientist who has started a series of experiments without thinking through or caring about the consequences. Someone for whom the ends justify the means, which are cruel and nasty. The thing is you never quite understand what Dr Moreau's ends are. Except the exercise. And no one is there to tell him that just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Moreau reminds me of a Nazi Doctor. Conducting experiments because he can not caring about the cost.
Worth reading. But I'd put the order of the four novels as:
1. The Time Machine
2. The War of the Worlds
3. The Island of Doctor Moreau
4. The Invisible Man
It also, perhaps less obviously, reminded me a bit of Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. I know H G Wells was something of a socialist, but this could be read as a book about Empire and its peoples if you wanted to do so. I'm sure people that know Wells' work can tell me more.
Fundamentally though this is the story of an scientist who has started a series of experiments without thinking through or caring about the consequences. Someone for whom the ends justify the means, which are cruel and nasty. The thing is you never quite understand what Dr Moreau's ends are. Except the exercise. And no one is there to tell him that just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Moreau reminds me of a Nazi Doctor. Conducting experiments because he can not caring about the cost.
Worth reading. But I'd put the order of the four novels as:
1. The Time Machine
2. The War of the Worlds
3. The Island of Doctor Moreau
4. The Invisible Man