Take a photo of a barcode or cover
chaosetc 's review for:
The Island of Dr. Moreau
by H.G. Wells
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.