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wslockard 's review for:
The Island of Doctor Moreau
by H.G. Wells
I started with this book as a bedtime read. It starts innocuous, an unnamed writer implying, "My uncle disappeared for a year after he was on a ship that sank, and then he was recently rescued in a dinghy, and here is his manuscript." I really do not know why this narrative device was popular in literature. (Island of Doctor Moreau was first published in 1896, says wikipedia.) Random dude says that some relative or acquaintance wrote a thing, and that gives it credibility?
Also note: Even though the word "island" is in the title of this book, it is not a vacation! This is not like Fantasy Island where men wear tuxedos and the small butler points at airplanes.
This book is a horror story. This is the source of the soundclip that has been embedded in my subconscious for who knows how long. "He who breaks the law goes back to the house of pain!" Seriously, I never knew movies had been made about this book (horror movies give me very uncool heebie jeebies), but when I read that line, it was like I've always known it. And one descriptive scene where Dr. Moreau discusses a failed experiment almost had me hiding under a blanket.
But here is my point of critique: this novel is limited by its "manuscript" structure. It tells and tells and tells, but it doesn't quite "show." It leaves many gaps for itself, which has been beneficial to screenwriters and modern authors, because they have been able to inject lots of further horrors, plot points, characters, etc. As I understand it, there is a YA series where the narrator is a young woman, supposedly the daughter of Dr. Moreau? I'm going to try to read it. It might be refreshing, or it might be irritating. It can really be whatever it wants, since the book in its original form has no female characters whatsoever, except maybe a botched specimen or two.
Also note: Even though the word "island" is in the title of this book, it is not a vacation! This is not like Fantasy Island where men wear tuxedos and the small butler points at airplanes.
This book is a horror story. This is the source of the soundclip that has been embedded in my subconscious for who knows how long. "He who breaks the law goes back to the house of pain!" Seriously, I never knew movies had been made about this book (horror movies give me very uncool heebie jeebies), but when I read that line, it was like I've always known it. And one descriptive scene where Dr. Moreau discusses a failed experiment almost had me hiding under a blanket.
But here is my point of critique: this novel is limited by its "manuscript" structure. It tells and tells and tells, but it doesn't quite "show." It leaves many gaps for itself, which has been beneficial to screenwriters and modern authors, because they have been able to inject lots of further horrors, plot points, characters, etc. As I understand it, there is a YA series where the narrator is a young woman, supposedly the daughter of Dr. Moreau? I'm going to try to read it. It might be refreshing, or it might be irritating. It can really be whatever it wants, since the book in its original form has no female characters whatsoever, except maybe a botched specimen or two.