Customer Reviews

The Invisible Man

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After viewing the Claude Raines 1940s movie version eons ago I was quite skeptical that this was simply another rendition of the tired 'good vs. evil' theme that the movie portrayed. If you simply read this novel quickly and do not notice the subtle change of viewpoint on the part of the author this, again, is all you will experience. While Wells does not go from the classical 3rd person omniscient to 1st person singular and back to 3rd person at the finale, he does change viewpoints in a very opaque manner. While the entire book can be viewed as 3rd person omniscient, the beginning and end of the novel are the viewpoints of Dr. Kemp and the rest of the terrorized public. The middle portion, however, is a total reflection of the world through the eyes of Griffin, the invisible man. Although the information that Griffin shares with Kemp about his condition, how his experiment was conducted and his actions since his transformation will all be used against him and lead to his capture, the stylistic writing viewpoint in the middle chapters is through the eyes of a single person; Griffin. As soon as Kemp's betrayal becomes evident, the viewpoint switches back to the view of the general public; fearful, cautious and unforgiving.

While I can feel certain that HG Wells did not attempt to make a social statement out of this Sci-fi novel, a statement can be drawn nonetheless. Fear, lack of understanding and the unknown is what drives prejudice against a person(s). This is certainly the mood of the public and they see Griffin as nothing more than a threat to their safety with no understanding from the opposite point of view. Dr. Kemp, on the other hand, even though he is given an opportunity to break through this level of prejudice by coming to understand what Griffin is relating to him, refuses to do so. His mind was set in stone before Griffin uttered a word and he was not about to let the facts get in the way of his preformed thoughts. As the story ends, it is sad to once again see the person who is prejudiced against be destroyed while the rest of the vicious and non-insightful public undergo no change or growth whatsoever. The landlord, in the epilogue who has possession of the infamous three diaries, will never come to understand their meaning, nor will anyone else. They have killed the person who wrote them and, by doing so, have destroyed an opportunity they will never have again.

This is a universal theme that shows why mankind has, and will, continue with its racial hatreds, prejudices and hatred towards its fellow companions simply because they fail to get beyond their own fears of that which is unknown.

Imagine if you were invisible and could come and go as you pleased, with nobody able to see you. Cool, right? Well, not really. H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man" has the sci-fi master exploring what would happen if a person took an invisibility elixir, and discovered too late that invisibility has some definite downsides. It's possibly Wells' funniest novel, but it also has some wonderfully chilling moments.

A strange man arrives at a hotel in Iping, wrapped up in goggles, bandages, scarves, and heavy clothes. He spends most of his time hidden away in his room, doing odd scientific experiments, and avoiding contact with other people -- while still keeping everything except his nose hidden. Meanwhile, the local vicar and his wife are robbed by a mysterious thief... who is completely invisible.

Well, you can guess what's up with the stranger -- he's an invisible man, and after a blowup with his landlady he reveals his true.... um, lack of appearance to the entire town. After a series of disastrous encounters, the Invisible Man encounters Dr. Kemp, an old friend to whom he reveals how he became invisible, and what he's done since then... as well as his malevolent plans for the future.

H.G. Wells isn't really known for being a funny writer, but the first part of "The Invisible Man" is actually mildly hilarious. He writes the first third or so of the book in a fairly light, humorous style, and there are some fun scenes speckled through the story, like a homeless man dealing with the Invisible Man ("Not a bit of you visible--except-- You 'aven't been eatin' bread and cheese?").

But things get much darker after Mr. Kemp enters the scene, and we find out that the Invisible Man is... well, kind of malevolent and crazy. Very crazy.

And as the plot grows darker and grimmer, Wells also inserts a clever (if far-fetched even by Victorian standards) explanation for how a person could become invisible, using a mix of science and fantasy. The plot hurtles through wild chase scenes and the occasional riot, and some moments of bleak tension ("When dawn came to mingle its pallor with the lamp-light and cigar smoke of the dining-room, Kemp was still pacing...")

The Invisible Man himself (aka Griffin) is a pretty mysterious character for most of the story, since all we know about him is that he's invisible.... and also kind of a jerk. I mean, the guy constantly flies off the handle and even robs a nice little old vicar. And the more we find out about him, the more malignant and insane he turns out to be.

Even if you had a way to become invisible, "The Invisible Man" would be a pretty effective way of dissuading people from using it. A deserving classic.

I grew up on all the invisible man movies and still think of him as Claude Rains. I was surprised in the similarities and differences the book has to the movie. The scenes are rearranged from the book to make visual (or invisible) sense as a movie script.

A man all warped up in bandages except for his large pink nose requires a room at the inn and pays well. Slowly the Innkeeper and her companions suspect there is more to his than just a man with bandages. Everyone in a while they glimpse light where there should not be. And the stranger is so cranky that the money may not be worth the trouble of keeping him. Soon there are strange happenings and the cat is out of the bag sort of speaking.

The trail leads to murderer and a possible reign of terror. Read more to find out where the secret is reviled and how a man named Griffin got in this situation.

If I had read this story a year ago I would have said it was a fairly well put together sci-fi story. I would just enjoy the writing and wonder how H.G. came up with the idea. However now after reading much of H.G.'s political writings I see that this is a thinly veiled social commentary. We find that unlike the movie where Griffin goes mad in the invisibility process, that in the book Griffin was always amoral and anything stressful could set him off. Also, somewhere out there is a couple of floating eyes that belong to a cat.

Now one habit that .G. has in most of his tales is that just when you think he is finished on the subject, he will go off in another direction with some sub plot he has slipped in earlier. Therefore, what should have been a short story becomes a novel. Another good example of his witting style can be found in "The Food of the Gods."

Classic or mystery, what would I pick? Mostly classics, but some classics have mystery, like the Invisible Man. Mystery and classics make one great book, and that's just the way I like it!

One stormy night at Horses Inn, a visitor came to stay ... But then something weird starts happening ... Some people at the hotel see the visitor unraveling bandages on his face, and a fake nose falls off!

A person figures out that he does not have a body. He asks why and the invisible man explains that when he was in university, he made a potion that makes something invisible. He tried it on his cat and it became invisible, so he tried it and he became invisible!

My favorite part was when . . . I won't tell, but here is a hint: It is at the end. But I have a question for you: do you think that the invisible man will ever become real again, or will he stay invisible forever? Well I'm not telling , but you'll figure out if you read the Invisible Man!

I went into this book hoping to read something frightening, but, there, I was disappointed. I was, however, unexpectedly amused by its plot and characters. What I find charming about this book is its humor. Though there's nothing "laugh out loud" about _The Invisible Man_, there's something wickedly ironic about a scientist who's brilliant enough to create an invisibility potion but is so greedy about his discovery, he tests it on himself without letting anyone else know.

I'll admit that there are some parts of this book that are creepy. For example, turning oneself invisible and consequently being hunted by a paranoid mob. Or, being stalked by a murderous invisible man. But even these scenes have their darkly humorous sides. This book wasn't what I expected, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

What a great concept! A man turns invisible and finds that the invisible life is horrible. I loved the concept, but I felt the story was slow and boring. The details were not drawn out enough, and the story ended abruptly. I love science fiction like this, but the story was not great. While reading the story I felt like I was getting the condensed version. Though slow and not achieving its full potential, it was interesting and easy to read.

The Invisible Man was a very good, descriptive piece of literature. It had well described fight scenes and scenery. It is one of H.G.Wells' best books.
The Invisible Man is about a scientist, named Griffin, who turns himself invisible through a stroke of scientific genius. The only problem is that Griffin doesn't know how to make himself visible again. Though the Invisible Man tries to hide himself in public by wearing bandages all over his body and claiming he was in a bad accident, he is found out anyway. After a while, the Invisible Man goes crazy because of nobody accepting him, people double-crossing him, and his possessions being stolen. He becomes a murderer and tries to become a dictator of a town in the book because he is so powerful.

I heard about this 'classic' book a long time ago (who hasn't?) but didn't take the time to read it. Just recently, after having my curiosity aroused by the League of Extraordinary Gentleman, I decided to see what the whole thing was about.

Griffin, a brilliant English scientist, in the course of his work discovers the ability to make things invisible. But before he is able to properly develop and patent his idea and thereby secure eternal fame, he runs into the problem every scientist who isn't working for NASA faces; a shortage of funds. This, along with his imminent eviction, leads him to take the solution that will make him invisible.

The rest of the story deals with his mental descent and we witness genius distorted until it becomes something grotesque. Freed from the restrictions that visibility brings, the Invisible man indulges his fancies at the expense of society. His new powers inflate his ego and cause him to disregard the norms of society; he feels he is beyond them.

Along with all this drama, the book has its funny parts -

"This, this Invisible man, then?" asked the man with the black beard with one hand behind him. "I guess it's about time we saw him." ...p 114.

O.K it may not be laugh out loud funny, but it has its moments. There are many such tragicomic events in the story where you don't know whether to laugh or to feel sympathy toward some of the victims.

I felt that the story had merit and it was not altogether improbable. However because of the story's shortness it was unable to develop Griffin's motivations completely. His lack of humanity throughout the book must have had a cause. Unfortunately Wells was not able to provide a plausible reason for this, as a consequence, the invisible man seemed one dimensional to me since there was no inner conflict; not much agonizing over his actions. You may interpret it differently from me, but this was the impression I got.

Overall an interesting book, I guess you could call it a classic, but I'm not totally convinced. Read it anyway to find out for yourself.

In the book called'The Invisible Man'by H.G Wells,He explains why things that you think are someimes good that may be sometimes be bad.This book is mostly about a scientist, named Griffin, who tries the poison formula on him-self,discovers a method in which he can turn nearly anything invisible including himself. At first he thought that at the idea of being invisible, he soon discovers the many negative aspects and must continue his research to accomplish what he is discovering or dream.This book will be a great book for all types of readers.I would recommend that anyone that reads this story or novel,pay much attention on what the author's purpose of writing this story.

The Invisible Man written by H.G. Wells is a must read science fiction. A scientist who discovers a way to make things invisible and goes ahead and trys it on himself not knowing that he cannot become visible again. He is now able to do anything and not be discovered. His main trouble is trying to keep his destructive reign of terror under control while trying to live a normal life. The Invisible Man is blammed for everything that troubles the small town.

My main reason why I liked this short story was how well Wells made the Invisible Man's body completely invisible but not his clothes. Many men who searched for the Invisible Man only saw the clothes he was wearing. A part in the story was, Huxter stuck his hand down the Invisible Man's collar. From the air a voice called out, "I wish you'd keep your fingers out of my eye." Huxter and the other men had know idea.

Another reason why I liked this book was the dramatic twist to the ending and because it was totally unexpected. You'll be truly surprised and possibly pleased with the ending. If your a reader who loves suspenseful and unexpected endings I reccommend this book to you.