The Invisible Man (Pocket Penguin Classics)
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Product Description
With his face swaddled in bandages, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses and his hands covered even indoors, Griffin - the new guest at The Coach and Horses - is at first assumed to be a shy accident-victim. But the true reason for his disguise is far more chilling: he has developed a process that has made him invisible, and is locked in a struggle to discover the antidote. Forced from the village, and driven to murder, he seeks the aid of an old friend, Kemp. The horror of his fate has affected his mind, however - and when Kemp refuse to help, he resolves to wreak his revenge.
About the Author
H.G. Wells was a professional writer and journalist, who published more than a hundred books, including novels, histories, essays and programmes for world regeneration. Wells's prophetic imagination was first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction, but later he became an apostle of socialism, science and progress. His controversial views on sexual equality and the shape of a truly developed nation remain directly relevant to our world today. He was, in Bertrand Russell's words, 'an important liberator of thought and action'.
Christopher Priest has won many awards for his writing, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, the World Fantasy Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. His works include a hommage to Wells in The Space Machine.
Patrick Parrinder has written on H.G. Wells, science fiction, James Joyce and the history of the English novel. Since 1986 he has been Professor of English at the University of Reading.
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First Sentence
The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking from Bramblehurst1 railway station and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking from Bramblehurst1 railway station and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is one of the ones which could have been said to have launched Science Fiction, over 100 years ago. The main problem with reading it is that you think you already know it as it has been made into a film and gone into modern parlance. But this doesn't prepare you for reading the actual story that Wells wrote. Along with everything else, Wells was a good storyteller and this is something you realise as you read this book. He portrays the protaganist, Griffin the Invisible man, very clearly as someone who has been driven insane by what has happened to him but doesn't actually realise this and so makes a deranged sort of sense as he lays out his plans for world domination - only to be bought up short by the forces of Victorian Society.
Of course, we've all heard and seen this many times since. But Wells was one of the first to show this and all later Science Fiction writers owe this to him.
You can criticise, of course. The Science is laughable, or at least seems so from a smug 21st century distance. It's easy to criticise with hindsight. Wells' strength as an author was that he could speculate, which is of course the basis of Sci-Fi. That some speculations were wrong was inevitable. And it doesn't detract from a great read. This should be read as a book of its time - a great book of its time.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story of invisibility and its consequences has been dealt with in both fantasy and philosophy, I'm not exactly sure but I think it may have been Plato who suggested that anyone acquiring the power of invisibility would become corrupted by the lack of social inhibition.
Wells' tale transports the narrative into a more modern context, however I did not think that the narrative was slapstick or humourous. The story begins with a stranger visitor taking up residence in a guest house and is believed disfigured because of his appearence, the story unfolds with an explanation of how the stranger has discovered invisibility by experimentation and is hopeful about reversing the process but events transpire to frustrate these attempts. Finally the story centres on a village under siege from an unseen menace whose intend is to kill and terrorise.
There are a lot of scenes during which gentlemen scientists sit around having protracted conversations about their discoveries and adventures, the manners and morals of an earlier age are stamped all over the work, like all of Wells' books and I think this is a positive selling point. As a result I think the original story is considered less daunting than many of the retellings, such as HOLLOW MAN [DVD] [2000] or even, arguably, Predator / Predator 2: Special Edition Collection (2005) [1987] [DVD] but its not a humourous book like some of the humorous retellings, ie Memoirs Of An Invisible Man [DVD] [1992].
I would recommend this to anyone who's interested in Wells' fiction, classic science fiction or general readers, it has been overshadowed by Wells' more noted books like The War of the Worlds or The Time Machine (Penguin Classics) but I think its on a par with those books.
Wells' tale transports the narrative into a more modern context, however I did not think that the narrative was slapstick or humourous. The story begins with a stranger visitor taking up residence in a guest house and is believed disfigured because of his appearence, the story unfolds with an explanation of how the stranger has discovered invisibility by experimentation and is hopeful about reversing the process but events transpire to frustrate these attempts. Finally the story centres on a village under siege from an unseen menace whose intend is to kill and terrorise.
There are a lot of scenes during which gentlemen scientists sit around having protracted conversations about their discoveries and adventures, the manners and morals of an earlier age are stamped all over the work, like all of Wells' books and I think this is a positive selling point. As a result I think the original story is considered less daunting than many of the retellings, such as HOLLOW MAN [DVD] [2000] or even, arguably, Predator / Predator 2: Special Edition Collection (2005) [1987] [DVD] but its not a humourous book like some of the humorous retellings, ie Memoirs Of An Invisible Man [DVD] [1992].
I would recommend this to anyone who's interested in Wells' fiction, classic science fiction or general readers, it has been overshadowed by Wells' more noted books like The War of the Worlds or The Time Machine (Penguin Classics) but I think its on a par with those books.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The opening scenes of this novel are superb and evocative of any number of mystery stories. A stranger, his face heavily wrapped in bandages, arrives during a violent snow storm in a small out of the way town. Seeking shelter in a wayside inn his strange behaviour and secretive ways soon arouse suspicion, distrust and ultimately hostility. What makes this novel different from any other with a similar set-up is that the mysterious stranger isn't on the run from the law, or his partners in crime, but rather has put himself at odds with his fellow humans by his scientific, and brilliantly successful, experiments into invisibility. Something so keenly sought, and something which has long been a dream for many, turns out to be a curse beyond all imagining.
H.G. Wells was very good at portraying the dark flip-side of scientific research. For every brilliant scientific advance that helps mankind there is something destructive and unpleasant that crawls from the laboratory and causes misery and chaos. Having studied under T.H. Huxley Wells was uniquely placed among the popular authors of his day to address the debates surrounding the dark directions, and casually abandoned ethical codes, that dogged scientific advances during the twilight years of Queen Victoria's reign. Griffin - the Invisible Man - shows by his fanatical adherence to his scientific work how brilliant results can be achieved but, all too frequently, only at the expense of terrible suffering.
Having successfully discovered the secret to invisibility Griffin finds himself hounded and attacked by everyone who senses his presence. Obtaining food, finding shelter, even walking down a crowded street become nightmarishly difficult tasks. The difficulties of surviving, combined with the strain caused by years of research at the expense of all else, turns Griffin's mind into a very dark place indeed. From initially being something to welcome invisibility ultimately becomes a means by which vengence can be taken against the human race.
Wells was always a terrifically good descriptive writer and the accounts of the mayhem the invisible man causes in the small community in which he finds himself have a terrific power; he was also good at portraying the twisted imaginings of Griffin as the people begin to turn on him. What perhaps slighty counts against the book is the fact that Griffin ultimately does become a typical 'mad scientist'. As his behaviour becomes ever more extreme the novel drifts close to cliche but, all the same, as a warning against the obsessive pursuit of a dream, The Invisible Man is one of the best books out there.
H.G. Wells was very good at portraying the dark flip-side of scientific research. For every brilliant scientific advance that helps mankind there is something destructive and unpleasant that crawls from the laboratory and causes misery and chaos. Having studied under T.H. Huxley Wells was uniquely placed among the popular authors of his day to address the debates surrounding the dark directions, and casually abandoned ethical codes, that dogged scientific advances during the twilight years of Queen Victoria's reign. Griffin - the Invisible Man - shows by his fanatical adherence to his scientific work how brilliant results can be achieved but, all too frequently, only at the expense of terrible suffering.
Having successfully discovered the secret to invisibility Griffin finds himself hounded and attacked by everyone who senses his presence. Obtaining food, finding shelter, even walking down a crowded street become nightmarishly difficult tasks. The difficulties of surviving, combined with the strain caused by years of research at the expense of all else, turns Griffin's mind into a very dark place indeed. From initially being something to welcome invisibility ultimately becomes a means by which vengence can be taken against the human race.
Wells was always a terrifically good descriptive writer and the accounts of the mayhem the invisible man causes in the small community in which he finds himself have a terrific power; he was also good at portraying the twisted imaginings of Griffin as the people begin to turn on him. What perhaps slighty counts against the book is the fact that Griffin ultimately does become a typical 'mad scientist'. As his behaviour becomes ever more extreme the novel drifts close to cliche but, all the same, as a warning against the obsessive pursuit of a dream, The Invisible Man is one of the best books out there.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The original Invisible Man
I have been re-discovering H G Wells in Kindle downloads, though this is the first time I have read 'The Invisible Man'. Read more
Published 20 days ago by David Williams
Great concept, irritating character.
The Invisible Man is a short read, but not a particularly easy one. H.G. Wells is renowned for his technobabble and it does tend to slow down the story at times. Read more
Published 1 month ago by H. Whitehead
Rip off
Out of copyright, previously free, now a significant charge for kindle version. Cynical and enought to push me away from Kindle towards another format if it continues.
Published 2 months ago by S. P. Field
Melodramatic, pithy and surprisingly amusing...
I always thought my first foray into H.G. Wells would be The War of the Worlds - but actually this made a fantastic starting point! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Miss E. Potten
Probably great for its time, but only so-so nowadays
While the concept of the book is an interesting one, the science passable enough (see below), and the exploration of morals a good tack to take, the story itself is too linear for... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mal Ross
vivid, suspenseful, and good early sci-fi
This is a absolutely wonderful book that can be read quickly, maybe even in one sitting. It is told in the first person by an observer who knows the invisible man and is appalled... Read more
Published 9 months ago by rob crawford
OK, but...
Like other books by H. G. Wells, I found that the technobabble is the only worthy part. He is great at convincing the reader that a certain technological achievement could be... Read more
Published 12 months ago by KellyT
What is unseen
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. Read more
Published 13 months ago by E. A Solinas
Insane, thoughtful, and moving
HG Wells, author of THE TIME MACHINE, the first novel to mention time travel, and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, the first story of alien invasion, and father of science fiction, delivers... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Max Watt
You can't see me
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. Read more
Published on 11 April 2010 by bernie
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