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The Invisible Man (Signet Classics) |
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List Price: $4.95
Our Price: $4.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: New American Library/Penguin Books
Average Customer Rating:  
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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780451528520
ISBN: 0451528522
Label: New American Library/Penguin Books
Manufacturer: New American Library/Penguin Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: 2002-09-03
Publisher: New American Library/Penguin Books
Release Date: 2002-09-03
Studio: New American Library/Penguin Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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This masterpiece of science fiction is the fascinating story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Still Relevant Today
Comment: If only Wells had plumbed the depths of the Invisible Man's psyche a little more, exploring the cause of his mental disintegration, instead of just finishing him off.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Great Sci-Fi Classics
Comment: During my current tear through a list of the great English-language classics, this book quickly bubbled to the top as one I wanted to knock off early. H.G. Wells' 1897 novel, The Invisible Man, is a fantastic book worthy of its high-ranking position among the great science fiction stories of our time.
Well's masterful ability to describe not only the story's environments, but also what goes on within the often fatally flawed psyches of the characters who inhabit them is as apparent in this book as his other classics such as The Island of Dr. Moreau.
At under 200 pages, this is a great book if you're looking for something to read over a long weekend or while on the beach.
Incidentally, if you've ever seen the movie Hollow Man, you'll quickly see the selfish and at times psychotic similiarities between Sebastian Caine (played by Kevin Bacon) and the book's main protaganist Griffin, although the film borrows little more from the original story.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, though not Well's most exciting.
Comment: I love Wells, why I was never made to read anything by him in high school I will never know. The Invisible Man follows the story of an un-named man who enters a tavern/inn in a small town. The man is wrapped head to toe in bandages, eyes covered by goggles and a hat pulled down. Assuming the mysterious man to have been horribly scarred, the innkeeper's wife rents him a room without even asking his name. Very quickly the reader learns that the man is invisible, and not all that pleasant to begin with.
Although the book starts out slowly soon there is a robbery and mass pandemonium ensues. Whilst escaping from the chaos he has caused, our invisible man comes across a man he knows from his days in the university. Instantly trusting his old professor we learn the invisible man is actually an albino medical student named "Griffin." Griffin sets down and tells his long tale to the silent professor, a tale of murder, violence, theft, animal testing, and the general mad scientist messing with nature.
To keep from revealing too much of the plot I will stop there, this book can be very easily taken at face value and thoroughly enjoyed as a scientist creates a monster tale. However if you want to delve deeper you might get a glimpse at what Wells thinks is the true soul of man. What would you do if you knew for a fact that you could not be caught? Would an innocent man steal? Murder? or worse? Society is filled with the concept of "invisible" people, faceless crowds that the most could not remember... whether they be the poor, the destitute or whatever the undesirable race of that particular timeframe was. Does their being ignored and viewed as a mass rather than an individual give them the feeling of anonymity encouraging crime? Then there is also the rather xenophobic aspect of this novel, in which an outsider enters a small town and is immediately ostracized, speculated about, followed, harangued and finally viewed with suspicion. The fact that the stranger does turn out to be a not so nice figure may be there as a warning to the reader against the taking in of strangers that we do not know the motivation of (perhaps on a grander scale than the local inn and tavern). One could write papers on this book and its possible concept about immigration, racism, or the basic nature of human morality.
This is not a long story and could feasibly be read in an hour or two. It is also not one of Well's most exciting entries into his literary cannon, but it may be one of the most simple to discuss in groups in relations to the theories and possible societal commentary included within such a simple story. This is also an excellent introduction into classic literature for the young adult group... I would assume that most 12 and older children should have no problem reading and comprehending this, children as young as 9 might be capable of reading it, but would need explanation and discussion about the difference in the times. Also some of the older language may be difficult for a younger child to comprehend on their own, but they should be able to comprehend it with a little bit of help from a parent or teacher.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Short and great!
Comment: H.G. Wells has created an extraordinary story about a man who becomes invisible, and how he struggles to survive in society given his unusual predicament. This story is as much about science fiction as it is about cultural norms and biases.
It's a short read and I highly recommend it!
-Vince
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Customer Rating:
Summary: science fiction.huh
Comment: this is a small novel that you could finish in a day. is it worth reading? probably yes!. the events of the story are really predictable since many books and movies were made in this field of invisibility. however;the fact that this was published in 1897 is a bonus. the book is easy read.
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