The Invisible Man

by H.G. Wells

Libby audiobook 6:15 hours

Read by: Scott Brick

Published: 1897 (this version 2006)

Genre: Science Fiction

 

This book is one that I had "known" only by reference to it and through reading a Great Illustrated Classics version. I'm not even sure if I've ever watched a movie version . . . and Louie tells me that listening to the audiobook doesn't "count" as reading it. Whatever. Brick did a fantastic job with the reading. Wells is a genius but this is dark!

 

Griffin is an unlikable character. The first half of the book is full of mystery and hints, but the Invisible Man is a complete jerk and treats people like garbage. The second half of the book is him telling his story to Dr. Kemp. And then we learn that he's even worse than we thought!

 

It fascinates me to think of Wells coming up with this story in the late 1800s. His imagination at what science might develop is so amazing! Griffin starts out in medical school and then switches to physics. The "explanation" of how invisibility would work is nonsense, of course, but it is still fascinating. What is interesting is how his focus and selfishness devolves into completely maniacal tyranny.

 

Kemp refers to his behaviors as "brutal self-seeking." Even when he describes being at his dad's funeral, his lack of compassion or concern for other humans is startling. He has an incredibly bad attitude and is not a sympathetic character at all! 

 

I'm glad I "read" it . . . it's another of those books that is part of our culture and has some interesting things to say about humanity. Toward the end, though, I wondered why people didn't just have flour or ashes to throw at the Invisible Man so that they could capture him more easily.

 

And the tramp becoming an innkeeper . . . the ending left many possibilities open! Wells was a genius, but he certainly saw the potential for the worst in humanity!