Paperback, 128 pages
English language
Published July 10, 2014 by Melville House Publishing.
The Invisible Man is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and who invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light. He carries out this procedure on himself and renders himself invisible, but fails in his attempt to reverse it. A practitioner of random and irresponsible violence, Griffin has become an iconic character in horror fiction. While its predecessors, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, were written using first-person narrators, Wells adopts a third-person objective point of view in The Invisible Man. The novel is considered influential, and helped establish Wells as the "father of science fiction".
A very interesting, tragic and painful tale of human frailty. Even the most well intentioned efforts succumb to unintentional consequences.
I think the description should be: A sociopathic scientist gets obsessed with physics and renders himself invisible. This boost in power further exposes the flaws in a man's personality.
I found the beginning of the story a bit disjointed, as the author starts in the middle and then midway goes back and explains how the man became invisible. The story is not very long and while not enthralling still captures the attention. I think the powerful part of this book is the underlying social commentary:
power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely
beware of how much power you grant sociopaths and psychopaths
listened to it for Halloween :)
It was a fun little story, but it felt a little dated.
I found this book on Librivox and decided to give it a try.
I wasn't sure I'd enjoy a book written so long ago.
I have also never been able to watch the movie, the man is so obnoxious.
However, the book turned out quite good. It was a bit like reading Steam Punk.
The book start's the story from the middle, and only late returns to tell the tale of how the man became invisible. It gives you time to sympathies with him before you gradually find out what a prick he is.
I was also pleasantly surprised that this first book about invisibility didn't take a rose tinted view of it, but chose to deal the the problems of invisibility strait out.
I thought a first book would say, hey look how cool and wonderful invisibility is. and only later another author would deal with the down side.
This was an amazing book. It approached the issue of being invisible in a somewhat realistic way (as far as what issues a person who is invisible would face). Wells really managed to portray a dynamic character with many emotions, all of which fit his dilemma. Highly recommend for any sci-fi lover or someone who likes books that make you think.
L’Homme invisible est rocambolesque, pathétique, puis tragique. Bourré de situations cocasses et insolites, le livre nous présente un personnage tout d’abord sympathique et étrange, un savant fou contraint à l’anonymat pour ne pas dévoiler le résultat de ses recherches, son invisibilité. Très vite tout se complique, et on découvre un personnage de plus en plus antipathique, détestable, ivre de pouvoir. Pas mon préféré de Wells, mais sûrement le plus drôle.
