The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
H.G. Wells The Invisible Man is one of those classics that completely lives up to its reputation. It’s a fantastic book, a great character study, and quite frankly for a hundred and thirty year old book, an easy read.
The story begins in the middle as the Invisible Man begins work on a cure in an out-of-the-way town while trying to hide his invisibleness from the locals. But, once he’s found out, and starts to go extra cra-cra, all hell breaks loose and now not only does he have to try and find a cure, he has to hide from a mob how bent on somehow finding him.
I’ve always been a massive fan of the first Invisible Man movie and it was great to see that the original text was even better. H.G. Wells has such an easy writing style for the time, and always creates great characters within cool concepts. Every character in the Invisible Man either makes you laugh, angry, or furthers the plot. Those memorable performances in the film are all in the book.
Like War of the Worlds the story is recounted to you in an interesting way, giving you the appropriate details, and eye witness accounts. Sometimes even going back a little to fill you in on needed details. It’s a great format, and H.G. Wells appears to be a master at it.
I love the escalation within the book as the Invisible Man gets more angry and desperate to reverse his state, before eventually somewhat leaning into it. I like the different town folks reactions too, ranging from the more cowardly reaction to the call to arms. When the whole country is practically hunting him down you feel the hurt, despite the Invisible Man really not being the good guy.
And for me, that’s the key element of the book. There’s a reason he’s part of the Universal Monster Movies. The Invisible Man never really had noble intentions at any point. Even before the disaster he was experimenting on animals, lying to his neighbours, and being a dick. He was never a good person, and was paranoid from the get go about his work.
The fact that he is a bit of a prick makes the book way more interesting because it’s still his story. His situation is still dire. We can’t help but sympathise with his plight, especially when he’s naked, alone, lost, and scared. But, the second he’s not feeling those things, he reverts back to being an asshole.
I love the book as a character study. The sheer hubris of it all fascinates me. I think H.G. Wells does an incredible job laying out the possibilities of such a thing. It’s quite a dark book at times, but isn’t ever really excessive. The short chapters and easy prose make it a pretty quick read, and it helps that its engaging throughout, especially when you finally get to the sequence of how he came to be the Invisible Man in the first place. It’s a book i’d definitely recommend, and i’m going to continue to read Wells work whenever I get a chance as so far i’ve loved everything i’ve read.
