Tuesday, 5 May 2015

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells (Retro SciFi)

This was a thrilling story. I thought it would be corny and I was only half interested when I picked it up. I did not think anything could surpass The War of the Worlds or The Time Machine. However, to my delight, The Invisible Man was so wonderfully presented. It takes place at an Inn in an English village during the time of Victorian Britain. The locals are nosey rumour mongers who find the strange bandaged man a bit of an odd fellow who keeps himself to himself. From here the wonderful plot begins as we gradually learn of the invisible man and the growing intolerance towards his desperate need for isolation and secretive studies. A gripping tale with characters that are deeper and more real than those in H.G. Wells' other good novels.

This story drip-feeds the reader with a developing plot. The scientific explanation for the man's invisibility is remarkable and very plausible too. The clothes and bandages to hide his transparency are all wonderfully thought out. 

One would think the prospect of being invisible would be exciting and advantages, but H.G. Wells thought otherwise as our scientist becomes obsessed, bitter and twisted in his attempt to find a cure for his invisibility - the result of a scientific experiment that went wrong. The reader is introduced to the invisible man as he is about to embark upon a new quest to reverse the accident that rendered the scientist permanently invisible. It is a race against time as he gradually loses his sanity while trying to keep his dilemma a secret. Desperately, he searches for a formula to reverse the dreadful process. 





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