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The Island of Dr. Moreau

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 30,829 ratings · 1,106 reviews

A shipwreck in the South Seas takes us to a palm-tree paradise where a mad sciencist -- the depraved Dr. Moreau -- conducts vile experiments, unspeakable animal experiments with hideous, humanlike results. Edward Prendick, an Englishman whose misfortunes bring him to the island, is witness to the Beast Folk's strange civilization and their eventual terrifying regression. I...more

Paperback, 172 pages

Published March 1st 2004 by Wildside Press (first published 1896)

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Aug 16, 2011 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: SciFi and/or Horror Geeks

Shelves: sci-fi, mieville50

Much creepier than I expected and much smarter, The Island of Dr. Moreau, as with so much of H.G. Wells' science fiction, addressed the ethical pitfalls of a scientific eventuality far too early to be anything other than prophetic, yet it still manages to be more entertaining than preachy.

Edward Prendick finds himself shipwrecked on an island with Doctors Montgomery and Moreau. The former a follower of the latter, who just happens to be a mad vivisectionist. Beyond these scientists, Prendick fi...more Much creepier than I expected and much smarter, The Island of Dr. Moreau, as with so much of H.G. Wells' science fiction, addressed the ethical pitfalls of a scientific eventuality far too early to be anything other than prophetic, yet it still manages to be more entertaining than preachy.

Edward Prendick finds himself shipwrecked on an island with Doctors Montgomery and Moreau. The former a follower of the latter, who just happens to be a mad vivisectionist. Beyond these scientists, Prendick finds himself intensely weirded out by the other inhabitants of the island, frightening man-animals created by Dr. Moreau.

Moreau captures the island's animals and painfully turns them into half-men, then forces them to live by strict standards that he believes will overcome their bestial natures. Moreau's primary commandment is that they cannot eat meat. This is, of course, a recipe for suspense and horror, for how can one expect Leopard Men or Puma Men to curb their need for meat, when the humans conducting the experiments cannot curb their own bestial natures? It simply can't be done.

Prendick finds himself becoming a participant, although not entirely willingly, in Moreau's society of vivisection. And once the animals finally rebel, as we know they must, he becomes the last man on the island, watching the tortured animals return to their natures and throw off Moreau's pseudo-society.

Even now, one hundred and thirteen years after it was written, The Island of Dr. Moreau is spooky enough to work as an effective horror/sci-fi story, but its still relevant thematic depth is what makes Moreau essential to anyone who loves books. Genetics (eugenics), animal experimentation, psychology, colonization, imperialism, patriarchy, scientific chauvinism, religion, and ethical imposition are seriously and intelligently explored. Wells' implied conclusions may be unsettling at times, but The Island of Dr. Moreau will make you think.

China Mieville says that Moreau is "a kind of fantasy echo of Shakespeare’s The Tempest." Could there be higher praise than that?(less)

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May 02, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not they deserve the label

Book #16: The Island of Dr Moreau, by HG Wells (1896)

The story in a nutshell:
Along with French author Jules Verne, the British HG Wells is considered one of the...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, philosophy, sci-fi

The isolation of a remote island, populated with strange hybrids who walk upright and understand language but are more animal-like than human, is a perfect setting for observing human nature.

The menagerie of beasts that have both human and animal characteristics are the life's work of the vivisectionist, Doctor Moreau, scandalized by fellow English scientists and forced to locate on a remote island to continue his research.

The shipwrecked Edward Prendick is rescued by Montgomery, Moreau's assist...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, reading-through-history

Okay, Island of Doctor Moreau is rollicking stuff: fast-moving, lurid, fun and, of course, the inspiration for the name of one of our most literate musical groups. (BTW, just think for a moment about what House of Pain were implying by calling themselves that. It's actually a pretty badass name.)

It's also the first Victorian book I've read that tackles Darwin. (I'm sure I'll find others.) Wells seems to get it: Dr. Moreau says, "I never yet heard of a useless thing that was not ground out of exi...more Okay, Island of Doctor Moreau is rollicking stuff: fast-moving, lurid, fun and, of course, the inspiration for the name of one of our most literate musical groups. (BTW, just think for a moment about what House of Pain were implying by calling themselves that. It's actually a pretty badass name.)

It's also the first Victorian book I've read that tackles Darwin. (I'm sure I'll find others.) Wells seems to get it: Dr. Moreau says, "I never yet heard of a useless thing that was not ground out of existence by evolution" (Ch 14), and later it's observed that none of Moreau's modifications are inherited by his creations' children.

I'm going to spoil the rest of the story here:(view spoiler)[
Aside from a deep look at evolution, it's either another cautionary tale of man playing God, a la Frankenstein, or it's an extended allegory for God, with Moreau playing the heavy. If you really try, you can draw allusions between the book and the Bible. The Beast Men live in a sort of Eden: "Save for the grossness of the line...I had here before me the whole balance of human life...in its simplest form" (Ch. 16). They taste of the forbidden fruit - in this case, bunny - and are judged: "Back to the House of Pain!" They turn against their Creator and become sinful. The end should presumably be a Flood, which totally doesn't happen, so you have to assume that either Wells is flipping the ending or I'm trying way too hard here.

Moreau as God is, of course, referenced countless times: The Beast Men

"lived in a fear that never died, fretted by a law they could not understand; their mock-human existence, begun in an agony, was one long struggle, one long dread of Moreau - and for what? It was the wantonness of it that stirred me." (Ch. 16)

And I was struck by the end of the book, in which - leaving the Beasts to whatever Flood they can conjure for themselves - the narrator returns to civilization. Previously, Wells had some fun with an Ape-man:

He had an idea, I believe, that to gabble about names that mean nothing was the proper use of speech. He called it "Big Thinks," to distinguish it from "Little Thinks," the sane every day interests of life. If ever I made a remark he did not understand, he would praise it very much, ask me to say it again, learn it by heart, and go off repeating it, with a word wrong here or there, to all the milder of the Beast People. He thought nothing of what was plain and sensible. (Ch. 21)

And when Prendick returns to London, he "would turn aside into some chapel - and even there, such was my disturbance, it seemed that the preacher gibbered 'Big Thinks,' even as the Ape-man had done" (Ch. 22). In fact, civilization in general seems no better than Dr. Moreau's beasts: "I see faces, keen and bright; others full or dangerous; others, unsteady, insincere,--none that have the calm authority of a reasonable soul" (Ch 22).

So: is Moreau a warning, or is he God? Are we the narrator or the Beast? (hide spoiler)]Ha! I actually got to type that sentence. That was hilarious. Read it with a stentorian tone. You know what I want is a beer.(less)

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Oct 08, 2010 Jacob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended-by-china-mieville, i-own, 2010, verne-and-wells, sci-fi-fantasy-etc

March 2010

“Like a lot of Wells’s work, this is an uneasy mixture of progressive and reactionary notions. It makes for one of the great horror stories of all time. A fraught examination of colonialism, science, eugenics, repression, and religion: a kind of fantasy echo of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.”
(China Mieville, from Fifty Fantasy & Science Fiction Works That Socialists Should Read)

That’s, um, that’s more than I got out of it.

Oh, don’t get me wrong--I noticed the horror, the examinations o...more March 2010

“Like a lot of Wells’s work, this is an uneasy mixture of progressive and reactionary notions. It makes for one of the great horror stories of all time. A fraught examination of colonialism, science, eugenics, repression, and religion: a kind of fantasy echo of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.”
(China Mieville, from Fifty Fantasy & Science Fiction Works That Socialists Should Read)

That’s, um, that’s more than I got out of it.

Oh, don’t get me wrong--I noticed the horror, the examinations of colonialism and science and whatnot, the progressive and reactionary bits that make Wells still worth reading today (even if I haven't read or seen The Tempest and can't compare). All I'm saying is, it didn't really get to me. It's mostly my fault, as I thought I could read this while working through some other books at the same time (I have a habit of doing that), but The Island of Doctor Moreau also didn't feel quite as strong as the Wells's other famous works.

See, The War of the Worlds may be 19th Century English invasion literature taken to extremes, but it's also a ripping good yarn about an alien invasion (or, from another point of view, a Martian tragedy); The Time Machine functions as an examination of evolution and regression in British class society while being a fine early time-travel story; and The Invisible Man is both thrilling horror and an exploration of morality and science. Doctor Moreau, on the other hand, pushed through more social commentary than story--at least, I couldn't pay attention to the horror of Moreau's Island because Wells had a Very Important Message to share about the horrors of vivisection and other bad science.

Again, that could just be my problem; as I said, I thought I could read this between other books (and, worse, during short breaks at work), so I can't say I managed to enjoy it as much as Wells's other books. Which is a shame, as I'm sure it's a great book (at least, China Mieville says so, and who am I to disagree?), and I've enjoyed reading H. G. Wells so far, so I imagine I just need to read this again, sometime, without distraction.
(less)

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Apr 03, 2009 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own

I knew the high level concept of this book from allusions in other stories and movies, but I'd never read the original novel. It was a bit different from what I expected.

The writing style is very accessible and fluid while also being jam-packed with very vivid and detailed descriptions as well as some in-depth scientific and moralistic discussions. The first few pages were a little slow, but the rest of the book, except for a paragraph here and there, flew by and kept me very hooked.

The story is...more I knew the high level concept of this book from allusions in other stories and movies, but I'd never read the original novel. It was a bit different from what I expected.

The writing style is very accessible and fluid while also being jam-packed with very vivid and detailed descriptions as well as some in-depth scientific and moralistic discussions. The first few pages were a little slow, but the rest of the book, except for a paragraph here and there, flew by and kept me very hooked.

The story is presented as a written report from the point of view of a narrator who finds himself stranded on the island for a time after some disasters at sea. The narrator has some scientific background which lends to very analytical and in-depth commentary.

Without adding any real spoilers, the summary is this: Doctor Moreau, after being chased out of London for his practices, is living on an island in the pacific conducting outrageous experiments. Our narrator, Pendrick, finds the island populated with creatures that are neither completely human nor completely bestial...they are aberrations....creatures partially human and partially beasts....the face of a man with almost snout-like nose and lips, pointed hairy ears, elongated torso and shorter than normal legs, etc., etc., etc. The horrors and grotesque nature of the experiments are explored in depth and naturally progress to some rather disturbing conclusions.

I rather enjoyed the story and found myself immersed in the plot and the concepts. My only real complaint by the end of the book was that it all ended too quickly. I would have loved another 50 or 100 pages. Still, it is a tightly woven tale with a lot of meet in it to leave you thinking.

Wells presents a thoughtful narrative addressing some of the social concerns of his day through this science-fiction story. At that point in history (late 1800s), this was all seen as fiction but based on the fears people had of experiments in the medical community. It's even more potent now, since some 30-50 years after the book, the Nazis engaged in similar "scientific" experimentation during the Holocaust (not with the same results, but with a similar type of horror upon society).

I really liked the way the book finished up. In the last few pages, we find our narrator trying to sort through everything he's witnessed and come to terms with it. I really enjoyed the way Wells shows him trying to recognize "humanity" in people and distinguish between the "human" and the "animal."

A great read.

*****
4.5 stars (out of 5)(less)

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Feb 05, 2009 Chris Comis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

It was great fun reading this book. Wells had a real knack for telling compelling stories involving complicated scientific issues of his day. But the real force of this story lies in the underlying theological/philosophical issues he brings up and develops. Wells was definitely a Darwinian evolutionist, but he also seemed to have almost a prophetic vision for where this kind of thinking can lead. If man is the result of millions of years of random evolution, then why not perform vivisection on a...more

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Sep 11, 2008 Jared rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is much more compelling than Time Machine. I had to keep reading and wanted to finish the story. As usual, he has some interesting and thought provoking themes which are still relevent to us. Should we be manipulating plants and animals to suit our needs? In our search for understanding, are we losing or ignoring important ethics? I think one of the most interesting questions is why Dr. Moreau thought the image of man was the perfect image. Anyway, like his other books, it is a quick a...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Benjamin Duffy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, awful-movie-great-book, fantasy-sci-fi

One thing I've found to be true about science fiction is that even though sci-fi authors aspire to speculate on future technology and culture, alien races, and faraway worlds, what they ultimately end up documenting most tellingly is their own time and place. What really shows up in the pages are the philosophical and cultural concerns of the author's own era, the timeless questions that come of being human, and a view of the future that is constrained by the limits of scientific knowledge at th...more One thing I've found to be true about science fiction is that even though sci-fi authors aspire to speculate on future technology and culture, alien races, and faraway worlds, what they ultimately end up documenting most tellingly is their own time and place. What really shows up in the pages are the philosophical and cultural concerns of the author's own era, the timeless questions that come of being human, and a view of the future that is constrained by the limits of scientific knowledge at the time the book was written.

Because of this, the sci-fi that ages most gracefully tends to be that sci-fi that makes the fewest specific predictions about future technology. A good example of this is Wells' own The Time Machine, which wisely steers clear of trying to explain in detail how the titular machine works. As a result, a 21st century reader can enjoy the book for its many strengths - as a fantastic tale of adventure, a disturbing commentary on class distinctions in the late 19th Century, etc. - rather than concentrating on hopelessly quaint and outdated science.

Unfortunately, The Island of Dr. Moreau is not so circumspectly written. The way in which the good doctor goes about his aims is far too well described, and comes off as positively laughable by the standards of even 1960s science, let alone that of 2011. It ended up diminishing my enjoyment of the rest of the story, which is a shame because the book has a lot going for it. For one, it's exciting: Wells writes fast-paced action scenes better than just about any other writer of his era. Also, for as silly as the biology babble is, the actual end results are creepy as hell. And regarding "the philosophical and cultural concerns of the author's own era," this book shows the signs of having been written in the years directly after Darwin in much the same way that The Time Machine has to be viewed through the lens of being less than a generation removed from Karl Marx. It's fascinating as a mirror of the cultural issues of the day. There's even a dash of dry humor here and there, and the human characters in general (all four or five of them) are believable and well-developed.

Definitely worth the read; just prepare to roll your eyes at some of the science.(less)

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May 15, 2009 Alex Morfesis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Poor Brutes...Before they had been beasts, their instincts fitly adapted to their surroundings, and happy as living things may be. Now they stumbled in the shackles of humanity, lived in a fear that never died, fretted by a law they could not understand; their mock-human existence began in agony, was one long internal struggle, one long dread of Moreau--and for what? It was the wantonness that stirred me."

I too began to pity the beasts. However, the real beast of this novel is Dr. Moreau, who c...more

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May 16, 2012 Kaph rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1000-books, on-a-boat, weird-science

Verdict: A surprisingly unsettling and simply awesome novella of a story you thought you knew but totally didn’t.

H. G. Wells is back and as incontinent as ever in The Island of Doctor Moreau, a quite enjoyable and surprisingly unsettling little novella. Incidentally, incontinence continues to mean things other than wetting yourself, which shows some restraint on the part of Wells, as I can only assume this would be a rather common occurrence in an island of beast-people abominations. But back to...more Verdict: A surprisingly unsettling and simply awesome novella of a story you thought you knew but totally didn’t.

H. G. Wells is back and as incontinent as ever in The Island of Doctor Moreau, a quite enjoyable and surprisingly unsettling little novella. Incidentally, incontinence continues to mean things other than wetting yourself, which shows some restraint on the part of Wells, as I can only assume this would be a rather common occurrence in an island of beast-people abominations. But back to the book; it opens with Englishmen in a boat and just gets better from there.

In particular, I was very pleased to recognize more of Wells patented deeply unlikeable endlessly entertaining characters. You see, prior to this whole 1,000 books enterprise I had read Well’s Invisible Man featuring the adorably irascible Griffin. This effort didn’t make it onto this list, but did make it into my heart. As I recall, The Invisible Man is a fantastic book about an angry albino who, rather than pay his rent, turns himself invisible and goes around harassing the general populace of Britain. His methods consist chiefly of stealing from people and hitting them with chairs. All while naked, of course. What’s not to love? Sometimes Griffin would make attempts at being a descent, reasonable person. Inevitably the strain would be too much. One raised voice he was back down to his birthday suit with his invisible incisors in a country grocers’ thigh. He was wonderful.

The Time Machine, for all its virtues, was peopled with characters ranging from generally likable to saintly. The Island of Doctor Moreau, to my delight, is rather the inverse. Pretty much everyone is awful with the exception of Prendick the Protagonist, whose teetotal sanctimonisity is, hilariously, a general irritant to everyone around him, especially Montgomery, Moreau’s semi-shanghaied Igor. If you ever have to leave the UK in a hurry, it might be worth your while, if at all possible, to consider a couple of methods rather than just leaping on to the boat of the first mad scientist to give you a wink.

Luckily, for Montgomery this was a lesson learned in hindsight. I say luckily not for him but for me. What a bleak(er) story this would be if, when everything had gone to shit, no one called Prendick a “logic-chopping, chalky-faced saint of an atheist”, declared the day a Bank Holiday and went out to introduce the beast people abominations to brandy. Sure, it all ended about as well as you would assume, but at least he died doing what he loved; getting pissed with crimes against God and Nature. Besides, as Prendick only eventually escapes through the administrations of a deus ex machina I don’t he is entitled to pass judgement. Rest in peace Monty, you beautiful flawed human being.

As for the narrative, let me just clarify that the beast people abominations (BPA) are beasts which have been surgically and mentally altered to resemble humans, not visa versa. Moreau is the man behind the madness and though he offers a lengthy and lofty justification for his studies it really just boils down to wanting to be God, which gives a kinda ‘Twisted Genesis’ motif to the whole book. The resulting story is really quite creepy in a Lovecraftian ‘wrong geometry’ kind of way, innately disturbing rather than ‘spooky’. I thought the epilogue was especially haunting and it’s stuck with me these past days since I finished it.

I’ve rated it an exuberant 4. I almost gave it a five but in the end I just can’t quite. H. G. Wells already got his 5 and I mean to be stingy with my highest honour, one per customer. Despite the amusement gleaned from the Prendick and Monty show, I found The Island of Doctor Moreau just a bit upsetting, too unsettling for me to prefer it over The Time Machine. Still a damn good read so go to it. As for me, it’s on to Martians!

#23
Title The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells
When January 2012
Why I loved Time Machine, and this was also a short free ebook
Rating 4(less)

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May 07, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads, 2012-favorites, all-time-favorites

Reading The Invisible Man inspired me to re-read this classic. I will be writing a review when I finish.

*******

It isn't a surprise that The Island of Dr. Moreau is often listed as one of top 100 novels of all time. Dripping with atmosphere and filled with a pitch dark portrayal of the suffering inflicted on the world by man's callous and wanton infliction of pain and atrocity in the name of "science," The Island of Dr. Moreau provides an anti-creation story with the amoral Dr. Moreau as God the...more Reading The Invisible Man inspired me to re-read this classic. I will be writing a review when I finish.

*******

It isn't a surprise that The Island of Dr. Moreau is often listed as one of top 100 novels of all time. Dripping with atmosphere and filled with a pitch dark portrayal of the suffering inflicted on the world by man's callous and wanton infliction of pain and atrocity in the name of "science," The Island of Dr. Moreau provides an anti-creation story with the amoral Dr. Moreau as God the creator. With hardly an unnecessary word, this short novel rushes relentlessly through a nightmarish landscape to a dark, inevitable conclusion, leaving deep philosophical, scientific, and theological unease in the reader.

Pendrick is ship-wrecked and rescued by Montgomery, a fellow Englishman who is in the process of transporting animals to an island in the South Pacific. Of particular note is Montgomery's assistant, whose aspect and physiology are unsettling. He seems to be animalistic in features and movement. The other sailors share Pendrick's unease and summarily throw Montgomery, his assistant, and their animals, along with Pendrick, off the ship upon reaching their destination. If the assistant was unnatural in appearance, he is nothing compared to the "men" that assist in bringing the party ashore to what Pendrick later discovers is an island under the charge of Dr. Moreau---a literary figure rivaling Ahab in obsession and malevolence.

Moreau and Mongomery make no attempt to disguise what is happening on the island as Pendrick is quickly driven outside by the screams of agony of Moreau's latest experiment. Pendrick describes the screams as "if all the suffering in the world were given one voice." Running to the beach in fear and to escape the awful suffering, Pendrick encounters the other residents of the island---the "men" and other creatures created by Moreau on this anti-Eden with Moreau as a demonic counter-part to God.

Transformed and reborn in the pain of Moreau's scalpels, the island is populated by hybrids of all types of animals. Some human in form, some animal, some the stuff of nightmares that make one think of Lovecraft's monsters. These creatures are held in place by "the Law" which governs their behavior and a twisted form of society that places Moreau at the apex as its Creator and God.

Moreau's control of his Eden is tenuous as it requires him to maintain his God-like stature in the eyes of the "men" who are reverting daily more and more to their animal instincts. Even as the nightmare moves towards its inevitable conclusion, we are left to wonder, along with Pendrick, at what truly is the difference between man and the other animals, as well as the use and value of science and religion in society.

Wells later classified this book as a "an exercise in youthful blashphemy" and one can clearly see why he might say this as Moreau creates commandments ("the Law" of the creatures), the threat of torment (in "The House of Pain") and places himself as the creator and God of creation to keep control over these creatures. This makes Moreau that much worse than even the most terrible of his creatures because, even as he describes the abominations created by Moreau, Pendrick tells us that while animals are capable of terrible violence and cruelty, "it takes a real man to lie." (less)

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Jun 26, 2010 Jayme rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, audio, science-fiction, horror

My favourite H.G. Wells story so far, this was a really creepy cool book. A cautionary tale about taking science too far. In some ways a twist on Frankenstein, where science goes wrong.

Dr. Moreau is an exiled scientist who has spent the last ten years populating his island with beings not quite human and not quite animal. I think Wells was a little ahead of his time as far as the idea of these hybrid humanimals he created for this story, but the actual science behind it, a weird sort of vivisec...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Shellie (Layers of Thought) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: classic sci fi and horror lovers

Shelves: genre-classics, books-1001-list, blog-reviews, country-australia-new-zealand-pacis, read-in-2012, spec-fic-monsters, spec-fic-horror, spec-fic-science-fiction, challenge-fill-in-the-gaps-read

Original audio review posted at Layers of Thought.

A classic science fiction and horror mix that includes monsters created by the amoral Dr. Moreau.

About: Set in the late 1800’s, an educated and professional man named Edward Prendick inadvertently becomes stranded on a South Pacific island. This tropical island houses the laboratories of Dr. Moreau - a mad scientist of sorts who is doing some unusual and cruel experiments on animals on the remote island. Although Moreau attempts to hide his studi...more

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Dec 03, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, edminster-group, science-fiction, dystopia

Over the period of a decade beginning with The Time Machine in 1895, H. G. Wells created some of his most popular fictions in the form of scientific romance novels. These books have captured the imagination of readers ever since and are arguably as popular today as they were more than one hundred years ago. Among these perhaps the strangest and best is The Island of Dr. Moreau. Undoubtedly influenced by Robinson Crusoe, but also by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island which was published onl...more

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Nov 26, 2007 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: animal lovers

Shelves: recentreads

Something I'll never forget--Wells' favorite adverb in this book is "presently." He makes good use of this word as his character Edward Prendick vividly retells his experience of being stranded on an island with the "mad scientist" Dr. Moreau and his sot of an assistant Montgomery, who's favorite quip is to call everyone "a silly ass." No wonder this one is not frequently taught in most high schools.

Moreau has a gift for surgery, vivisection is the period terminology employed; he grafts various...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Vittorio Ducoli rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bestiale Umanità

L'isola del dott. Moreau è lo specchio della società industriale inglese di fine secolo, dominata dallo sfruttamento e dalla falsa fede nelle risorse della scienza e della razionalità. Il Dottor Moreau, che cerca di umanizzare gli animali, non si cura delle loro sofferenze, e nella realtà li estrania dalla loro natura, imponendo con l'ipnosi una "legge" assurda. Ma la ribellione è dietro l'angolo.
Una perla assoluta è il fatto che l'animale più stupido sia l'uomo-scimmia, cioè l'a...more

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May 10, 2007 Ellie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had seen at least one movie version of this book, and perhaps even read it before as a child, when I picked it up last night. It really is an excellent book, though some of the sentiments are a bit outdated. It addresses the meaning of humanity, religion, scientific progress. At points it is frightening and at others poignant. The description of the screams of animals as Moreau vivisected them is very disturbing. The story reads as both a nightmare and a commentary on man. I’d like to read mor...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Mel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century-fiction, victorian, victorian-lit

Bill made me a gorgeous copy of this book, cursive script and beautiful green leaf patterned paper boards. I ended up reading the whole thing in one go last night. This was the last of wells' fantastical fiction that I'd not read. I have to say I really really enjoyed it. While the prose was not as beautiful as war of the worlds there was something very atmospheric and disturbing about the writing. I felt like I'd been transported to the island where the constant screams of tortured animals fill...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Review – The Island of Dr. Moreau

I was wary when I picked up The Island of Dr. Moreau, having for some reason not liked H.G. Wells in my younger days. I was surprised at how refreshing and strange the book was, and how well it read.

The book is not without its flaws. The denouement – that the strange inhabitants of the island are animals surgically altered to give them human form – is loudly telegraphed, even if you didn’t already know it. At the end, Wells feels inclined to warn us that “there c...more

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May 15, 2013 Ashley Ferguson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't read a classic novel in a really long time, and so this was a little hard to get into at first. I mean, the premise is really interesting, and the story is great, but it's just... a classic. And after reading so much fast-paced YA, it was just really slow for me.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it once I finally did get into it. I think for the time period it was written it, it was definitely a book that pushed limits and made the people of that generation really think. It has so many...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Nicola rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A thoroughly beautiful, eerie, entertaining read. This story is adventurous and terrifying in the same breath, displaying not only great understanding of the scientific practices of its time but a fantastic and almost ingrained comprehension of what makes a horror story effective. The protagonist, an everyman, is drawn into his situation by misfortune and, for a while, the situation on the titular Moreau's island is preferable to life as a castaway - until the true horrors are unveiled, and wors...more A thoroughly beautiful, eerie, entertaining read. This story is adventurous and terrifying in the same breath, displaying not only great understanding of the scientific practices of its time but a fantastic and almost ingrained comprehension of what makes a horror story effective. The protagonist, an everyman, is drawn into his situation by misfortune and, for a while, the situation on the titular Moreau's island is preferable to life as a castaway - until the true horrors are unveiled, and worse, explained. The revelations of the sick society built on Moreau's island are peeled off with fabulous poise and timing, allowing the reader to feel the panic and desperation of the protagonist's plight along with his almost unwilling understanding of the circumstances that allowed his situation to be.

Moreau's literal creation of humanity from the rough stuff of nature creates an otherworldly environment where common notions of society are present, if off just enough to be recognized as uncanny. The months-long end sequence and the literal devolution of Moreau's society of beasts is handled in a masterful fashion, leaving the protagonist scarred mentally and physically by his experience. This is in and of itself a mark of successful horror: if the protagonist survives, it is always as a lesser creature, crippled in some way by their experiences. Wells understands how fiction functions, and his storycrafting is superb enough to be useful as a template when explaining to ambitious novices how to go about writing an effective tale.

Wells' works typically suffer from two prominent disabilities, both a factor of time: the science in his works are outdated, and the stories so well-known that surprise is almost guaranteed to be absent. We all know that Time Machines result in Morlocks, and that Martians in three-legged battle suits are vulnerable to Earth microbes. At the time, though, this science was new and exciting, and one can hardly fault an author for being too successful, especially when his fiction has created an archetype for countless works of future authors to expand upon. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to write, to anyone who wants to explore the foundations of modern speculative fiction, to anyone who just wants to read something they are guaranteed to enjoy. Wells is a classic for a reason, and I encourage anyone and everyone to discover why for themselves.(less)

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Apr 01, 2013 Gale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-classics

"Shackled by Humanity"
or
'"The Beast Begins to Creep Back"

Like Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein, another mad scientist (all right--obsessed biological researcher) tries to create his own humanoid menagerie remote from society. Fired with Evolutionary fervor a youthful HGW presents smug civilization faced with a shocking portrayal of genius gone amock--a direct warning about the dangers of pseudo-scientific zeal. Edward Prendick is the sympathethic but passive protagonist who barely survives a...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Kacey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was already a bit familiar with the plot of this book before diving into it. However, being familiar and getting the entire story are two different things. And even knowing the story, the reading experience gave me chills as I followed the main character through the island.

This book is incredibly disturbing and had my body tingling almost the entire time reading. It has unsettling and sometimes gory imagery, but I think all of these things make the book better. It's supposed to unsettle and di...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, i-own-a-copy

While still an intriguing book, The Island of Dr. Moreau just wasn't my cup of tea. The plot and such was really interesting, I just found myself zoning too often to actually notice everything that was going on. I can detail out the basic overall plot, but it's the little things that I'm afraid I couldn't tell you. What a shame.

English traveler Edward Prendick becomes shipwrecked on an extremely remote island, upon which he meets the notorious Dr. Moreau. While Edward remembers Moreau from his...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthologies-collections-contents, classics, favorites, sci-fi

*contained within Barnes & Noble anthology*

Holy crap, this was disturbing. And I am not easily disturbed by many things. Very rarely am I disturbed by things that would disturb most other people. But this got to me. Don't get me wrong, I loved the story itself,(hence the five stars), and there were demented mad scientists and a shipwrecked main character, so of course I loved it.

It's Wells' descriptions of the experiments that freaked me out.

Moreau is the main aforementioned mad scientist wh...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Audrey Maran rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read The Island of Dr. Moreau as an early adolescent, and it immediately jumped to being one of my favorite books. I read it a couple of times and saw every adaptation I could find (all bad, don't waste your time). It is difficult for me to explain why it resonated with me so well. I think part of it was the science-gone-wrong thriller style that I have always enjoyed and part of it was just that it is a well told and creepy adventure. Moreau is a perfect example of the stereotypical mad...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Marco Guarda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-masters, literary-foundations

Through vivisection, Moreau evolves animals into far cries of men and women. He makes them stand up and walk like humans and refines their throats so that they can talk. He succeeds so well in his latest experiments that Prendick, unwilling witness of all this, can hardly tell the servants from the animals Moreau has used as building matter.

But Moreau hasn’t always been as successful, and the whole island he has found refuge on, reeks with the half-experiments and failed attempts he’s carried ou...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Marta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f, owned

Reading classics is always an exercise in surprise: you heard about this book so many times, you are certain you know what it is about, there is this character A who is so famous and concept B, later reused about a thousand times... And then, surprise: A is not important at all, or B is treated in such an innovative way you are shocked nobody later used it. The Island of Dr. Moreau is such a book.

Most of us is thoroughly familiar with the concept of Mad Scientists Creates Human/X Hybrids Which...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Fence rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi-course-list, ebooks, sff

After his death the nephew of a Mr. Edward Prendick found a strange account among his papers. It was known that Prendick had been cast adrift after the ship he was on sank. The tale he told his rescuers a year or so later made very little sense, and so he pretended memory loss, for fear of being thought insane. For he ended up upon the Island of Doctor Moreau (title alert) where strange creatures lived, the results of Moreau’s experiments and vivisections.

This is another of those books that has...more After his death the nephew of a Mr. Edward Prendick found a strange account among his papers. It was known that Prendick had been cast adrift after the ship he was on sank. The tale he told his rescuers a year or so later made very little sense, and so he pretended memory loss, for fear of being thought insane. For he ended up upon the Island of Doctor Moreau (title alert) where strange creatures lived, the results of Moreau’s experiments and vivisections.

This is another of those books that has entered into popular culture and imagination. We all know the general outline of the story. An insane scientist creates strange beast-men on an isolated island, with terrible consequences.

Even if you think you know the story, if you haven’t read the book you should give it a go, because it is one of those classics that have gone on to inspire so many other sci-fi & fantasy stories. Not to mention episodes of The Simpsons.

The story is told in first person by Prendick some time after his escape from the island, so he knows how it ends, and sometimes will use that fact in his telling. Foreshadowing the disaster we know is coming. And then there is the character of the Doctor himself. A horrible individual, I don’t think there can be any real argument there, possibly one of the first “mad scientists” so beloved of horror & sci-fi? He shares with Frankenstien a desire for knowledge. And there are plenty of echoes of other stories as well in that regard, but he is the first one that I’ve come across who really doesn’t care about anything but his work.

Okay, Frankenstein was selfish and unthinking, but at least at some point he actually considered that maybe what he was doing wasn’t such a good idea. He was the hero, in a way, his arc was all about realising that you cannot have mastery over nature. Moreau never learns that, unless you count death as knowledge. Unlike Frankenstein Moreau is the bad guy here. He wants to remove the “beast” from the animals and turn them human. That is something that cannot be done, because humans, of course, are part of the natural world.

And his lack of empathy for any pain the animals suffered is truly appalling. Not that Prendick is much better. He can’t stand it while he can hear the animals moaning in torture, but once out of earshot he isn’t too bothered by it. Vivisection for vivisection’s sake is not a good thing.(less)

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About H.G. Wells

Herbert George Wells, better known as H. G. Wells, was the third son of a shopkeeper. After two years' apprenticeship in a draper's shop, he became a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School and won a scholarship to study under T. H. Huxley at the Normal School of Science, South Kensington. He taught biology before becoming a professional writer and journalist.

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