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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29981.The_Island_of_Dr_Moreau?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Island of Dr. Moreau (Bantam Classics)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168050090m/29981.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29981.The_Island_of_Dr_Moreau?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Island of Dr. Moreau</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/880695.H_G_Wells">H.G. Wells</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21264801?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 1 of 5 stars<br/>I have to say...I am underwhelmed. It is a classic in the sense that it's old and it's still read, and in that it was an idea unique in its time and even...kind of unusual now. I have to say I've never read anything quite like it, in both good and bad ways, although it did have kind of a Robert Louis Stevenson feel to it, now that I think about it. But don't ask me to explain or substantiate that claim, because it just popped into my head and I can't defend it. <br/> <br/>The problem I had was the cardinal sin of a book for me: I didn't like the narrator. When I don't like a narrator, 9 times out of 10 I can't get over that and like the book, especially when it's told in 1st person limited POV. I can't get out of Prendick's head, and because I don't like him and don't agree with his interpretation of events, I can't get past him to enjoy the story. I'm trapped with someone I don't like, it's like being locked in an elevator with some jerk who won't shut up, so even if what he's telling you is interesting, all you can think is "Oh my God, are you done yet?" <br/> <br/>I feel like I could have enjoyed it even Prendick such a...well, dick. (Ha! I see what you did there, H.G. Wells, even if you had no idea you were doing it.) He gets to the island and is locked into a room because Moreau and Montgomery don't feel ready to tell him what's going on, and he can hear a puma being cut open in the next room, <i>while it's still conscious</i>. His reaction is...I can't find the exact quote, but this is pretty close, "There's nothing about vivisection that a modern man of science would find repulsive." <br/> <br/>Are you serious? ARE YOU SERIOUS? And from that moment on, I hated him, because he was completely indifferent to having animals sliced open while they were alive and screaming in agony. He repeats that sentiment several times throughout his narrative, that if it were "only" vivisection, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. It bothers him that animals are being sliced into each other to create abominations, in the sense that they creep him out, but not in the sense that they've been tortured by a madman. This guy is a Nazi forerunner, and Prendick just reguards him as a scientist who went a little overboard in his research. R u srs? In fact, Prendick dislikes the only other human on the island, besides him and Moreau, because Montgomery is "too sympathic" to the Beast-men, and tries to befriend them and make them more human. Apparently, according to Prendick, being too friendly with animals can make a person cruel to humans. Huh. I guess he missed the memo that the people who become serial killers are usually the ones who torture animals, not the ones who feel bad for the animals that have been tortured and mutilated. I know, I'm shocked too. <br/> <br/>I think it is entirely possible that I am trying to put modern attitudes over the ideas of the time, but either way, it's jarring to me, and we don't likes it, precious! Next, I think I'll read <i>The Invisible Man</i>, to see if it's just this Wells that I don't care for. The man is one of the founders of sci-fi/horror/fantasy, the least I can do is give him a fair shake. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/779390?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>