From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

The Island of Dr. Moreau

H.G. Wells,

Alan Lightman (Introduction)

Start date: June 1, 2023

Finish date: June 30, 2023

Discussion: CLASSICS READS

Why we're reading this: June 2023 - Classics Selection
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CLASSICS READS

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What Members Thought

Jun 19, 2010 Kasia rated it it was amazing

Like most people I have seen this as movie years ago but it didn't haunt me half as deeply as the small novel itself. In size it's a sliver of a book but its depth goes beyond the short amount of pages. The beginning was little tough to get into but transformed into a magnificent story that kept me up for two nights in a row. Even though this was written over a hundred years ago the tale is still fresh and shocking, waking up immense pity and outrage at what people are capable of. Like the story Like most people I have seen this as movie years ago but it didn't haunt me half as deeply as the small novel itself. In size it's a sliver of a book but its depth goes beyond the short amount of pages. The beginning was little tough to get into but transformed into a magnificent story that kept me up for two nights in a row. Even though this was written over a hundred years ago the tale is still fresh and shocking, waking up immense pity and outrage at what people are capable of. Like the story says, the difference between man and beast is that man can lie...but both are capable of monstrosities but not for the same reason. H.G Wells was known to paint a rather melancholic and pessimistic picture of man's footprint on nature and animals and even ourselves; strangely I have always bonded with that dark side of reality. It's true, we can destroy more than create, or perhaps create while destroying precious creatures and resources.

I love all sorts of island stories, where someone is literally stranded with no means of escape and at the mercy of whatever lurks in the deep jungles and caves. In this story, a small unnamed island is populated by strangely misshapen men, resembling animals more than humans. Ran by two scientists, Moreau and Montgomery, it's an insane place where new law rules and where animals are turned into people. Or so they think, when Edward Prendick, a victim of a nasty ship wreck gets rescued and taken to the island he uncovers horror that almost claim his sanity. He sees that there is no way out, he's trapped in a place where normal doesn't exist, a new world populated with half man and half beasts, with volatile emotions and restrictions. I enjoyed discovering the islands secrets with Edward, and many emotions shook me as I read. Page 98 was perhaps the most disturbing, the memory stuck in my head, especially since I have pets at home, I can tell when one is happy and when it's distressed and this book is full of distress

After reading this I am hungry for more of H.G. Wells and his probing mind, the ideas are still great today, after all, a good writer is priceless no matter what century he or she lives in. ...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Trisha rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, sci-fi

Definitely an interesting read, and certainly an early tale of the dangers and ethics of tampering with genetics. It also reminded me a little of "Frankenstein" in regard to the fact that Dr. Moreau would "create" these animal/human hybrids and then cast them off to fend for themselves on the island. It's certainly a clever story and I liked the POV, but I would like to have seen more depth to the story, maybe more backstory or interaction with the Beast Folk. Regardless, it is definitely a clas ...more

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Apr 17, 2019 Ketutar Jensen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1000-soleils

solid horror :-)
Not really anything to smile at, I'm smiling at the solidity. This story is cruel.

Don't read this book if you love animals and cannot abide with animal abuse. It's not graphic, but the puma was screaming of pain the first part of the book... and I can imagine :'(

I read this too to better appreciate The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter
I don't appreciate it much at all.

...more

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