The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

by H.G. Wells

A mysterious man arrives at the local inn of the English village of Iping, West Sussex, during a snowstorm. The villagers do not know what to make of the reclusive stranger because he is completely covered from head to toe and spends most of his time in his room. His crimes are witnessed even though he cannot be seen. Finally his isolation as an invisible man takes a mental toll on him. He cannot forsee that he would still be vulnerable, which ultimately seals his fate.

Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2024

About the author

Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.

He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.

More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...

http://www.online-literature.com/well...

http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

Reviews

[Alex]

There are so many 'classic' books I haven't read, and this is from the era where new titles are just settling into that category, so I guess it's a classic. Short but sweet. It took a while for me to determine whether the protagonist (unnamed for a good chunk of the book) was being unreasonable, or just talking offensively to working class people, because that was the style at the time. Spoiler, he's not a good guy. I loved the way this was written as a series of witness accounts being reported by the narrator, so you don't get the full reveal of invisibility for some time even though it's right there in the title. This was my first HG Wells and I'm happy to try more.