The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This is to discuss 2015 June 2015 group read The Island of Dr. Moreau by H G Wells

Personally i'm really looking forward to this one. The War of the Worlds was one of my favourite books we read last time round. I did plan to read more H G Wells afterwards but never managed it so now's my chance.

I jumped the gun and read this last month.

(view spoiler)[The protagonist, whose name I've already forgotten, through a series of misadventures finds himself on a remote island with Mr. Morrison and Dr. Moreau. He discovers 'beast people' and thinks they are humans who have been altered by Dr. Moreau and fears that he will suffer the same fate. Moreau and Morrison convince him that he will be safe, that these creatures are beasts that have been given human traits. As the creatures revert to their beastly ways, Morrison and Moreau are killed and our hero finds himself stranded on the island for several months as the "beast folk' become more and more beastly. Eventually, he is rescued. (hide spoiler)]

I kind of expected that it might have followed along the lines of I Am Legend, in which the protagonist, through his own cunning, survives in a world in which inhuman creatures seek his destruction. But it was not so, just kind of a co-existence. I think this was the fourth H.G. Wells book I've read, and it was the fourth best. I rated it three stars. Ho-hum. YMMV

Buck wrote: "I've read, and it was the fourth best. I rated it three stars. Ho-hum. YMMV "

Interesting I thought this was supposed to be one of his best but maybe it is just one of the most well known. I've only read about 5 pages so far as i'm caught between starting this and finishing Oryx and Crake.

I'd also like to try and watch the film version with Marlon Brando - it is supposed to be really terrible but having watched the documentary on the making of it a few weeks ago i'd like to see just how bad it is!

Jo wrote: "Buck wrote: "I've read, and it was the fourth best. I rated it three stars. Ho-hum. YMMV "

Interesting I thought this was supposed to be one of his best but maybe it is just one of the most well known. I've only read about 5 pages so far as i'm caught between starting this and finishing Oryx and Crake."

If you're going to read Oryx and Crake, you really need to read the whole trilogy. Oryx and Crake, sets the scene and leaves you with a cliffhanger. The second book follows a different path with different characters and in the end converges with the first book and resolves the cliffhanger. Dr. Moreau is a much quicker read.

Buck wrote: "If you're going to read Oryx and Crake, you really need to read the whole trilogy. Oryx and Crake, sets the scene and leaves you with a cliffhanger. The second book follows a different path with different characters and in the end converges with the first book and resolves the cliffhanger. Dr. Moreau is a much quicker read. "

I've started reading the Island of Dr Moreau instead and it is a quicker read. I'm about half way now and at present it's almost a horror story, i'm quite enjoying it. I get the feeling I will be able to predict the plot from now to the end but I don't mind as I enjoy the way H G Wells writes. I'm amazed given the topic that it doesn't seem that dated considering it was written in 1896.

I didn't enjoy this as much as The War of the Worlds but I still thought it was good. I think it is more of a horror novel than a sci-fi novel and on that level it works well. It was creepy and tense and some of the creatures were quite horrible - I imagine in 1896 it was really disturbing.

I always find it quite fascinating when reading older books how the issues behind the book are rarely resolved or in the cases of wars just replaced by a new one. In this case the subject being vivisection and still today over a hundred years later it is still debated what is right or wrong.

Jo wrote: "I didn't enjoy this as much as The War of the Worlds but I still thought it was good. I think it is more of a horror novel than a sci-fi novel and on that level it works well. It was creepy and tense..."

I agree with you, Jo, but I think it falls a little short of being truly a horror novel, by today's standards at least; Hence my reference above to I Am Legend, in which a man, through his resourcefulness, survives with humanesque creatures that are out to get him. Wells, in the Island of Dr. Moreau, really doesn't convey that sense of prolonged terror, and I don't think that was his intent.

Buck wrote: "I agree with you, Jo, but I think it falls a little short of being truly a horror novel, by today's standards at least;..."

You are probably right, I've not read many horror novels which is probably why I find things creepier than most people. I did read I am Legend though so I agree with you there. Maybe it is typical of the era as the principal characters here and in Journey to the Center of the Earth seem more like average people with all their fallibilities unlike the scientists.

As an aside i've just got back from holiday where I started reading The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter, I'd bought it to read after I read The Time Machine. Unfortunately I forgot that's what it was when I started reading it on my kindle. Sadly now if I read the Time Machine I already know the ending!

Anyway I'm quite enjoying it and i'm quite surprised how well he manages to mimic Victorian prose.

I think it falls a little short of being truly a horror novel

I thought it definitely had a horror atmosphere. I'm not an expert on horror, but my experience with this book was uneasiness. Blurring the line between human and nonhuman was very creepy, and the ending made me reconsider the way I look at people on the street, much like The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

The ending of this book is my favorite Wells moment ever. I'm wondering if that's just the age at which I read it, though. Were other people as impressed as I was, or did it just seem like a knockoff of Gulliver's Travels?

I read this last year after a long delay, because the bits and pieces of film versions I had seen were disturbing.
I am glad I finally got around to reading it. The arrogance of Dr. Moreau and his horrible experiments were unpleasant, but I really felt sorry for the creatures he created. I think it was a worthwhile read for me.

Good to know. I've been imagining that I'd read this someday, now I'm pushed to make an effort, ty.

Oh my. I just found out that my local library has it... on the Juvenile fiction shelves! Unless it's a terribly bowdlerized abridgement, that does not seem right to me....

The first two chapters really set the tone of the book.

That is a bizarre location for that book, Cheryl. It is not appropriate for children.

I don't think Well's style is really appropriate for kids today much less the content of this book. It's ugly. Anyone run out of town for vivisection in the late 19th century had to be truly horrible & that's shown graphically throughout. It's a really good story, though. The end is particularly chilling.

Maybe it is there because Wells' style isn't too sophisticated and is accessable to young readers?