The Island of Dr. Moreau: A chilling tale of Prendick’s encounter with horrifically modified animals on Dr. Moreau’s island.

By H. G. Wells

Englishman Edward Prendick finds himself shipwrecked on the open ocean. When a passing ship takes him aboard and revives him, things are starting to look up for the young scientist. Little does he know things about to get much worse. Prendick is taken to an abandoned island occupied only by the mysterious Dr. Moreau, a discgraced English scientist who has been ostracized for his unethical treatment of live creatures. Prendick finds that the Doctor has fallen back into his old habits, using the island's animals to create human hybrids. Prendick must learn to survive among these creatures, while uncovering even more deadly mysteries about Doctor and the strange inhabitants of the island in this classic sci-fi tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Jul 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781974923748

H. G. Wells

H.G. Wells is considered by many to be the father of science fiction. He was the author of numerous classics such as The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The War of the Worlds, and many more. 

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

ON February the First, 1887, the Lady Vain was lost by collision with a derelict when about the latitude 1° S. and longitude 107° W.

On January the Fifth, 1888—that is eleven months and four days after—my uncle, Edward Prendick, a private gentleman, who certainly went aboard the Lady Vain at Callao, and who had been considered drowned, was picked up in latitude 5° 3′ S. and longitude 101° W. in a small open boat of which the name was illegible, but which is supposed to have belonged to the missing schooner Ipecacuanha. He gave such a strange account of himself that he was supposed demented. Subsequently he alleged that his mind was a blank from the moment of his escape from the Lady Vain. His case was discussed among psychologists at the time as a curious instance of the lapse of memory consequent upon physical and mental stress. The following narrative was found among his papers by the undersigned, his nephew and heir, but unaccompanied by any definite request for publication.

The only island known to exist in the region in which my uncle was picked up is Noble’s Isle, a small volcanic islet and uninhabited. It was visited in 1891 by H. M. S. Scorpion. A party of sailors then landed, but found nothing living thereon except certain curious white moths, some hogs and rabbits, and some rather peculiar rats. So that this narrative is without confirmation in its most essential particular. With that understood, there seems no harm in putting this strange story before the public in accordance, as I believe, with my uncle’s intentions. There is at least this much in its behalf: my uncle passed out of human knowledge about latitude 5° S. and longitude 105° E., and reappeared in the same part of the ocean after a space of eleven months. In some way he must have lived during the interval. And it seems that a schooner called the Ipecacuanha with a drunken captain, John Davies, did start from Africa with a puma and certain other animals aboard in January, 1887, that the vessel was well known at several ports in the South Pacific, and that it finally disappeared from those seas (with a considerable amount of copra aboard), sailing to its unknown fate from Bayna in December, 1887, a date that tallies entirely with my uncle’s story.

CHARLES EDWARD PRENDICK.

I. IN THE DINGEY OF THE LADY VAIN

(The Story written by Edward Prendick.)

I DO not propose to add anything to what has already been written concerning the loss of the Lady Vain. As everyone knows, she collided with a derelict when ten days out from Callao. The longboat, with seven of the crew, was picked up eighteen days after by H. M. gunboat Myrtle, and the story of their terrible privations has become quite as well known as the far more horrible Medusa case. But I have to add to the published story of the Lady Vain another, possibly as horrible and far stranger. It has hitherto been supposed that the four men who were in the dingey perished, but this is incorrect. I have the best of evidence for this assertion: I was one of the four men.

But in the first place I must state that there never were four men in the dingey,—the number was three. Constans, who was seen by the captain to jump into the gig,¹ luckily for us and unluckily for himself did not reach us. He came down out of the tangle of ropes under the stays of the smashed bowsprit, some small rope caught his heel as he let go, and he hung for a moment head downward, and then fell and struck a block or spar floating in the water. We pulled towards him, but he never came up.

I say luckily for us he did not reach us, and I might almost say luckily for himself; for we had only a small beaker of water and some soddened ship’s biscuits with us, so sudden had been the alarm, so unprepared the ship for any disaster. We thought the people on the launch would be better provisioned (though it seems they were not), and we tried to hail them. They could not have heard us, and the next morning when the drizzle cleared,—which was not until past midday,—we could see nothing of them. We could not stand up to look about us, because of the pitching of the boat. The two other men who had escaped so far with me were a man named Helmar, a passenger like myself, and a seaman whose name I don’t know,—a short sturdy man, with a stammer.

We drifted famishing, and, after our water had come to an end, tormented by an intolerable thirst, for eight days altogether. After the second day the sea subsided slowly to a glassy calm. It is quite impossible for the ordinary reader to imagine those eight days. He has not, luckily for himself, anything in his memory to imagine with. After the first day we said little to one another, and lay in our places in the boat and stared at the horizon, or watched, with eyes that grew larger and more haggard every day, the misery and weakness gaining upon our companions. The sun became pitiless. The water ended on the fourth day, and we were already thinking strange things and saying them with our eyes; but it was, I think, the sixth before Helmar gave voice to the thing we had all been thinking. I remember our voices were dry and thin, so that we bent towards one another and spared our words. I stood out against it with all my might, was rather for scuttling the boat and perishing together among the sharks that followed us; but when Helmar said that if his proposal was accepted we should have drink, the sailor came round to him.

I would not draw lots however, and in the night the sailor whispered to Helmar again and again, and I sat in the bows with my clasp-knife in my hand, though I doubt if I had the stuff in me to fight; and in the morning I agreed to Helmar’s proposal, and we handed halfpence to find the odd man. The lot fell upon the sailor; but he was the strongest of us and would not abide by it, and attacked Helmar with his hands. They grappled together and almost stood up. I crawled along the boat to them, intending to help Helmar by grasping the sailor’s leg; but the sailor stumbled with the swaying of the boat, and the two fell upon the gunwale and rolled overboard together. They sank like stones. I remember laughing at that, and wondering why I laughed. The laugh caught me suddenly like a thing from without.

I lay across one of the thwarts for I know not how long, thinking that if I had the strength I would drink sea-water and madden myself to die quickly. And even as I lay there I saw, with no more interest than if it had been a picture, a sail come up towards me over the sky-line. My mind must have been wandering, and yet I remember all that happened, quite distinctly. I remember how my head swayed with the seas, and the horizon with the sail above it danced up and down; but I also remember as distinctly that I had a persuasion that I was dead, and that I thought what a jest it was that they should come too late by such a little to catch me in my body.

For an endless period, as it seemed to me, I lay with my head on the thwart watching the schooner (she was a little ship, schooner-rigged fore and aft) come up out of the sea. She kept tacking to and fro in a widening compass, for she was sailing dead into the wind. It never entered my head to attempt to attract attention, and I do not remember anything distinctly after the sight of her side until I found myself in a little cabin aft. There’s a dim half-memory of being lifted up to the gangway, and of a big round countenance covered with freckles and surrounded with red hair staring at me over the bulwarks. I also had a disconnected impression of a dark face, with extraordinary eyes, close to mine; but that I thought was a nightmare, until I met it again. I fancy I recollect some stuff being poured in between my teeth; and that is all.

¹ Daily News, March 17, 1887.

II. THE MAN WHO WAS GOING NOWHERE

THE cabin in which I found myself was small and rather untidy. A youngish man with flaxen hair, a bristly straw-coloured moustache, and a dropping nether lip, was sitting and holding my wrist. For a minute we stared at each other without speaking. He had watery grey eyes, oddly void of expression. Then just overhead came a sound like an iron bedstead being knocked about, and the low angry growling of some large animal. At the same time the man spoke. He repeated his question,—How do you feel now?

I think I said I felt all right. I could not recollect how I had got there. He must have seen the question in my face, for my voice was inaccessible to me.

"You were picked up in a boat, starving. The name on the boat was the Lady Vain, and there were spots of blood on the gunwale."

At the same time my eye caught my hand, so thin that it looked like a dirty skin-purse full of loose bones, and all the business of the boat came back to me.

Have some of this, said he, and gave me a dose of some scarlet stuff, iced.

It tasted like blood, and made me feel stronger.

You were in luck, said he, to get picked up by a ship with a medical man aboard. He spoke with a slobbering articulation, with the ghost of a lisp.

What ship is this? I said slowly, hoarse from my long silence.

"It’s a little trader from Arica and Callao. I never asked where she came from in the beginning,—out of the land of born fools, I guess. I’m a passenger myself, from Arica. The silly ass who owns her,—he’s captain too, named Davies,—he’s lost his certificate, or something. You know the kind of man,—calls the thing the Ipecacuanha, of all silly, infernal names; though when there’s much of a sea without any wind, she certainly acts according."

(Then the noise overhead began again, a snarling growl and the voice of a human being together. Then another voice, telling some Heaven-forsaken idiot to desist.)

You were nearly dead, said my interlocutor. It was a very near thing, indeed. But I’ve put some stuff into you now. Notice your arm’s sore? Injections. You’ve been insensible for nearly thirty hours.

I thought slowly. (I was distracted now by the yelping of a number of dogs.) Am I eligible for solid food? I asked.

Thanks to me, he said. Even now the mutton is boiling.

Yes, I said with assurance; I could eat some mutton.

But, said he with a momentary hesitation, "you know I’m dying to hear of how you came to be alone in that boat. Damn that howling!" I thought I detected a certain suspicion in his eyes.

He suddenly left the cabin, and I heard him in violent controversy with someone, who seemed to me to talk gibberish in response to him. The matter sounded as though it ended in blows, but in that I thought my ears were mistaken. Then he shouted at the dogs, and returned to the cabin.

Well? said he in the doorway. You were just beginning to tell me.

I told him my name, Edward Prendick, and how I had taken to Natural History as a relief from the dulness of my comfortable independence.

He seemed interested in this. I’ve done some science myself. I did my Biology at University College,—getting out the ovary of the earthworm and the radula of the snail, and all that. Lord! It’s ten years ago. But go on! go on! tell me about the boat.

He was evidently satisfied with the frankness of my story, which I told in concise sentences enough, for I felt horribly weak; and when it was finished he reverted at once to the topic of Natural History and his own biological studies. He began to question me closely about Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street. Is Caplatzi still flourishing? What a shop that was! He had evidently been a very ordinary medical student, and drifted incontinently to the topic of the music halls. He told me some anecdotes.

Left it all, he said, "ten years ago. How jolly it all used to be! But I made a young ass of myself,—played myself out before I was twenty-one. I daresay it’s all different now. But I

Reviews for The Island of Dr. Moreau

[kurtwombat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Some short novels are really just extended short stories and could have been wrapped up in half the pages. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU could easily have been much longer. It is a tight little novel—every moment is devoted to tipping the scales, finding where we are on the line of humanity. At the very start our main character is dehumanized by being lost at sea…long enough to have abandoned reason. When found, he is nursed back to health by someone who is constantly losing his reason to alcohol. Even Dr. Moreau is never as savage as when imparting science to his creations. The narrator Prendick says toward the end of the novel, “An animal may be ferocious and cunning enough, but it takes a real man to tell a lie.” This includes of course lying to oneself—Moreau has made this into an art form. The Man-Beasts that Moreau creates are not static either—there is a constant tug and pull between animal and man. They are created during an act of brutality and it is largely the fear of it’s return that keeps them human. Once that fear is gone, they revert to a form of their animal selves. Not a favorable critique of humanity. There is a point where Prendick (what can that name possibly mean?) drifts into a stasis with the Man-Beasts—for some weeks there is relative peace on the island. But any form of man will eventually fail to keep the peace. Much is written about H G Wells seeing the future—here forecasting genetic engineering. But really he was just a keen observer of his own times—extrapolating off the world around him. He saw the great acceleration of change at the end of the 19th century and realized it would not slow down. In the midst of a world becoming more mechanical, Wells writes here to ponder just what it is to be human. He discovers just how intangible that can be and how quickly it can elude us.

[librisissimo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The concept of melding humans and animals through physical surgery, incuding organ transplants, has given way to genetic engineering now, but at the time it probably looked like a feasible notion, if you were insane enough to want to do it, and Dr. Moreau was. This was the second major work of fiction by Wells.The Introduction by "Charles Edward Prendick" is a fictional framing device common in the 19th Century.Style It was a slap-bang, horror-filled, mad-scientist hit when published, but seems over-the-top and has many plot holes now.Note: my reading dates are because of just doing a chapter a night; it can be read in a single sitting of a couple of hours.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"An animal may be ferocious and cunning enough, but it takes a real man to tell a lie."Edward Prendick, a private gentleman and naturist is shipwrecked and on rescue is taken to an island where a once eminent English vivisector, Dr. Moreau, has made his retreat and on which hideous misfits are living. Dr. Moreau was forced to leave England his experiments were exposed by the press but hidden away on his private island he is able to work in his laboratory called the House of Pain to continue his attempts to manufacture 'humanised' animals known as the the Beast People. When Moreau's experiments fails he releases them to live on the island ruling them by fear. Prendick's time on the island becomes a nightmare as he spends his time running from Moreau's experiments and uncovering the truth about the crazy doctor. First written in 1896 some 40 or so years after Darwin published the 'Origins of Man' this on the face of it appears to be a science fiction novel that deals with vivisection, a section of science that was very popular at the time of writing. However, this is H.G.Wells and things are never that straight forward.Obviously science and in particular the idea of science for science sake is central to this book as is the distinction between man and animals but much of Well's writing also deals about social inequality and this is no different. This book can be seen as a social critique where a relatively useless aristocratic protagonist (Prendrick) finds himself ill-equipped to deal with the circumstances that he finds himself in and must throw himself onto the mercy of the Beast Man. Similarly this book can be regarded as having Marxist elements and is a pretty harsh indictment on authoritarian rule, where Moreau is a dictator and the animals the underclass who eventually manage to overthrow and expel their rulers. "It is when suffering finds a voice and sets our nerves quivering that this pity comes troubling us."Another theme of this novel is religion or to put it more accurately some readers will see this as a parody of organised religion. Moreau's teaching the beasts the Law in turn leads to a deification of himself with his assistant Montgomery as one of his emissaries. Given that this book was written in excess of a hundred years ago the real genius of Well's is that it can still can be seen as relevant today. We live in an era where GM food is seen by some as the salvation of the human race and where scientists are looking at breeding cloned animals to deal with transplant shortages, similarly we live in an age where social media has led to an almost cult following of some participants. Overall, despite its brevity, this book covers a number of important themes and as such deserves to be widely read however I feel that Frankenstein explores the themes covered here far better..

[joe73-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[steller0707 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Wells saw history as a race between education and catastrophe."

Published in 1896, the novel could be read as a cautionary tale of the consequences of science for science's sake. There is foreboding throughout - beasts! madmen! danger!

Yet there are also many layers of meaning. In the edition I read Margaret Atwood describes ten interpretations of the novel - from a social commentary on the class system of the age to a religious allegory. Don't read it before the novel, though, as there are spoilers. Wells, himself, described his book as a "science romance," a dark, sinister adventure story. It's a great book!

[danielstj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An amazing novel. Gripping from start to finish and it is one of the finest science fiction stories that I have come across. A great tale to read.

[jigarpatel-6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classed as "scientific romance" at the time, this is on the surface an adventure novel. The protagonist Prendick survives a shipwreck and finds himself on an island filled with curious creatures. Pendrick, like Wells himself, studied biology under Darwinist Thomas Huxley, and this forms the scientific backdrop. Like Lord of the Flies, The Island of Dr. Moreau has many layers. There's an underlying mockery of organized religion, a blurring of lines between human and inhuman, suggestions of a link between ethnicity and culture. The characters are flawed and malleable, changing with their environment. Their interaction represents the base around which the story revolves.A couple of possible influences, suggested by Margaret Atwood in her 2005 introduction, are The Tempest and Treasure Island. If you enjoyed this, you may also enjoy Atwood's own MaddAddam Trilogy.

[squeakychu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found this to be quite a fun read. That's a great compliment since I'm not really a fan of science fiction. However, I thought I'd give this story a go since I had previously found The Invisible Man, by the same author, very entertaining, In The Island of Dr. Moreau, a man named Prendick, ends up on an island inhabited by only two other men, one of who is a doctor intent on making animals into humans by vivisection. The results of his experimentation abound on the island as well as a rule of order known as The Law. Circumstances happen which change the status quo. It's interesting to follow along on this man-animal continuum to see how everything plays out and to learn if there us any chance that Prendick would make it off of this strange island alive.

[borrows0n0wants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a good book. It was pretty interesting, but there were a few parts where the story lagged and I found my mind wandering. This is my third Wells book, and I honestly found it not to be as good as the other two I've read so far (The Time Machine and The First Men in the Moon).

[stephlaymon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For such a short book, it packs a powerful punch. Simply as a story it is fascinating enough, but it is what Wells was trying to convey, and the time in which he so boldly dared do it. The story deals with vivisection, the practice of performing operations on live animals in the name of science, but that's not all. Wells writes of a mad scientist who uses no anesthetic during the procedures, and who is creating something quite sinister in the name of science. But it is what Wells intended to convey through the storyline that made the book so controversial, and considered blasphemy among many who read it."The Island of Dr. Moreau is an exercise in youthful blasphemy. Now & then, tho I rarely admit it, the universe projects itself towards me in a hideous grimace. It grimaced that time, & I did my best to express my vision of the aimless torture in creation." ~H.G. WellsI am glad that I finally read The Island of Dr. Moreau. Beyond it's interesting history, there is so much more. It is a thought provoking story, especially today as we make advances in science that come into moral question. Also, and probably one of the most impressive things to me is just how well the story is developed and how well the characters are defined for such a short book. Mind you, it would have been so much better if it had been longer and more developed, but it's a nice little drink of classic science fiction / fantasy.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Boring and forgettable.

[the_hibernator · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Mr. Prendrick is stranded on a strange island with two people – the drunken and uncaring Montgomery and the enigmatic, violent Doctor Moreau. As Prendrick begins to discover the mysteries of the island, he feels more and more danger to his life.My thoughts: Wells’ stories are so deep and thoughtful. He explores his unique belief system in a way that is inspiring and energetic. I love his allegory, I love the plot, and I love how much this book made me think.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the most terrifying classics I’ve ever read. Wells builds the tension beautifully as he unveils the island’s true monster.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Published in 1896, The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells is a classic novel of science fiction that still captures the imagination of today’s audience. It has been made into several films and has become widely known in popular culture. Combining elements of both science fiction and horror, the story is based on one of Well’s favorite themes – that reckless meddling in science results in unspeakable horrors being unleashed.The story is told by Edward Prendick, who through a series of unfortunate events arrives on a mysterious island inhabited by horrible beasts. These beasts are half animal and half human, and the horrified Prendick fears for his life and his sanity, as he learns about the strange Doctor Moreau and the experiments he is conducting. Of course the science in this book is improbable, a fact that has become more apparent as the book ages but The Island of Doctor Moreau is a quick and fairly light read with some serious undertones about the qualities that separate animals from humans. While Doctor Moreau shows Prendick that beasts can be turned into men, it is also made very clear how easy it is for men to become vicious and beast-like themselves.

[alanteder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Even though the science behind Moreau's animal experimentation will seem ridiculous from a 21st century perspective, Wells's 1896 horror sci-fi still has the power to terrify. We can mentally substitute the possibility of modern day gene and cloning experimentation as a current day proxy and the increased awareness and appreciation of animal rights adds an extra layer of chills to the mix.I listened to the 2011 Recorded Books/Audible Audio edition read by Simon Prebble which was very well done.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"You cannot imagine the strange colourless delight of these intellectual desires. The thing before you is no longer an animal, a fellow-creature, but a problem."Edward Prendrick is rescued after being shipwrecked, but unfortunately gets on the captain's bad side and abandoned on a remote island where Doctor Moreau and his assistant Montgomery conduct their experiments away from the disapproval of the scientific establishment.The dated style stopped me from empathising with any of the characters and only the screams of the leopard on the operating table drew me in towards them. I think I have read at least one story based on The Island of Doctor Moreau, and they did a much better job of getting the readers to empathise.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I vaguely knew what this book was about and I knew I wouldn't really care for it so I avoided reading it for a long time. However, the audiobook was available from my library as a free download and it was on the 1001 list so I decided to give it a try.A survivor of a ship wreck, Edward Prendrick, is picked up by a ship which is returning with supplies to the Island of Doctor Moreau. On board is Dr. Montgomery who assists Moreau and he restores Prendrick to consciousness. When the ship reaches the island the captain refuses to take Prendrick any further so he is forced on Moreau and Montgomery. Prendrick learns that Moreau creates human animal hybrids by performing vivisection (i.e. surgery while the animal is conscious) on various animals. Prendrick is sickened by this but, given his circumstances, he is unable to interfere. He wonders if he will ever leave the island or will he go insane as Moreau and Montgomery seem to have done.Very disturbing subject matter. I suppose Wells meant it to be as antivivisectionism was quite a movement in the late 1800s.

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a harrowing memoir of a castaway's time on a small island off South America, inhabited by a mad scientist and his creations. Inspired in part I would guess by Frankenstein, it raises some of the same questions as to the ethics of experimentation, and the philosophical notion of personhood, though in this case on the boundary between the human and the animal, as opposed to the living and the dead.In its turn, it must have been an inspiration for Jurassic Park in some of its peripheral details, though again, that raises a different set of ethical questions and doesn't tread into the territory of the man-beasts of Dr Moreau. Though the plausibility of the science aspect of this novel suffers slightly from it being written quite a while ago, it is quite possible to see how similar ends could be brought about in the future with the wacky misuse of genetic engineering.I really enjoyed this novel, and despite it being relatively short (160 pages), it is complete in its plot and makes for a page-turning read. A really good introduction to H G Wells, and a clever and exciting novel, though some people will find it too creepy to enjoy.

[thefallingalice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pendrick landet nach einem Schiffsunglück zusammen mit seinem Retter auf einer kleinen abgeschlagenen Insel.Die Menschen dort verhalten sich seltsam und wecken in Pendrick ungeahnte Ängste. Bald erfährt er, dass ein gewisser Moreau auf der Insel arbeitet, der vor einiger Zeit schon in den britischen Medien durch biologische Experimente auffällig geworden war.Pendrick bekommt ein ihm eigens zugewiesenes Zimmer, doch hinter verschlossenen Türen bahnen sich unmenschliche Schreie ihren Weg in seinen Geist. Er flieht, doch was er dann sieht, lässt ihn den Glauben an das Gute im Menschen verlieren.H. G. Wells gilt als Begründer der modernen Science Fiction.Der Schauplatz hier: eine kleine verschlagene Insel mitten im Nirgendwo. Ein Arzt, der es sich zum Ziel gemacht hat, biologische Prozesse außer Kraft zu setzen und zu verändern. Pendrick erzählt als Überlebender diese unglaubliche Geschichte, die ihm niemand glaubt. Und doch ist er der einzige Zeuge eines Wahnsinns, der nicht nur Tiere, sondern auch Menschen leiden lässt. Er lebt in ständiger Angst vor den Wesen der Insel, versucht sie zu beherrschen, sie zu verstehen, sich anzupassen und endet schließlich wieder in der Angst vor ihrer wahren Natur.Ein wunderbarer Roman über den Größenwahn eines einzigen Menschen, der sich in seinen Experimenten ergeht und dem Moral und Anstand nichts bedeuten. Er stellt die Wissenschaft über alles. Wells ist ein großartiger Geschichtenerzähler, der den Leser mitnimmt, ihn durch die Geschichte trägt und ihn hier und dort zu einer Stellungnahme zwingt.

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really don't know why I keep thinking that Wells' stories aren't any good. Before much reading time had passed I was talking to the Spouse about how much more plausible and realistic the story was than I thought it was going to be. And also, his structure is good, how he brings the reader in, how information is revealed, how our narrator changes his opinion as he understands more. The story never went where I expected it to, either.

Who anticipates being surprised by a hundred year old story that's been adapted to film I don't know how many times? An interesting read, entertaining, but also, one that doesn't raise issues and try to pass off easy answers.

Personal copy.

[lamotamant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In it's entirety, The Island of Dr. Moreau definitely kept my interest. But I don't think I would have rated it as highly as I have if it weren't for the last chapter (CH. 22: The Man Alone). I just fell for how aptly Wells was able to capture the results of Prendick's "adventure." Also, the very basis for the story, is infinitely intriguing. What really makes these 'beasts' monsters? The experiments, the pain, or the simple fact of the yoke of humanity being cast upon them? And, depending on your perspective, who is the real monster? The animalistic traits of the creations or the person trying so grotesquely to suppress/change them? As we see with Prendick, it's a bit more relative in a moment of human peril than most of us would tend to think. His monsters are formed by what's unknown to what seems the most dangerous at present. But the idea of monsters isn't extinguished in the escaping, they simply live on in new ways.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook performed by Robin Lawson This classic is set on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. The island is inhabited by Dr Moreau, a “mad” scientist bent on experimenting with the human / animal form, his assistant Montgomery, the stranded traveler Edward Prendick (who is our narrator), and a variety of strange creatures. I remember a commercial in the 1960s or ‘70s with the tag line “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!” I cannot think of a more succinct way to describe the basic theme of this book. And yet, it is so much more – a strong, philosophical and ethical argument both for and against vivisection and experimentation. A moral tale of one man’s descent as a result of his ego, and how he is able to draw others into his twisted way of thinking. And yet, Wells clearly points out that Nature will have her way; that despite man’s meddling, Nature will win out. The journey on which Wells takes the reader to arrive at this conclusion is twisted, compelling, dark, and horrific. The tension is lessened by the story’s premise – a telling of what happened by the only survivor. Wells used a similar device in The Time Machine. Despite this, however, there is still considerable suspense. I was struck by some of the descriptions of procedures – at least one of which I know is currently performed by plastic surgeons specializing in facial reconstruction. In fact, I read such an operative report just a week before picking up this book!Robin Lawson does a fine job performing the audiobook. He has good pacing, and gives life to Edward Prendick’s telling of the story.

[lydia1879 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I didn't enjoy this book.

But then, much like Lord of the Flies, I don't think it's a book you're supposed to enjoy.

Suffice to say, I'm prepared to acknowledge that this probably was not the best book to start with on my foray into Well's writing.

I thought it would be more appealing to me but it's more or less a white guy getting shipwrecked on an island plus the usual white scientist goes mad with power, island becomes a microcosm of the world, and so on, and so on.

And I have to admit that it's getting difficult for me to read books that are as cold, as clinical and as masculine as this one is. It doesn't feel like a novel it just feels like a really long allegory.

Of course this book is one of many written by Wells that has made a huge contribution to science fiction, but this book just isn't my thing. Doesn't mean I'm not willing to read other books by Wells, I just didn't like it.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The use of vivisection (experimentation on live animals) to create animal-human hybrids and the consequence of this. Not my favourite Wells. Book looks at our ability to create our own destruction and the inevitable degeneration of 'beasts' when not supervised by white men.

[themulhern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I'm certain I've read by H.G. Wells. His writing is not exceptional. But when I had done with the book I had much the same feeling as when I have awoken from a very bad dream. It is a hard book to get out of your head, but I'm not really sure what it is about.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

OK, but it read a little to much like a book for teenage boys for my own personal taste.

Also, it doesn't seem so out there any more. The vivisection--yuck--but the trying to combine animals and add humanness to animals sounds like something people are TRULY working on. Gene therapy, growing body parts on pigs (I feel like something like this has happened?), using a finger to make a new thumb, genetically modified foods, etc etc are all real things to us. When this book came out I imagine it was a lot more shocking--though not necessarily less scary.

[dabofdarkness · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dr. Edward Prendick finds himself on a plane that is crashing into the sea. Luckily, he survives and is eventually found on his little raft by a passing ship. Dr. Angela Montgomery nurses him around and eventually the ship drops all passengers and their cargo at a little know island. There, Prendick is pulled into a world of animal experiments that will push the boundaries of his moral compass.This story is told as a series of flashbacks. Prendick lies in a hospital bed recounting his tale to his insistent daughter. Prendick is a mathematician who did some classified work during WWII. He’s a Brit who is still highly respected in his field by both the British and the Americans. Too bad his plane went down. He was believed lost to the world by all but Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Moreau. I was a little surprised by how much of a delicate flower Prendick was. He was usually freaking out about something or making rash decisions. He was a right nuisance on the island, even if he was the only one with what society would call normal morals. Still, he was a great character for Dr. Montgomery to stand beside and appear very reasonable and I think this made the story more intriguing. As a reader, it forced me to slow down on making a judgement and to truly consider the merits of the work of Moreau and Montgomery.I was surprised how few lines and appearances Dr. Moreau had in this story (or, at least, this rendition of it). After all, he is the master mind behind all this. So while we see little of him, his large ego leaves a lasting impression. He’s playing God with his experiments and he doesn’t hesitate to say so.As a biologist, I have long been both repulsed and fascinated by the experiments in this story. When Prendick first meets a few of these talking experiments, he thinks they are merely odd, deformed people. Later, he mistakenly believes that Moreau took living men and experimented on them, bringing out animal characteristics. Once he finds out the truth, that Moreau took animals and gave them human characteristics, he calms down a little, at first. The final step in the experiment is a pretty gruesome, painful one, requiring the chosen animal to remain awake and aware. Not all those who live through the experiment appreciate the gifts they have been given.As you might guess, things start to spiral out of control shortly after Prendick arrives on the island. Part of the reason is that he goes mucking about in a very excitable manner. But, then, Montgomery and Moreau don’t treat all the living experiments with respect either. Then there is the basic nature of the experiments and what will out in time. It was like the perfect storm.And then we quickly come to the ending which was rather anticlimactic for Moreau and a bit drawn out for Montgomery and Prendick. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get more from Moreau over all for the entire story and I was definitely a little sad to have his part of the story come to a swift end. After all, he is the reason, the driving force, for this tale, right? But then I enjoyed having more time with Montgomery and Prendick. From the flashbacks, we obviously know that Prendick makes it off the island alive somehow. It was fun to see how that came about.While I have enjoyed other HG Wells stories, this was my first time listening to a version of his book The Island of Doctor Moreau. I was not disappointed. All the drama associated with the moral conundrums of the tale was there. Also, I enjoyed the divided loyalties of Dr. Montgomery, who was saved by Dr. Moreau back during WWII, who loves the science of their work, but also has questions. Prendick was somewhat of a spazzing butterfly much of the time, but this personality trait went well with his sheltered, well mannered, bookish mathematician air. I look forward to future Mondello Publishing performances.I received a copy of this book at no cost from the publisher (via the GoodReads Audiobooks Group) in exchange for an honest review.The Narration: The performance all around was pretty worthy. Ms. Boltt had a spot on German accent for Montgomery that I really enjoyed. Posner did a great job as the highly excitable Prendick, sounding disturbed throughout the entire performance. I want to say that Jeff Minnerly had a great disgruntled voice for the ship captain and also a perfect mesh of human and monkey for Monkey Man. Bob De Dea did an awesome Hyena Man. There were plenty of animal sounds (screeches, grunts, cries, hyena laughs, etc.) throughout the performance and my hat’s off to that – well done! There was some exciting music in between scenes that I enjoyed, keeping the scene shifts clear to me as the listener. Most of the sound effects were great. There were a handful that took me an extra second or two to identify, but that is my only little quibble on the performance.

[trilliams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What if we're all just man-beasts?

[iansales_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Although Wells wrote over fifty novels, most people likely only know him for four – The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man and this one, The Island Of Dr Moreau. The edition I read was, as pictured, the SF Masterwork hardback – and it took me less than half a page to spot the introduction was by Adam Roberts. Anyway, the story is relatively straightforward – the narrator’s ship collides with a derelict (until the twentieth century, derelicts were surprisingly common, with several hundred floating around the world’s oceans and seas). The narrator is the only survivor and is picked up by a ship delivering animals to an unnamed island. Also aboard this ship is a man called Montgomery, who lives on the island as assistant to a scientist with a shady past, Moreau. The ship dumps the narrator, Prendrick, on the island with Montgomery, and so Prendrick learns of Moreau’s experiments on animals, making them into “Beast Men”. It’s all a bit handwavey – there’s no explanation of how the Beast Men are made intelligent enough to speak or overcome their animal natures. Of course, it all goes horribly wrong – coincidentally while Prendrick is there, and coincidentally, he’s the only survivor. To be honest, I thought Wells laid it all on a bit thick. Prendrick’s outrage and horror crops up on almost every page, and the Beast Men don’t feel especially nuanced. Not Wells’ best, although the central premise is certainly memorable.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't think this is Wells' best book, although perhaps if the plot had been a surprise to me instead of already familiar, I might have rated it higher. Still, Wells is a compelling writer always, and I admire his straightforward style from a time when many writers seemed to tie themselves in knots just to get out a sentence. Wells feels more "modern" because of that. This one is a bit more grotesque than the others of Wells' novels I have read, although still not as scary as War of the Worlds. Once again, Wells proves himself an originator of tropes that now seem like cliches: mad scientist on an isolated island, conducting extreme experiments just because he can. The story does have its weaknesses. For being in the title, Moreau could have been a more well-rounded character, and it might have been more exciting if he had not died off-screen. This might be dismissed as mere pulp fiction, but Wells' writing is smarter than that. Here are two examples where it rises above: the genuinely creepy scene with Pendrick sitting in the dark among the manimals, all chanting, "Are we not men?" And the end, where Pendrick, returned to civilization, looks at the people all around him and can't help but seeing the beasts hidden within."Read" as an audiobook (2015).