Country: U.K
Genre: Science-Fiction
Pages: 185
Synopsis:
Edward Prendick shipwrecked on an island where hideous misfits are living. The place belongs to Dr. Moreau, once an eminent physiologist in England, who disappeared after a his experiments were busted and exposed by the press. Prendick's time on the island is something of a surreal nightmare as he spends his time running from Moreau's experiments and uncovering the truth about the crazy doctor.
And presently, with a positive effect of relief, came the pitiful moaning of the puma, the sound that had originally driven me out to explore the mysterious island. At that, though I was faint and horribly fatigued, I gathered together all my strength and began running again towards the light. It seemed to me a voice was calling me.
H.G Wells is responsible for a lot of good things. Genre literature is indebted to him as he was one of the first writers of straight science-fiction. Like for many other writers of his time, Wells' approach is born out of Gothic imagery, but unlike writers like Edgar Allan Poe (Gothic/Crime) and H.P Lovecraft (Gothic/Horror), his stories weren't a mix of genres. Wells was fascinated by the unexplained and the mysteries of the world and crafted stories that not only reflected his interest in these questions, but sparked interest in those for many, many young readers. He wrote THE TIME MACHINE, THE INVISIBLE MAN, WAR OF THE WORLDS and the often overlooked THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. Written when he was thirty years old, it's remembered as of today as one of his darkest, most disturbing novels.
Reading H.G Wells has a strange effect of me. His writings are so deeply entrenched into an era, I often have a harder time getting into his stories. It's a testimony to how much literature changed over the twentieth century. There is absolutely no moral ambiguity in THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. Prendick is the good guy and the danger comes from everywhere around him. From Moreau, his assistant Montgomery, from most of the Beasts. Everybody takes a clear stance on want they want. It's rather disorienting for a fan of morally dubious writers like Jim Thompson and Anthony Neil Smith, such as myself. The enemy isn't within in THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. Yet, the soul of Prendick is at stake. He is not shielded from the horrors he's facing, as it is mentioned in the metafictional foreword *.
While I can't say there is any actuality to Wells' novel, there are groundbreaking elements to it. Written about forty years after Charles Darwin's ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, it takes the evolution theory to its extreme. I'm pretty sure Wells didn't read the book, but THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU comments on the idea that men came from beasts (apes), which was obviously controversial back then. In all its demented colorfulness (Moreau works on making men out of animals such as a puma and a St-Bernard dog), questions about religion are raised. Does a creature has to always obey its maker? Is consciousness a gift or a curse? Very modern, complex stuff. The clash of this philosophical subtext with the wild, imaginative setting makes this novel thoroughly original.
"Who is that?" I said in a hoarse whisper, the revolver still pointed.
"I, Master."
"Who are you?"
"They say there is no Master now. But I know, I know. I carried the bodies into the sea, O Walker in the Sea, the bodies of those you slew. I am your slave, Master."
THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU was written in the midst of a controversy about animal vivisection in England. It's a gutsy take on the question, that asks even more difficult questions to a society who still was heavily influenced by Christianity back then. If we come from the beasts, do beasts have a soul? It doesn't look like much today, but back then, H.G Wells must have pissed off a LOT of people with this novel. He came to call it "an exercise in youthful blasphemy" by the way. I liked it. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is groundbreaking and extremely bold for its time. It epitomizes the 19th century very well, but it also foresees a fundamental change in society. It's an underrated science-fiction classic that prefigures the dark turn it will take over the following century.
THREE STARS
19th Century Classic
* Metafictional forewords were very hip, back then. Almost seems like viral marketing before its time. "Read the terrible true story of this guy, who faced horror on this island."