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Joshua Rigsby's Reviews > The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man
by
by
When technology develops faster than the mind can comprehend, it makes the world a frightening place. This was certainly true of the 19th century. For the first time people could travel around the world in two and a half months. Anything seemed possible.
Like reanimating the dead.
Or becoming invisible.
The story certainly starts off ominously enough. A mummy-like bandaged man sits alone in a small town inn with a reclusive nature and sour disposition. But when things go south the story moves like an action movie instead of a work of great literature. The protagonist sneaks around stealing things and bashing people on the head.
(view spoiler)
Wells misses a genuine opportunity to create multifaceted and self-conflicted characters that struggle with the power that comes from true anonymity. He could have explored why humans seek seclusion, or what justice and accountability exist for in the first place. There was ample opportunity to build on Plato's Ring of Gyges the way Tolkien does in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Instead, though, he settles for a couple fight and flight scenes. The protagonist is the same person in the last scene as he was in the first. He doesn't move or change. The antagonist doesn't show up until the third act, and when he does, it's just to close the lid on the action, not to dig into the deeper questions the story should be asking.
It's a quick read, and fairly entertaining, but it could have been so, so much more.
Like reanimating the dead.
Or becoming invisible.
The story certainly starts off ominously enough. A mummy-like bandaged man sits alone in a small town inn with a reclusive nature and sour disposition. But when things go south the story moves like an action movie instead of a work of great literature. The protagonist sneaks around stealing things and bashing people on the head.
(view spoiler)
Wells misses a genuine opportunity to create multifaceted and self-conflicted characters that struggle with the power that comes from true anonymity. He could have explored why humans seek seclusion, or what justice and accountability exist for in the first place. There was ample opportunity to build on Plato's Ring of Gyges the way Tolkien does in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Instead, though, he settles for a couple fight and flight scenes. The protagonist is the same person in the last scene as he was in the first. He doesn't move or change. The antagonist doesn't show up until the third act, and when he does, it's just to close the lid on the action, not to dig into the deeper questions the story should be asking.
It's a quick read, and fairly entertaining, but it could have been so, so much more.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 14, 2014
– Shelved
August 14, 2014
– Shelved as:
classic
August 14, 2014
–
Finished Reading
