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Welcome everyone to our August 2020 Classics Group Read; this month we'll be reading through The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

Friendly reminder that this is the spoilers thread - if you're not yet ready for spoilers then head on over to the pre-read thread.

What did you think of this book? What are some of the themes that stood out you? Did it meet your expectations?

Just finished!

Very quick read. Thought it was more fun than horror, but I suppose the title itself being a big spoiler made the opening chapters seem a little satire-ish and I kept that attitude throughout the book. Action-packed and fast-paced regardless.

I think my favorite part was when he actually described the science of it: the idea of visible things being a combination of absorption and reflection of light, the idea that the human body is actually see-through!!! Geeking out, cool.

By Jove! Just finished my first H.G. Wells story. It was a fun read, not too scary with interesting descriptions of life in 1897 London. More humour than I expected. But didn't feel much sympathy for Griffin when he passed. Kept thinking a splash of water could help locate the guy.

I read this today & enjoyed it much more than I expected.

Just finished. Seems like Griffin was already unhinged before he became invisible, but he did lose his mind completely once it had happened.

I though the start was rather slow, but once he met up with Kemp it got very action pack, I think my favorite part is when he tells his story (and then Kemp turn it against him) with the pseudo-science there was a lot of thoughts behind that. Not a nice person so almost cheering when he met his end.

While reading I was thinking of my own desired "superpower" I always thought stopping time would be nice, walking in a world where everything is frozen... lots of time to sleep. Probably would turn against me, but one has to dream!

To me, this is one of those rare times when both the original 1933 movie and the book were equally fun.

That poor cat!

Finally finished! Such a short book, but the first half was a real struggle to get through, it took me ages. I agree with France-Andree, it got much better after he met up with Dr. Kemp.

The book made me think about how I might act if I were invisible. I wonder if Mr. Wells was trying to suggest that humans are fundamentally evil. Would any person do bad things given the opportunity? Personally, I lean towards the Rousseau camp. While I'm sure many of us wouldn't be able to resist playing tricks, I don't think the majority of people would turn into murderous lunatics. I'm pretty certian that I wouldn't harm anyone. Having said that, would I rob a bank or an incredibly rich person if there were absolutely no way of me being found out? ...possibly. Although I'd like to think I'd do it as part of some sort of Robin Hood project. One thing is for sure, I don't think I would hand myself over to the government to be experimented on, no matter how much it would help with scientific progress.

What does everyone else think? Are we inherently evil/bad? What sort of things might you do if you were invisible?

I think some people are extremely 'evil'. I have met psychopaths. No question of some of them being inherently evil in what they enjoy. A psychopath would have difficulty understanding the more common feelings of others except through observation and experience of normal social interactions. Not all psychopaths murder but they do not care much about others.

Also some narcissists are 'evil'.

Some chronic drug addicts and alcoholics become evil over time. Brains sort of shrink or develop holes from extended alcohol use, for example.

Drugs and alcohol seem to cause a depraved indifference in many people while under the influence.Babies have died from neglect of addicts and drunks, who "didn't mean it, forgot, sorry, they love the baby, made a mistake" etc. etc. etc. I guess it depends on whether one thinks of dead babies who suffered starvation or cold or hot cars or filthy environments are more the the victim or the parent with an addiction who forgot to take care of their kid because they were high a lot over days. Evil?

There are the paranoid schizophrenics, some who have slaughtered people, and people with bipolar disorders, who hate their medications so they don't take it. They might spend every dime they have or that of their family in their delusions, ruining their relatives, losing houses, cars, jobs, college dreams, losing custody of kids, etc. etc. etc. Their irresponsibility can destroy three generations of families in mental trauma, destruction of property, cars, bank accounts. Evil?

Brain injuries can cause a person to become evil.

Our country has few remedies or answers to fix naturally evil people or people who do evil but could call themselves a victim. Relatives who have been wrecked by both types of evil may not feel there is much difference in the bad stuff that results.

What this demonstrates to me is most of us probably have a brain monitor, whether a healthy inborn restraint or social training or undamaged brain tissue, which controls the inner monsters.But, yes. People can either be evil and/or do evil, given the many kinds of whatevers that can silence that inner monitor or brain control mechanism, so almost everyone clearly has the capability of Evil.

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either �� but right through every human heart…even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains…an uprooted small corner of evil.�� - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Renata wrote: "By Jove! Just finished my first H.G. Wells story. It was a fun read, not too scary with interesting descriptions of life in 1897 London. More humour than I expected. But didn't feel much sympathy f..."

Renata, I thought the same as you. If Kemp and the policeman had thrown some water and flour into the air, the Invisible Man would have been visible.

Hi, the first chapters seemed bit of sarcastic, I don’t know if it’s just my impression or if it’s a deliberate thing. The other characters doesn’t know he is invisible and they look funny when they interact with him, maybe I am just confused cause I know a bit of the story but never read the book.

I thought it was really tragic that even with his superpower Griffin was still an outcast. I get the sense that he didn't have alot of friends and obviously had a strained relationship with his father and being an albino super genius (doctor at 21 and expert physicist by 30ish), and no one he felt he could trust, his isolation started before his superpower. So his narcissism and eventual megalomania felt normal🤔

The way he died was the actual horror for me but I am not entirely sure how it could have been prevented especially when random murders and town domination was in his future.

Obviously I'd never want to be invisible...only unless i had control over it and no one knew about it. 😁

The title character is thoroughly evil, but I like the way his actions are justified to himself because of his needs. I also liked the way the novel was paced and the way the stakes escalate.

I missed this until now... gimme a day or two to catch up and I'm sure I'll have something to say!

I did read it several years ago but don't remember much.

Ok, I'm at about 1/4 done and am very impressed.

I love the gentle humor at the expense of the townfolk (not disrespectful, just playful) and the building of the tension until the point at which the stranger reveals himself and evades arrest.... At that point the tension is released and the humor becomes so broad I laughed out loud... until the final line of that chapter which brought me back down with an almost literal 'thunk.'

I'm not a writer and so normally all I notice are great lines and sometimes metaphors... but clearly Wells is indeed a great writer.

Lisa wrote: "I thought it was really tragic that even with his superpower Griffin was still an outcast. I get the sense that he didn't have alot of friends and obviously had a strained relationship with his fat..."

Yeah, I kinda feel sorry for him... and the messes he creates add to the horror part of the story. But in the main it's slapstick funny. Not smart satire so much, at least so far (just past 2/3), but lol would make a good comedy flick with just the right actor, someone very physical like Danny Kaye maybe.

But I just came to quote Kemp, who is objecting to some of the things Griffin reports that he did: "I never blame anyone... It's quite out of fashion."

Ok done. Hella story. Would that novelists now could write that entertainingly & to the point. As said above, Wells was a master of pacing. At least in this story.

I don't remember being nearly so impressed by Time Machine. I think it's about time I read War of the Worlds.

Cheryl wrote: "Lisa wrote: "I thought it was really tragic that even with his superpower Griffin was still an outcast. I get the sense that he didn't have alot of friends and obviously had a strained relationship..."

I agree!

Overall an enjoyable book to read. It definitely took me some time to comprehend how people talk in 1890s England's countryside, but I can't complain since this book was published over 100 years ago. If anything that just shows how incredibly the English language has developed over this time span.

For me the main theme was isolation. As Griffin was doing his invisibility research he was trying to keep it a secret from his professor because he was known for claiming the majority of the credit from his students' research without actually putting in the work himself. And obviously, once Griffin does turn himself invisible he's isolated from society because he's not normal anymore. Griffin is fixated on trying to reverse his invisibility but runs into several obstacles, mainly other people trying to figure him out. This whole time he's trying to find the solution to his invisibility by himself, but when he eventually tries to reach out to Kemp for help it's too late. He has already committed several crimes like robbery and murder. So I guess the message here is you can only do so much by yourself. Eventually you need to seek out the help from others before you become so unstable that you do unethical actions.

Interesting how others see the isolation as such as important these. Do you think that is more so because of being more aware of your own isolation during COVID?

I thought the theme was - absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Well, it's a popular classic for reasons... multiple themes and possible interpretations being just two of the reasons.