The Island of Doctor Moreau

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

This was my first H.G. Wells book. What a brilliant writer!!! He did an excellent job of making me feel as though I was in the story running alongside the main character. I could feel the tension. I downloaded several more of his books for my Kindle!

Over the period of a decade beginning with The Time Machine in 1895, H. G. Wells created some of his most popular fictions in the form of scientific romance novels. These books have captured the imagination of readers ever since and are arguably as popular today as they were more than one hundred years ago. Among these perhaps the strangest and best is The Island of Dr. Moreau. Undoubtedly influenced by Robinson Crusoe, but also by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island which was published only thirteen years earlier, this book goes far beyond those deserted island tales and looks forward to the twenty-first century and beyond. In its day it was considered blasphemous, but in the age of cloning its depiction of vivisection takes on new meaning while the blasphemy recedes into the background. Above all this is a good story with suspense that holds even after the first breathless reading that it usually inspires. The story is of such a suspenseful nature that I am reluctant to share any plot details for fear of spoiling the experience for the reader.As with all great books the levels of meaning and reference in this book are many and the structure, a lost narrative found only after the author's death (reminiscent of Poe among others) is a nod to the era of the unreliable narrator for before his death Edward Pendrick, the narrator, claims to have no memory of the events which it described. Peter Straub, in his "Foreword" to the Modern Library edition, commented:Given its infusion of the adventure tale with deep, pervasive doubt, Dr. Moreau can be seen as a unique and compelling alliance of Treasure Island and Joseph Conrad. (p. xvi)I certainly agree with this assessment and believe that Wells, who was a good friend of Conrad as well as Henry James, Stephen Crane and Ford Madox Ford, might also agree with it. Like the best of Conrad reading this book was an exhilarating experience due both to its narrative and its deep meaning.

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.

I decided that I wanted to read this book after reading the crappy young-adult knockoff Dr. Franklin's Island earlier this year. And, as far as knock-offs go...really all Dr. Franklin did was update the technology and terminology.

I'm not sure how to describe this book other than to say, I believe that if I lived during the time it was written...I would have found it super scary. That being said, I would still say this was a good book...not quite a GREAT book, but good. :)

Another one for my SF/F class. I'm not sure what I'm going to write about for this one: Wells wrote with such clarity that it feels like everything is completely obvious. I don't find his work the most gripping stuff around, but I do enjoy reading it -- partly because of that sense of clarity: he knows exactly what he wants to say, and says it.There is something dispassionate about all his work, to me, but I can appreciate his ideas.

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).

I don't know if H.G. Wells was an atheist or not, but if this was the only writing he had left behind, I would have thought he was.

Slow start, but the last 25% of the book more than makes up for it. A fabulous parody of the Christian creation myth and the myth of Jesus.

EXCELLENT.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Very interesting and well written. I guess Wells must have been the Crichton of his time.

Funny thing about getting my husband’s hand-me-down iPad means that I can download lots of classics from Project Gutenberg. This is one I’ve wanted to read for a long time. I remember being surprised by The Invisible Man and really enjoyed it so I figured this one would be equally good and I wasn’t disappointed. Without knowing it would do so, this novel serves pretty well as foreshadowing for our current potential for genetic monstrosities. It’s also a sharp commentary against science for science’s sake and the role of morality in scientific research.If you can let go of the fact that it could never happen and immerse yourself in the straightforward prose, it’s a gripping tale and I was pretty shocked at how affecting it was. I felt revulsion and real tension as I read about Moreau’s experiments and Pendick’s pursuit through the nighttime jungle by the islands grisly inhabitants. I was thrilled in more way than one; by the writing and the story and that it could be so damn compelling and exciting. I didn’t expect that for a 100+ year old novel. If you can overlook the fact that there’s no way in hell those creatures would be possible and some of the other signs of its time it’s a pretty terrific story. Mysterious, creepy and with an ending and general circumstances that don’t give you all the answers.

Much better than the movie - although that could be said of many works. But the novel is more about the moral issues around science "at any cost" and man's place in the animal kingdom than about a horror story about a man being changed into an animal (at least in the Michael York version I saw, which completely misses the point).
A man is stranded on an island where a scientist is changing animals into people. Predictably, the animals transgress and revolt bringing about the death of the scientist. They revert to their animal selves and the man escapes back to "civilization".

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.

This book was more or less as I expected it to be. It was gripping and I can see how it would have stirred some emotions in its day. But I'm also (just like amcamp mentioned) not able to think that this might ever happen. Not that humankind could not be so savage, I believe that there are those who might be as savage as Moreau and Montgomery. The science of the book just felt really wrong. (And I am by no means a scientist.) However my heart went out to the poor Brutes who were thrust into a life they could never understand even if they tried their hardest to live according to the Law!

Genuinely scary and unsettling short story - a satire on themes of creation, evolution and class - what makes us human? Excellent edition (Penguin Classics) with in depth biography, further reading, textual notes and alternative expositions of the text by Margaret Atwood.

A very quick read, but highly recommended. Considering this novel was originally published in 1896, the forsight of H.G. Wells is absolutely amazing. The fear that Edward feels when he hears the animal screams coming from behind the locked door, the panick of being lost in the woods, all of it is felt first hand thanks to Wells' magnificent writing.

A powerful novel in it's day (1896) and still great fantasy/sci-fi...even if the science is a bit dated, it's still fun. On an island in the Pacific Ocean, the evil Moreau conducts grizzly experiments while the able assistant drinks himself into oblivion and the newcomer watches this queer drama. This would make a great movie---wait, there have been five made of this plot/theme. I'll go find one and watch it.

Reading Well's books I definitively came to conclusion that just watching film based on his books wrong. Books are very different in tone and main idea. Maybe kind of archaic reading now but definitive gruonders of genres and exciting, atmospheric even philosophyc books which are fundations of modern SF. In The Island of dr Moreau it is combination of horror and SF which makes eearie pesimistic reflection on then modern science which can easely can tranfered to modern conditions and problems in society and science (moralising about cloning for example). Well worth reading even today.

You can be rest assured that there are no inclusive resorts on the island of Dr. Moreau. And the residents can be rather ornery and out of sorts no matter how much you might tip them. Surprisingly, this is the first Wells novel I've read. It kept me turning pages even though it wasn't as compelling as I wished it to be. Interesting social commentary.

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.

This book surprised me. I think everyone has heard of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" whether it be from the book, the movie or just the concept or reference. I knew what the book was about before reading it but really had no idea how creepy and detailed the book would be.

Looking at the history of it, I found out this was a banned book that most found “appalling” because of the subject matter. According to Wikipedia, “When the novel was written in 1896, there was much discussion in Europe about degeneration and animal vivisection. Interest groups were formed to address the issue: the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed two years after the publication of the novel.” This just shows you how powerful this novel was back in that time period. What surprised me is how H.G. Wells came up with this advanced science, technology and psychology back then. He wasn’t just a writer but an inventor through his writing. He has a way of connecting with things that people don’t yet understand or can even wrap their minds around. I find his writing to be extremely thought provoking, and would have loved the chance to have read it back in its time period.

Without giving too much away, I wanted to mention my connection with the main characters thoughts and feelings about humans after his experience. I related so well to his reactions at being back in civilization that I find myself questioning how human I am, or how human any of us are. Why do we feel aggravated by other people so easily? Is evolution connected to this or just a coincidence?
I really connected with this book and enjoyed reading it quite a bit. I’m not sure if I’m in love with Wells or just his writing but I’d really like to use his time machine to travel back and meet him… and maybe swoon a bit. :)

Edward Prendick’s ship sinks and he is picked up by Montgomery, a passenger on another ship. When they reach Montgomery’s destination – an island in the middle of the Pacific – the ship’s captain refuses to take Prendick any further. Luckily, Montgomery eventually relents and brings Prendick onto the island as his guest. There he meets Dr. Moreau and a slew of unusual creatures. Unlike most 19th century literature, I find Wells exceedingly readable and fun. His characters are realistic and memorable, as are his scientific ideas. Perhaps still not my favorite of Wells’s (I’m not sure you can beat The Time Machine) but an excellent story nonetheless. Highly recommended.

Another short novel by Wells with an over the top social commentary. On a secluded island in the Pacific, Dr. Moreau experiments on animals through physical and brain surgery in an attempt to make them human (or at least more human). Although he has some success, the story shows us how after time, all of the beast return to a state of being beasts. I think the purpose of the story is to show us the dangers of letting science get out of control. Also, it shows us how maybe we should enjoy the way we are and not always be looking to make things "better".

"What could it all mean?. A locked enclosure on a lonely island, a notorious vivisector and these crippled and distorted men These are the thoughts of Edward Prendick: Well's anti-hero who is in effect a castaway on the island of Doctor Moreau. Most readers would be able to tell Prendick exactly what it means, because there has been at least three film versions and the story has been widely imitated. This is a horror story and the horror is palpable: if vivisection is the stuff of your nightmares then this novel will not be easy reading. Doctor Moreau is obsessed with his theories of being able to create men from beasts and has set up his laboratory on an island in the Pacific ocean far from any shipping lanes. He spends his time slashing and cutting away at live animals in an attempt to create something recognisable in human form and Wells makes us feel the pain and the degradation of his cruelty. In the chapter "The crying Puma" Prendick is given a room on the other side of a locked door leading into the laboratory and Doctor Moreau is operating on the puma:Suddenly the Puma howled again, this time more painfully. Montgomery swore under his breath. I had half a mind to attack him about the man on the beach. Then the poor brute within gave vent to a series of short, sharp cries.......I found myself that the cries were singularly irritating, and they grew in depth and intensity as the afternoon wore on. They were painful at first, but their constant resurgence at last altogether upset my balance. I flung aside a crib of Horace I had been reading, and began to clench my fists, to bite my lips, and to pace the room. Presently I got to stopping my ears with my fingers.The emotional appeal of those yells grew upon me steadily, grew at last to such an exquisite expression of suffering that I could stand it in that confined room no longer. I stepped out of the door into the slumberous heat of the late afternoon, and walking past the main entrance - locked again, I noticed - turned the corner of the wall. The crying sounded even louder out of doors. It was as if all the pain in the world had found a voice. Yet had I known such pain was in the next room, and had it been dumb, I believe - I have thought since - I could have stood it well enough. It is when suffering finds a voice and sets our nerves quivering and this pity comes troubling usThere are over 100 of the man-beasts still alive on the island who have all undergone days of surgery in the house of pain. They live as best they can according to a ritual of law imposed by Doctor Moreau in an attempt to stop them reverting to mindless beasts.It is an adventure story as well as a horror story but the sickness of the life on the island is never far away from our thoughts as we read on to discover what happens next. Wells has used the literary device of the story being discovered amongst Prendicks papers after his death and so it is told by him in the first person. This adds immediacy to the writing and we witness the fear, the degradation, and the pain at first hand, it also allows for a certain amount of tension and mystery especially in the first part of the novel. Prendick believes that he might be a subject for vivisection and his escape from the compound and headlong flight amongst the man-beasts on the tropical island is exciting and vividly told.There is more to Well's novel than an adventure/horror story. At the time of the novel's publication 1896 there was a debate raging about the morality of vivisection and Wells story pitches right in with the horrors that medical science can and will inflict if it remains unchecked. Evolution through natural selection or Darwinism was also much in the minds of the late Victorians and Thomas Huxley was seen as a propagator of Darwin's theories. Prendick in the novel says that he spent some years studying under Huxley, whose views that morality is determined independently of the biological origins of humanity is another key theme explored by Wells. The man-beasts must be indoctrinated by a set of rules, chanted by them at frequent intervals to help arrest their degeneration back into wild animals.Man as a social animal is another theme fully explored by Wells in his novel. The three characters that feature on the island are Prendick, Doctor Moreau and Montgomery, they are all in their way outcasts and it is typical of Wells to make his main character very much an anti-hero. Prendick finds himself sent to the island after an altercation with the ships captain, he is not welcome on the island despite his knowledge of biology, Montgomery calls him a prig, because of his standoffish behaviour and refusal to drink alcohol. Prendick himself although appalled by what is going on in the laboratory, has no thoughts of intervening, he would rather run away from the cruelty than challenge it. His practical knowledge is almost non-existent and when he is called upon to show courage or take action he always demurs. When he returns to civilisation he becomes again "the man alone," who would rather be with his books and papers than mix with other people. Doctor Moreau is an obsessional scientist whose moral code one might think is typical of such a man. Montgomery is a born follower, under the spell of the Doctor, but who has some sympathies with the beast-men, but takes solace in his alcoholism.Other themes that might easily be read into the novel are colonialism and religion, but care should be taken not to read to much from our 21st century perspective. As is usual with H G Wells there is much going on; I sometimes get the feeling that so many questions about the human condition are raised that it would take a much longer novel than this to deal with them all, however all power to Well's elbow for raising them here in a novel that is both original and looks forward to realisable horrors that would take place in the century following the novels publication. Nothing should get in the way of the fact that this horror story is genuinely creepy, certainly horrible, superbly well paced and reads like an adventure story. A great read 4.5 stars.

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not they deserve the labelBook #16: The Island of Dr Moreau, by HG Wells (1896)The story in a nutshell:Along with French author Jules Verne, the British HG Wells is considered one of the co-founders of the "science-fiction" genre*, in which the latest advances in that field are elegantly enfolded into thrilling or sometimes philosophical fictional narratives. (So in other words, think of him much more as the spiritual godfather of Michael Crichton than Isaac Asimov.) And indeed, his early-career masterpiece The Island of Dr Moreau contains not a single fantastical element at all, but is rather a chilling extrapolation of what was happening at the time in the real world of medicine, starting as these Victorian novels often do with a shipwreck in the middle of an ocean, and of our everyman hero (a gentleman named Prendick) getting picked up by a mysterious ship out in the South Seas somewhere. Taken back to the remote tropical island where his rescuers are heading, he is there introduced to our eponymous doctor, a creepy former London surgeon who was disbarred from his profession for shady ethical practices.And sure enough, it's no coincidence that Moreau happens to be on this remote island, and is having his nutso alcoholic nihilist assistant run around the various nearby islands and acquire as many exotic animals as possible; turns out that he has continued his formerly banned research here, a truly horrific series of experiments that has him seeing if he can somehow turn an animal into a fully rational human, through an elaborate series of delicate surgeries and psychological conditioning. Needless to say, he hasn't exactly succeeded yet, leaving the three humans on an island full of snarling, retarded man-beasts; to protect themselves, Moreau and the assistant have established among the beasts what they call "The Law," a combination of rational rules and religious dogma that keep the human/animal hybrids just barely civilized and not in a constant state of violent bloodlust. The majority of the book, then, concerns Prendick's time on the island and the ways that this delicate peace of course starts quickly falling apart; I'll leave the actual plotline itself as unspoken as possible, in that this 112-year-old story is actually still thrillingly surprising.The argument for it being a classic:Like many of the books reviewed here as part of the CCLaP 100, there is a strong argument for The Island of Dr Moreau being a classic based on its historical, trailblazing aspects; it's one of a handful of books, after all, to singlehandedly kick off the entire genre of science-fiction (now with millions of fans and which generates billions of dollars a year in revenue), not to mention such speculative tech writers as the aforementioned Crichton, Tom Clancey and more. But on top of this, though, this particular book is important too because it's held up so well over the decades, certainly much better than almost all of its Victorian fantastical counterparts; as its many fans will tell you, it still has the power to shock and disturb, and deals with issues like genetic engineering and the ethical role of doctors that are surprisingly relevant to this day. If you're going to pick any of the pseudo-science-babble books of the late 1800s to designate as a must-read, fans say, best to pick a book like this, not only as historically relevant as the others but simply a much more entertaining modern read.The argument against:A weak argument today at best; like many other Victorian fantastical tales, I suppose you can argue that Dr Moreau is too flippant and garish a tale, too focused on pleasing a lurid, mainstream crowd. But then that gets us into the whole subject of whether the forefathers of the various modern artistic genres out there even deserve to be recognized as the authors of "classics," people such as Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne and the aforementioned Jules Verne; and I think most intelligent people at this point in history would say that these are indeed authors worthy of "classic" status, making this not really much of an argument at all.My verdict:Ah, how nice to again come across a book whose "classic" status seems to not be questioned by very many people at all; it happens so rarely, after all, much more rarely than you would think for a series of book reviews all centered around so-called classics. And indeed, it was a sincere and pleasant surprise to read Dr Moreau for the first time (I haven't even seen any of the movie versions) and discover just how legitimately scary and gross and great it was to modern eyes, after a year now of such badly dated 1800s prose like is found in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (to mention one infamous example). Now that I've sampled both, I can definitively state that Wells was a much better writer than Verne, and that his titles can hold up in a canon list without necessarily the Roger-Marin-style asterisk that so many other Victorian genre authors need. That said, please be aware that this is a surprisingly disgusting book, one that deals with such then-current hot topics as vivisection (or the act of cutting open animals while still alive, in order to figure out how their insides work); but then again, it also gets you thinking about all kinds of interesting ethical questions still relevant to current society, like whether the animalistic part of our brains can ever be truly tamed and controlled (another hot topic among Victorians), and if the torture and slaughter of animals can ever be a morally justifiable action. It not only gets an enthusiastic yes from me today, but I can even declare it better than a lot of the contemporary genre novels I've read in the last year. Highly recommended.Is it a classic? Oh my, yes*And by the way, it's no surprise that Wells ended up as one of the founders of science-fiction; he was actually a dual student of biology and sociology at university, who pursued not only creative writing as a lucrative hobby at the same time but also the visual arts as well. In fact, Wells was much, much more well-known when alive as a brilliant political analyst, socialist activist, and a forefather of "futurism:" among other accomplishments, in the 1910s he predicted the outbreak of World War I, in the '20s predicted that the war's destruction would pave the way for the rise of fascism, in the '30s predicted that fascism would culminate in another world war right around 1940, and in the '40s called for the creation of what we now know as Wikipedia (which he called the "World Brain"). Oh yeah, and he was a founding member of both the League of Nations and the United Nations, and incidentally was the inventor of the world's very first miniature war-game ("Little Wars," in 1913). What a surprisingly fascinating guy!

An instant classic. I found H.G Wells' book to be quite entertaining. The "monsters" of the island are grotesque and are fun to read about. Dr. Moreau himself is seen as an unapologetic man who thinks he is doing right by turning beasts into men. A good enjoyable read. I'd recommend it.