Reading List

June 27, 2010

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells

I thought this would be just an "adventure" book. Oh, it is so much more, particularly if one wanted to examine it in regards to the human condition. It is written in an older style, all first person but not hard to read, particularly since it is short. It examines one man's encounter with The Beast Creatures on the island, as well as the encounter with Dr. Moreau and his helper, Montgomery. It examines How others influence who and what we are, both politically and religiously. In the end there are some interesting visions towards the end and the protagonist is back among humans in London. "Then I look about me at my fellow men. And I go into fear. I see faces keen and bright, others dull or dangerous, others unsteady, insincere; none that have the calm authority of a reasonable soul. I feel as though the animal was surging up through them." In a nut-shell, that is the story.

I must at this time make comment on the attempts to make this story into a movie. I have seen a couple, and they were poor to say the least. Now that I have read the book, they must not only be judged as lacking, but soulless themselves. What a marvelous film this would make if the makers were only true to the story itself. But alas, they must contrive romance and heroism into a story that really has none of those Hollywood mainstays. If told according to the story, it would show more like "Lord of the Flies" and less like "The Planet of the Apes."

Read it someday if you have some free time. It is part of the 501 must reads and deserves to be there.