Bookworms: The Invisible Man (1897) by H.G. Wells

“Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
‘Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there...” – Amos, Chicago 

The Invisible Man

Invisibility: the wet dream of military scientists, voyeurs, and thieves everywhere. But, is it really a blessing, a great disguise, and a solution to incurable ugliness? H.G. Wells apparently didn’t think so when he explored the phenomenon and its impact on human life in his novella The Invisible Man.

A strangely dressed, and extremely secretive, man arrives in a quiet British town. He takes over a room in a local boarding house and proceeds to make himself as conspicuous as possible. He annoys the landlady with his careless care of his room, smashing bottles and strewing straw all around. He keeps odd hours and refuses to be disturbed. Everyone in the town soon knows of him and speculates wildly as to his name, nature, and nomenclature. He is apparently a scientist of some sort, bent on rediscovering some hidden formula. The village children take to imitating him when he goes out, as he does so completely covered: a long cloak, a slouched hat, goggles, gloves, and bandages.

Eventually, due to an accident with a dog, a surprise visit, and a few unforeseen circumstances, the mystery is revealed: the man is invisible. His outrageous disguise is to hide his utter lack of visible features. He is suspected of being a thief, and in the attempt to arrest him, the invisible man sheds his clothes, and thus his only means of recognizance, and escapes into the country.

Desperately searching for safe harbor, the invisible man comes across an old friend. He is, however, rebuffed, and due to the strain of remaining invisible, the man goes insane. He means to start a reign of terror as an invisible murderer. Only his former friend has a chance to stop him, but how can you fight an enemy you can’t see?

H.G. Wells is a master of odd and whimsical science fiction. He is known for The Time Machine, The Strange Island of Dr. Moreau, and a few other oddly weird tales. The Time Machine includes future evolved humans that are bloodthirsty beasts, Dr. Moreau is obsessed with vivisection (and creating people from animals), and the invisible man’s subsequent insanity and murderous obsession falls firmly into Wells’ macabre pattern.

The Invisible Man is mysterious, thought provoking, and quite entertaining. Wells writes a hell of an action sequence and there are at least three big ones in the book. He also theorizes quite adeptly on the dual curse and blessing that personal invisibility would bring to a human being. Harrowing in a turn of the century world, I can only imagine that the invisible man’s problems would be exacerbated in our modern world. A classic of early science fiction, even Wells’ imagined method of achieving invisibility is genius and relatively unique among modern interpretations of the subject (at least among those I have read). Certainly it isn’t as easy as a magic cloak, and the invisible man tests his theory on a cat, with a few hilarious results.

The Invisible Man remains one of H.G. Wells more normal and fascinating novels, and one of my favorite stories to read. Wait…I hear something. Hello? Is someone there? *grummphh*

{NOTE: THE AUTHOR IS…UNAVAILABLE. THE INVISIBLE TERROR HAS COME TO THE INTERNET. BE AFRAI….}