When I was quite young, I found and read H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds and I remember reading the entire work in one sitting. Since then, I have read and reread the book multiple times, reveling in the narrator's attempts to reunite with his wife and survive a deadly attack from Martians. Positively affected by the experience, I immediately found three other works from Wells to delight and amaze me: The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), and The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896).
The latter had a huge impact on my young mind as I wandered Noble's Isle with the narrator, Edward Prendick, and his horrific encounter with vivisectionist, the aforesaid Dr. Moreau.
Unlike War of the Worlds, I only read The Island of Doctor Moreau once in my life, but last week I found it available at the Gutenberg Project website (you can obtain your own copy in multiple formats here) and downloaded it to my Kindle eReader. I confess I was curious if a book I had not read in five decades would still have the same impact it had on me when a young child.
It took me only two days to read the 43,500 word+ novel and I can tell you I found it even more fascinating than when I read the work so many years ago.
Admittedly, the science is completely wrong, but if one can suspend belief, Wells' tragic tale of doomed souls created under the merciless knife of the titled character instills in the reader a sense of deep pity and outrage. Moreau's belief that surgical torture would transform animals into humans makes him the villain and more of a monster than the monsters with which he populates his island. This moves the tale well away from science fiction, a genre the novel has always been associated with, but in this reviewer's opinion, into the field of genuine horror.
As an author, there are two works I have always wanted to revisit and rewrite or revise: H. P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, and Well's The Island of Doctor Moreau.
Trust me when I say of all the faults that can be laid at my feet, giving myself airs is not one of them. It is a charge of arrogance to consider touching the works of two masters, and I know I cannot even approach them with the same level of quality that came from the pens of the masters, but if time allows me to undertake such projects, it is motivated not from a spirit of conceit, but of humble gratitude for the privilege of walking in worlds of another's creation and a desire to once again grasp the magic I felt when I read the tales for the first time.
On August 5th, 2010, I began keeping a list of books I have read. The Island of Doctor Moreau is 293rd book I have completed since that date.
On August 5th, 2010, I began keeping a list of books I have read. The Island of Doctor Moreau is 293rd book I have completed since that date.
We both see this book as horror, and yet we both know (well, probably know) people who wish it was real and that they could be Moreau's next 'patient'.
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