There are few authors as integral to sci-fi as H.G. Wells. Over the course of his career, he wrote several page-turning masterpieces such as "The Invisible Man" and the iconic "The Time Machine." What's more impressive is that he managed to establish every gimmick possible into a riveting page-turner. With his story "The Island of Dr. Moreau," he reaches for loftier heights by exploring themes of man playing God, and what happens when his creation fights back. It's a sloppy premise, but one that helps to expand on themes of such books as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" by turning it into a fun island adventure that is as recognizable as it is disturbing. It may be a little clunky from a prose perspective, but it's still Wells doing what he does best.
The story follows the narrator as he approaches an island. Upon falling off his own ship, he is rescued by someone who will lead him to Dr. Moreau: a recluse who was expedited from Europe for doing controversial vivisection experiments. On his island, he has only made science more perverted by showing how humanity can evolve by molding human DNA with that of animals. It sounds like a perfect idea to create a new race of powerful creatures. The only issue? It's just as scary as it is disturbing and sad. Wells chooses to show every side of the experimentation by turning Moreau into a villainous figure as well as one driven by logical conclusions. As the finale suggests, Moreau tried to turn beasts into men while revealing that men turn into beasts out of defense. The tragic details show a deformed society of mutants who exist almost neglected, as if rejected by their maker.
To some extent, Wells' writing is elevated by its ability to be an allegory for man playing God. Even beyond this context, it's just a striking story about disturbing surgeries. One is left to wonder why anyone would want to create a new class of humanity. In an era before surgeries and submission were commonly written about, "The Island of Dr. Moreau" manages to show how humanity creates second class citizens out of people too hopeless to be anything but. It's in turning the monsters into human that the story takes on a more disturbing subtext. Even as the story ends, there's suggestion that another horror is that nobody believes the atrocities unless they have experienced them firsthand.
The story is excellent as most Wells writing is. However, it does suffer from a bit of a redundant streak. The prose is a bit too observant and revels in details that read as clinical. While it works as an exploration of the agriculture of the island, it does make the book tougher to read when compared to his equally innovative and iconic stories. There's enough to make it a fascinating read that more than warrants its place in pop culture. However, it's also one that unfortunately suffers from being dated. The horror doesn't strike as hard as it should. Instead, it manages to survive on themes, which even then don't always get the most provocative prose to back it up. Still, this further proves Wells' ability to not only find novelty sci-fi premises, but turn them into a bigger, crazier art form.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
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