Ranked among the classic novels of the
English language and the inspiration for several unforgettable movies,
this early work of H. G. Wells was greeted in 1896 by howls of protest
from reviewers, who found it horrifying and blasphemous. They wanted
to know more about the wondrous possibilities of science shown in his
first book,
The Time Machine, not its potential for misuse and terror. In
The Island of Dr. Moreau
a shipwrecked gentleman named Edward Prendick, stranded on a Pacific
island lorded over by the notorious Dr. Moreau, confronts dark secrets,
strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life.
While this riveting tale was intended to be a commentary on evolution,
divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture,
modern readers familiar with genetic engineering will marvel at Wells’s
prediction of the ethical issues raised by producing “smarter” human
beings or bringing back extinct species. These levels of interpretation
add a richness to Prendick’s adventures on Dr. Moreau’s island of lost
souls without distracting from what is still a rip-roaring good read.
