The Island of Doctor Moreau

HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics. “That these man-like creatures were in truth only bestial monsters, mere grotesque travesties of men, filled me with a vague uncertainty of their possibilities far worse than any definite fear.” Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the South Pacific, is set ashore on an island where he meets the mysterious Doctor Moreau. Horrified by the discovery that Moreau is performing vivisection on animals to form monstrous human hybrids, Prendick flees into the jungle. But he soon realises that the island is populated with Moreau’s terrible creations, and not all are divested of their savage habits . . . H. G. Wells pioneered ideas of society, science and progress in his works, which are now considered modern classics. Written in 1896, The Island of Doctor Moreau is an imaginative exploration of the nature of cruelty and what it means to be human.

HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics. “That these man-like creatures were in truth only bestial monsters, mere grotesque travesties of men, filled me with a vague uncertainty of their possibilities far worse than any definite fear.” Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the South Pacific, is set ashore on an island where he meets the mysterious Doctor Moreau. Horrified by the discovery that Moreau is performing vivisection on animals to form monstrous human hybrids, Prendick flees into the jungle. But he soon realises that the island is populated with Moreau’s terrible creations, and not all are divested of their savage habits . . . H. G. Wells pioneered ideas of society, science and progress in his works, which are now considered modern classics. Written in 1896, The Island of Doctor Moreau is an imaginative exploration of the nature of cruelty and what it means to be human.

'The creatures I had seen were not men, had never been men. They were animals, humanised animals...' A shipwrecked Edward Prendick finds himself stranded on a remote Noble island, the guest of a notorious scientist, Doctor Moreau. Disturbed by the cries of animals in pain, and by his encounters with half-bestial creatures, Edward slowly realises his danger and the extremes of the Doctor's experiments. Saturated in pain and disgust, suffused with grotesque and often unbearable images of torture and bodily mutilation, The Island of Doctor Moreau is unquestionably a shocking novel. It is also a serious, and highly knowledgeable, philosophical engagement with Wells's times, with their climate of scientific openness and advancement, but also their anxieties about the ethical nature of scientific discoveries, and their implications for religion. Darryl Jones's introduction places the book in both its scientific and literary context; with the Origin of Species and Gulliver's Travels, and argues that The Island of Doctor Moreau is, like all of Wells's best fiction, is fundamentally a novel of ideas

'The creatures I had seen were not men, had never been men. They were animals, humanised animals...' A shipwrecked Edward Prendick finds himself stranded on a remote Noble island, the guest of a notorious scientist, Doctor Moreau. Disturbed by the cries of animals in pain, and by his encounters with half-bestial creatures, Edward slowly realises his danger and the extremes of the Doctor's experiments. Saturated in pain and disgust, suffused with grotesque and often unbearable images of torture and bodily mutilation, The Island of Doctor Moreau is unquestionably a shocking novel. It is also a serious, and highly knowledgeable, philosophical engagement with Wells's times, with their climate of scientific openness and advancement, but also their anxieties about the ethical nature of scientific discoveries, and their implications for religion. Darryl Jones's introduction places the book in both its scientific and literary context; with the Origin of Species and Gulliver's Travels, and argues that The Island of Doctor Moreau is, like all of Wells's best fiction, is fundamentally a novel of ideas

The Penguin English Library Edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells 'That black figure, with its eyes of fire, struck down through all my adult thoughts and feelings, and for a moment the forgotten horrors of childhood came back to my mind' Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. Here, he meets Montgomery's master, the sinister Dr. Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

The Penguin English Library Edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells 'That black figure, with its eyes of fire, struck down through all my adult thoughts and feelings, and for a moment the forgotten horrors of childhood came back to my mind' Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. Here, he meets Montgomery's master, the sinister Dr. Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

A parable on Darwinian theory, and a biting social satire, H.G. Wells's science fiction classic The Island of Dr Moreau is a fascinating exploration of what it is to be human. This Penguin Classics edition is edited by Patrick Parrinder with notes by Steven McLean and an introduction by Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale . Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. Here, he meets Montgomery's master, the sinister Dr. Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results. This edition includes a full biographical essay on Wells, a further reading list and detailed notes. Margaret Atwood's introduction explores the social and scientific relevance of this influential work. H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was a professional writer and journalist. Wells's prophetic imagination was first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction, but later he became an apostle of socialism, science and progress. Among his most popular works are The Time Machine (1895); The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), filmed with Bela Lugosi in 1932, and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando; The Invisible Man (1897); The War of the Worlds (1898), which was the subject of an Orson Welles radio adaptation that caused mass panic when it was broadcast, and a 2005 film directed by Stephen Spielberg; and The First Men in the Moon (1901), which predicted the first lunar landings. If you enjoyed The Island of Doctor Moreau , you might like Wells's The Time Machine , also available in Penguin Classics.

A parable on Darwinian theory, and a biting social satire, H.G. Wells's science fiction classic The Island of Dr Moreau is a fascinating exploration of what it is to be human. This Penguin Classics edition is edited by Patrick Parrinder with notes by Steven McLean and an introduction by Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale . Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. Here, he meets Montgomery's master, the sinister Dr. Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results. This edition includes a full biographical essay on Wells, a further reading list and detailed notes. Margaret Atwood's introduction explores the social and scientific relevance of this influential work. H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was a professional writer and journalist. Wells's prophetic imagination was first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction, but later he became an apostle of socialism, science and progress. Among his most popular works are The Time Machine (1895); The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), filmed with Bela Lugosi in 1932, and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando; The Invisible Man (1897); The War of the Worlds (1898), which was the subject of an Orson Welles radio adaptation that caused mass panic when it was broadcast, and a 2005 film directed by Stephen Spielberg; and The First Men in the Moon (1901), which predicted the first lunar landings. If you enjoyed The Island of Doctor Moreau , you might like Wells's The Time Machine , also available in Penguin Classics.

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction When Edward Prendick is shipwrecked on a tropical island, he is surprised to find he has company in the form of Dr Moreau. Driven out of Britain in disgrace, Dr Moreau has decided to explore his science in peace and isolation. It isn't long before Prendick discovers the horrors it involves . . . Considered widely to be one of the fathers of science fiction, H.G. Wells' story of a mad scientist pushing the boundaries of humanity sits alongside Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the annals of British classics. The novel has been adapted multiple times, and is referenced in many different media. 'The most important of all nineteenth-century sf writers in the UK and in America' - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 'Short, cold, economic and totally unrelenting. An utterly terrifying book' - China Miéville 'One of our bravest and most stimulating writers' - Telegraph

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction When Edward Prendick is shipwrecked on a tropical island, he is surprised to find he has company in the form of Dr Moreau. Driven out of Britain in disgrace, Dr Moreau has decided to explore his science in peace and isolation. It isn't long before Prendick discovers the horrors it involves . . . Considered widely to be one of the fathers of science fiction, H.G. Wells' story of a mad scientist pushing the boundaries of humanity sits alongside Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the annals of British classics. The novel has been adapted multiple times, and is referenced in many different media. 'The most important of all nineteenth-century sf writers in the UK and in America' - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 'Short, cold, economic and totally unrelenting. An utterly terrifying book' - China Miéville 'One of our bravest and most stimulating writers' - Telegraph

Philosophical, strange, and a little grotesque, The Island of Doctor Moreau by influential author H. G. Wells is praised as a classic due to its inspiration for many science fiction books and movies alike. H. G. Wells, who is renowned for his debut novel The Time Machine, is known as "the father of science fiction" thanks to his prophetic fiction on alien invasions, time travel, and space exploration. Wells' work habitually finds itself questioning evolution and religion, while stretching our imagination of a futuristic society. The Island of Doctor Moreau follows Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked scientist who is saved by a man named Montgomery and taken aboard his ship. Here, Prendick is introduced to a grotesque, bestial servant named M'ling and several other animals that belong to Montgomery who are on their way to an unnamed island where Montgomery works. Once arrived, Prendick is not allowed to enter the island, but the natives take pity on him and introduce him to Doctor Moreau, a researcher who works on the island. As Prendick stays on the island, he begins to realize that he's heard of Doctor Moreau before; known for horrific experiments that were publicly exposed which caused Moreau to flee from England. When Prendick mistakenly finds a group of people who seem to be human, but resemble hog-like hybrids of animal and man, he begins to recognize that something blasphemous may be happening on the island. The Island of Doctor Moreau is a riveting tale of danger and horror that provides Wells' signature social commentary on evolution, divine creations, and the ethical question of what it means to be animal or man.

Philosophical, strange, and a little grotesque, The Island of Doctor Moreau by influential author H. G. Wells is praised as a classic due to its inspiration for many science fiction books and movies alike. H. G. Wells, who is renowned for his debut novel The Time Machine, is known as "the father of science fiction" thanks to his prophetic fiction on alien invasions, time travel, and space exploration. Wells' work habitually finds itself questioning evolution and religion, while stretching our imagination of a futuristic society. The Island of Doctor Moreau follows Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked scientist who is saved by a man named Montgomery and taken aboard his ship. Here, Prendick is introduced to a grotesque, bestial servant named M'ling and several other animals that belong to Montgomery who are on their way to an unnamed island where Montgomery works. Once arrived, Prendick is not allowed to enter the island, but the natives take pity on him and introduce him to Doctor Moreau, a researcher who works on the island. As Prendick stays on the island, he begins to realize that he's heard of Doctor Moreau before; known for horrific experiments that were publicly exposed which caused Moreau to flee from England. When Prendick mistakenly finds a group of people who seem to be human, but resemble hog-like hybrids of animal and man, he begins to recognize that something blasphemous may be happening on the island. The Island of Doctor Moreau is a riveting tale of danger and horror that provides Wells' signature social commentary on evolution, divine creations, and the ethical question of what it means to be animal or man.