The Island of Dr Moreau

After the Lady Vain is shipwrecked, Edward Prendick is plucked from the waves by a passing ship and deposited on a remote island. Here he is the guest of Dr Moreau, whose notorious scientific methods had caused an uproar that left him with no choice but to flee London. Disquieted and appalled by the pained cries of suffering animals, Edward soon realizes that the Doctor is continuing and developing his depraved experiments, and that he too is in great danger. Shocking and suffused with contemporary fears regarding the morality of the latest advances in science and their possible implications for religion, The Island of Dr Moreau is both a ruthless social satire and an exploration of human nature.

H. G. Wells's classic science fiction novel about a depraved scientist living on a remote island whose diabolical experiments on animals brought about hideous, humanlike results. With an introduction by Alan Lightman Close to death after a shipwreck left him stranded at sea, Englishman Edward Prendick finds himself on a remote island in the Pacific. He soon meets the enigmatic and notorious Dr. Moreau, a scorned physiologist who was forced to leave England when a journalist exposed his gruesome experimentation with vivisection. Thus begins Prendick's journey that leads him to discover dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life. . . . A riveting tale intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, The Island of Dr. Moreau was met with intense criticism from reviewers who found it horrifying and blasphemous after its initial publication in 1896. Yet even now, more than a century later, Wells's haunting exploration of ethical issues raised by producing "smarter" humans or bringing back extinct species still rings true.

H. G. Wells's classic science fiction novel about a depraved scientist living on a remote island whose diabolical experiments on animals brought about hideous, humanlike results. With an introduction by Alan Lightman Close to death after a shipwreck left him stranded at sea, Englishman Edward Prendick finds himself on a remote island in the Pacific. He soon meets the enigmatic and notorious Dr. Moreau, a scorned physiologist who was forced to leave England when a journalist exposed his gruesome experimentation with vivisection. Thus begins Prendick's journey that leads him to discover dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life. . . . A riveting tale intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, The Island of Dr. Moreau was met with intense criticism from reviewers who found it horrifying and blasphemous after its initial publication in 1896. Yet even now, more than a century later, Wells's haunting exploration of ethical issues raised by producing "smarter" humans or bringing back extinct species still rings true.

"I hope, or I could not live." --- H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, who called it "an exercise in youthful blasphemy". The text of the novel is the narration of Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates human-like beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. At the time of the novel's publication in 1896, there was growing discussion in Europe regarding degeneration and animal vivisection. Two years later, several interest groups were formed to address the issue, such as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

"I hope, or I could not live." --- H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, who called it "an exercise in youthful blasphemy". The text of the novel is the narration of Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates human-like beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. At the time of the novel's publication in 1896, there was growing discussion in Europe regarding degeneration and animal vivisection. Two years later, several interest groups were formed to address the issue, such as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

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.

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.