After the last book I read (The Time Traveller’s Wife) I felt I needed to expand my horizon regarding Science Fiction. I’d like to say I chose H. G. Wells because I knew he had a profounding impact on the genre with his novels but it happened by accident.
I recently acquired one of the new smartphone things and after downloading various ‘apps’ that I’ll likely never use I downloaded an eReader called Aldiko (for Android as far as I know). This allows you to download books that are out of copyright for free and then read them on your phone. The screen is a little small for this but it is nice to be able to read inconspicuously without worrying that people are judging you based on what you are reading!
Aldiko came with two stock titles, one being The Invisible Man. I read the first few pages expecting it to be tiresome and difficult but it is quite interesting. Various takes on the story have been adapted over time, or perhaps Wells’ is an adaptation itself? It is interesting, then, to read the originality of many stories with all of the difficulties that invisibility entails.
The narrator of the story is wholly separate from the characters or events that he describes. Whilst he is omnipresent to the details he is limited in his understanding of the characters’ internal thoughts and reactions. What results is a journalistic-type narrative where all of the stories and events feel as though they are repetitions of someone else’s account.
This makes for a past-paced reading. The details are uncomplicated and often returned to from another perspective. The ‘stranger’ is at first glimpsed from several perspectives and his strange behaviours recounted in different ways so that the picture of the main protagonist is built up slowly through the chapters rather than being one, long internal monologue that reveals the most part of the character before the story has even begun.
The haphazard depiction of the ‘stranger’ and the initial lack of name gives him an inhuman quality though all of the clues point towards him being very much human, though perhaps my experience of the later adaptations of this story may be guiding my detective skills. The narrative is disjointed, not following the action in a clear linear line, giving the events surrounding the ‘stranger’ a quality of panic. In combination, though the exclusion of the narrator from the events and characters in the story is uncomfortable to read at first, The Invisible Man is an early indicator of post-modernism within media. This style has been developed over the years until it is now difficult to watch or read a sensible, structured plot.
I will definitely invest in a paper copy of this novel, however, as I miss being able to turn pages and see how far I’ve got left to read!
