The Island of Dr. Moreau
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A cautionary tale of the horrors that can ensue when man experiments with nature, from the father of science fiction, H. G. Wells.
A lonely island in the Pacific. The sinister scientist who rules it. And the strange beings who dwell there....
This is the scenario for H. G. Wells’s haunting classic, one of his most intriguing and visionary novels. Living in the late nineteenth century and facing the impact of Darwin’s theory of evolution, Wells wrote this chilling masterpiece about the characteristics of beasts blurring as the animals turn into men. Dr. Moreau, a scientist expelled from his homeland for his cruel vivisection experiments, finds a deserted island that gives him the freedom to continue torturous transplantations and create hideous creatures with manlike intelligence. But as the brutally enforced order on Moreau’s island dissolves, the true consequences of his experiments emerge, and his creations revert to beasts more shocking than nature could devise.
A genius of his time, H. G. Wells foresaw the use of what he called the “atom bomb,” the practice of gene-splicing, and men landing on the moon. Now, when these have become part of everyday life, his dark fable serves as a compelling reminder of the horrors that reckless experiments with nature can produce.
With an Introduction by Nita A. Farahany
and an Afterword by Dr. John L. Flynn
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Voice actor Griffin brings the perfect sense of earnestness to his reading of this prophetic tale of science gone mad. Edward Prendick, an upper-class Englishman, is shipwrecked, adrift on the ocean and facing certain death, when he is miraculously rescued by a passing ship. His relief is short-lived, however, as he soon finds himself marooned on a strange and dangerous island ruled by a mysterious scientist named Dr. Moreau. The only other inhabitants of the island are Moreau's assistant, Montgomery, and a disturbing collection of beast folk animal hybrids stitched and spliced together by Moreau through a series of cruel and painful experiments in his attempts to elevate common animals into some twisted semblance of humankind. Trapped on this bizarre island-sized laboratory, Prendick must survive while under the ever-watchful eyes of his human benefactor and the unpredictable eyes of his animalistic creations. Griffin's reading brings a level of hopeful desperation to Prendick, the story's narrator. His Prendick is a man damaged by having seen horrendous things he can never fully explain or forget and yet he's determined to tell his story one last, definitive time. It is a solid, compelling and thought-provoking reading of this timeless tale of science fiction.
