Where chaos stops and more chaos ensues. Where Filia plays the electric keyboard.
Where anything goes.
-//o_O\\7 *Home of the Awful, Mediocre and Pathetic* -//u_u\\7
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Where chaos stops and more chaos ensues. Where Filia plays the electric keyboard. Where anything goes. -//o_O\\7 *Home of the Awful, Mediocre and Pathetic* -//u_u\\7 |
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Monday, September 06, 2004 Book review! Yes, long awaited, and very much rusty and unpolished, but ... book review! Once again, the theme of this particular text is about humans and humanity. Why do I keep reading these kinds of novels? Is it because, since humanity is all around us, we are naturally inclined to discover more about it? Or is it because I'm perpetually intrigued and fascinated by this unusual race which is constantly engaged in the act of eliminating itself and yet proliferates over the whole globe? That remains to be seen. However, that which does not remain to be seen would be the subject of this particular novel, The Invisible Man, by Herbert George Wells. Hmm, it looks like a plot summary is in order here as well. Just like the other characters in Wells' repertoire, most of these characters are household names, yet no one really has any idea what the story is about. A tip to start you off ... if you have ever watched the movie Hollow Man, then let me tell you that it is actually a fairly good modern representation of the events of The Invisible Man, about a man who misuses the power of invisibility for selfish and evil means. Unlike Hollow Man, however, there are no ladies in the novel (as is typical in Wells' style) to distract those ogling perverts among you from the plot. Griffin, like so many other protagonists of the age, is a scientist who has been largely ostracised from society due to his pursual of a less savoury branch of scientific study. He is a chemist and a physicist, but due to his obsession with the dream of invisibility, he turns to experimentation on animals and, eventually, himself. Well, he succeeds, as is clear from that familiar image of the man in hat and cloak, and totally swathed with bandages. By reducing his refractive index to 1 (by means which are, as in the usual Wells fashion, left unexplaned) he manages to render himself invisible, only to find out that having others not being able to see him, and him not being able to see his own self, is not all that it was cracked up to be. The perils of invisibility can be left up to the reader's imagination. However, as I explained in comparing it to Hollow Man, the story can only be explained to a certain point by science alone. Being empowered renders one devious and unscrupulous, and naturally he misuses his invisibility to commit crimes like robbery and assault, until the bewildered townsfolk finally realise that it is the suspicious bandaged man who is the real criminal. A massive manhunt ensues as the Invisible Man, um, slips his robes and scarpers for it, stealing and attacking as far as is needed to survive. And then again, the excuse of survival explains the Invisible Man's behaviour only to a limit. When the Invisible Man flees and finally finds a safe haven in the villa of a supposed friend, he pauses to reflect and, spiteful and vicious creature that he is, explains his plans of using the power of invisibility to control others, first his fellow man, then a village, and maybe ... more? It is clear, however, that despite his powers his wishful thinking will get him nothing but killed, as his first 'victim' managed to scarper for his life with the Invisible Man's treasures and stolen goods. And his 'friend' decides that such a abhorrent creature is too dangerous to be left on the loose, empowered as he is, and discreetly calls in the calvary against him. And Griffin, the invisible man, after taking down some constables and the colonel of the local regiment, is finally killed. Lying dead in the streets, stark naked and beaten and trashed more cruelly than any human could bear to inflict upon another, his friend starts and ponders whether things might have turned out any different. What is interesting in The Invisible Man is that Wells dwells (hey, a rhyme!) not so much on the fact that Griffin is invisible but how his power affects his behaviour and mentality. It is clear even from a first reading that Wells makes a total sham out of the notion of being invisible, such as trying to explain how food dissipates into your invisible body and blood lost gains its visibility. And, as many critics are quick to point out, the horror of never being able to close your eyes. Just imagine ... you want to sleep, but you can't secure your own self-created darkness. No wonder the invisible man has a serious personality disorder. Of course, as one might immediately realise, invisibility lends itself to more devious and conniving trickery more than anything helpful or beneficial to others. The invisible man realises that he can steal, kill, and simply escape with near-impunity. But, as anyone is similarly quick to point out, power corrupts, and Griffin is transformed from a dedicated, if somewhat ill-tempered scientist, into an excessively demanding, self-approbating tyrant which is more than willing to resort to criminal means to achieve anything. Consider it an illustration of how power over one's fellow humans renders one ever more inhuman, to the very extent of no longer respecting the tenets of humanity. Debate on that. Isn't using one's abilities for selfish gain something which is only natural and to be expected? The fact that, as explained earlier, the invisibility is a self-serving ability, serves to emphasise the nature of human selfishness. But Wells also throws in an interesting caveat, that power only has value if there are others who are willing to submit to it. Alone, the invisible man, while not helpless, is definitely in a worser state than the beggar on the street. What is the use of stealing and killing when he cannot even interact intelligibly with the very people whom he exerts his dominance upon? He can't buy anything from shops, he can't ask for help, and people will walk into or step on him because they aren't aware of his presence. Which is why the invisible man seeks a human victim, a host, perhaps, who will act in proxy of him, and convey the desires, and later the terror of the invisible man to the rest of the unsuspecting human populace. This role he entrusts first to a beggar, who manages to elude him (with his loot!), and then to his friend a doctor, who betrays him. Power is nothing without the human victims to leech off, and, for all his 'power', the vulnerability of the solitude of the invisible man is highlighted in the final chapters as a massive manhunt is launched for an invisible killer. "Powdered glass. Yes, it sounds cruel, but it must be done. Tell the men to prepare powdered glass." Ooh. I get delirious with bloodlust just thinking about it ... I know lots of places where I would like to scatter a nice tinful of powdered glass, like the catwalks of all those flesh parades better known as beauty paegeants, for example. "Oh shut up, Charlotte, don't get carried away by your jealousy ("Hey!")." Speaking of power, like many other works of the time, The Invisible Man can also be interpreted as another socialist allegory written by one of those liberal socialists who lived during that time, emphasising the importance of interaction with the people, and how the invisible man, for all his power, managed to wield only limited influence before being cruelly trod down in the middle of the street by the weight of the masses. But that takes as much a stretch of imagination as it does for people to believe that L. Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz as some kind of utopian prophecy. The bad? Well, I feel like holding on the negative comments this time, because many of the gripes I have have already been gone over with my discussions on other texts like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, etc. Male-dominated, too presumptiously scientific, many plot-altering late revelations, similar stock main characters (wise doctor, crazy scientist, foolish buffoon ...), and so on. Perhaps it would be more fair, given my already lengthy elaboration about those earlier faults, to simply comment rather than criticise this time around. The Invisible Man is not a plot-centric text. It does not leave you gripping your seat, um, your book expectantly wondering what is going to happen next, which is strangely unlike the case for many texts of that time. Given the invisible man's stealthy and evasive nature, that might be understandable, as the action only really heats up with the chase scene at the end. Instead, you will spend more of your time pondering and considering the situation presented within the text, both literally (as to Griffin's diatribe halfway through on the merits and difficulties of being invisible), and analytically (example already presented earlier). As to my recommendations, if you're a fan of the precursor to science fiction which is the creative writing of the late 19th century, there really isn't a reason why you should avoid this since it's a staple of the repertoire that includes The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and more things by Wells and Verne especially. Otherwise, if you're looking for something stimulating to keep you thinking and pondering for a while about the nature of the way things are in this world, you might want to give this a read through. No real action or unusual plot development here, this is mostly about intellectual philosophising. Definitely worth the couple hours it would take to finish the 100+ pages of it. Got a couple of hours free? Then give it a try. posted by Charlotte | 4:56 pm
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Disclaimer : The Slayers and Filia Ul Copt and all images thereof are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own any of them, although if I had a choice I would want Filia ... ~//n_n\\7 |
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