The Island of Doctor Moreau (Webster's English Thesaurus Edition)

Thought Provoking (2010-07-16) : 5/5
Reading The Island of Doctor Moreau for the first time was amazing. I've spent 30 plus years with every book I could find on our own ancient history trying to find out where we came from, and I can't help but wonder if H.G. Wells knew something of that history when he wrote his book. In Zacharia Sitchen's work we have the scientist Enki going off the experiment on the local animals to produce a hybrid between his species and the local ape-like creature to produce modern man. Is it merely a coincident or was Wells mining ancient cellular memories.

While Enki did gene-splicing and worked with his sister, (genesis means beginnings/gene of isis) Moreau had his drunken assistant Montgomery. In the Island, the Moreau predicts that the animals will revert back to animals(mark of the beast he calls it) and they do once they see and taste blood. Is that Wells' commentary on mankind, that we revert to beasts once we taste blood(wars)? I also equated the Mark of the Beast that Wells talked about with Revelation and the dreaded Mark Of The Beast which is thought to be a computer chip to some. Maybe it's just us turning back into the beasts our creators brought us up from. Tasting blood does seem to turn us into beasts.

I think this book should be read with Sitchen's work to see the parallels of how we might have been brought up from beasts by a consciousless creator to satisfy his curiosity and test his skills. How Moreau's assistant felt sympathy for the beasts and wanted to teach and befriend them. Enki was sympathetic to his 'beast creations' and wanted to save them from his brother Enlil. Enlil wanted to destroy the beasts(flood) because they sickened him and the beasts wouldn't follow the Law.

Spoiler-read no further.

I especially liked how when Moreau was killed by one of his beasts, Montgomery told the beasts that Moreau wasn't dead he'd just dropped his form to go up to heaven, and that the law still applied, and their creator would be watching from above. Sounds just like a priest trying to stay in power and keep the beasts, who were in the majority from killing him.

When Pendrick finally gets off the island, he finds he can no longer live with the rest of humanity because he keeps seeing a shadow of the beast in their faces. Absolutely amazing book. Read it and have it haunt you for the rest of your life.

When I Dream
Excellent book (2010-06-07) : 4/5
H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau is a very good book. When I got it the Kindle version was free, so a good deal. I don't like having to pay for public domain books, but I like having them to carry with me. This is very thought provoking and not one you can easily forget. The novel is a sort of commentary on what it is to be human. The science fiction used is a little difficult to suspend disbelief for, what with modern biological knowledge of genetics, but it isn't something that really interferes with the story. A very interesting read, I strongly recommend The Island of Dr. Moreau.
why pay so much? (2010-06-02) : 5/5
this is just about a specific edition which sells for three times (!?) what it should. stick with the better editions- like The Island Of Doctor Moreau which are a third of the cost
memorable classic book, but poor audiobook quality (2010-03-26) : 3/5
I don't really have much to say about The Island Of Doctor Moreau in terms of the story. It's a science fiction classic, 'nuff said. But what I do have to add is that the quality of this particular audiobook is pretty poor. The reader drones on in a monotone. I end up missing a lot of the story and have to constantly rewind because my mind easily wanders because the presentation is so poor. Also the quality of the audio in general is really bad. Hissy and grainy.
Yesterday's horror meets today's science lab (2010-03-22) : 5/5
I got this on Kindle simply because it looked interesting and was $0.00. Once I began to preview the book to determine whether or not I was going to keep in on my Kindle or delete it...I couldn't put it down! The language is somewhat dated however, it adds to the story line and keeps the events back in the time they should be rather than allowing them to creep into today's timeframe. It is so interesting to read something that was written that long ago and let your imagination decide how it may pertain to today's life in the form of genetic, hybrid and biological engineering. The fictional events on The Island of Dr. Moreau seem as though they could be going on in the local university biology research lab and hidden from the public eye. Typically I'm not into science fiction reads but this may be a turning point for me. I enjoyed this book a great deal and have recommended it to several friends to read. Enjoy!