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sims2machinima's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i listened to an audiobook while reading, and the narrator kinda sounded like willem dafoe in nosferatu, which led me to imaging dr. moreau as willem dafoe for the entirety of the book... i am unfraid i will never be unable to unsee this (and tbf he would absolutely kill it)
no but seriously, this is definitely an interesting read. i had to read the book from a pro-vivisection/anti-vivisection perspective for a class presentation, and i think its commentary on human nature is very thought-provoking yet at the same time quite upsetting. at the end of the day, even when presented with something horrible happening, most of us will do nothing about it and instead focus on our own self-preservation.
(yes, i do realize h.g. wells supported vivisection in specific circumstances, but i felt it was hard to see the piece as pro-vivisection because of how difficult it is to sympathize with prendick, who only acts in ways that promote human superiority and hypocrisy; i do not think the intended humanism was successful)
no but seriously, this is definitely an interesting read. i had to read the book from a pro-vivisection/anti-vivisection perspective for a class presentation, and i think its commentary on human nature is very thought-provoking yet at the same time quite upsetting. at the end of the day, even when presented with something horrible happening, most of us will do nothing about it and instead focus on our own self-preservation.
(yes, i do realize h.g. wells supported vivisection in specific circumstances, but i felt it was hard to see the piece as pro-vivisection because of how difficult it is to sympathize with prendick, who only acts in ways that promote human superiority and hypocrisy; i do not think the intended humanism was successful)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racial slurs and Suicidal thoughts
VIVISECTION AND ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION!fieval_loves_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
<light spoilers>
Early science fiction! The book is much better when you understand the historical context in which it is written. Otherwise it can seem a bit….goofy..
Victorian paranoia around scientific advancement and particularly vivisection put the horror element into context.
The mystery of what the island is becomes relatively apparently early in the book.
It’s a short read but also fun to listen to on audiobook. good to read if you are interested in the development of the horror genre / science fiction and how monsters are a reflection of societies paranoia.
Early science fiction! The book is much better when you understand the historical context in which it is written. Otherwise it can seem a bit….goofy..
Victorian paranoia around scientific advancement and particularly vivisection put the horror element into context.
The mystery of what the island is becomes relatively apparently early in the book.
It’s a short read but also fun to listen to on audiobook. good to read if you are interested in the development of the horror genre / science fiction and how monsters are a reflection of societies paranoia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Understanding the context in which this book was writing is essential to enjoying and getting the most out of the book.captain_capslock's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Wow. I did not expect this book to be so brutal.
Something that everyone, including every adaptation, gets wrong is that they think he's combining humans and animals. He's not. He's vivisecting animals and surgically deforming their bodies to look more human, believing that if they look at least humanoid they'll suddenly 'become' human. They're just innocent animals living in horrific pain and existential terror. None of this is their fault.
The parallels with colonial racism are obvious, and the metaphor here is so ugly I'm not going to touch it with a ten foot pole, not here at least.
The narrator, Edward Prendrck, is... well, he's evil. Horribly, painfully evil. He's borderline more evil that Moreau himself. Reading the book is made all the more difficult because we're having to listen to his burning hatred for everyone around him, especially the animals. He H A T E S the animals, only because they look weird. He actually uses the word 'hate' on practically every page. Knowing that this is a metaphor for colonialism, this paints a reeeally bad light on our protag here. The part that gave me pause was when he and Montgomery commit a genocide. Here's how he describes it:
"Then we went into the laboratory and put an end to all we found living there."
That's it. They shoot up what is essentially the animal (occupied nations) version of Unit 731 and that's all we get about it. No remorse. No sadness. No Guilt. NO EMPATHY. It never even comes up again.
Absolutely brutal.
Extremely disturbing book. That's not a compliment.
Something that everyone, including every adaptation, gets wrong is that they think he's combining humans and animals. He's not. He's vivisecting animals and surgically deforming their bodies to look more human, believing that if they look at least humanoid they'll suddenly 'become' human. They're just innocent animals living in horrific pain and existential terror. None of this is their fault.
The parallels with colonial racism are obvious, and the metaphor here is so ugly I'm not going to touch it with a ten foot pole, not here at least.
The narrator, Edward Prendrck, is... well, he's evil. Horribly, painfully evil. He's borderline more evil that Moreau himself. Reading the book is made all the more difficult because we're having to listen to his burning hatred for everyone around him, especially the animals. He H A T E S the animals, only because they look weird. He actually uses the word 'hate' on practically every page. Knowing that this is a metaphor for colonialism, this paints a reeeally bad light on our protag here. The part that gave me pause was when he and Montgomery commit a genocide. Here's how he describes it:
"Then we went into the laboratory and put an end to all we found living there."
That's it. They shoot up what is essentially the animal (occupied nations) version of Unit 731 and that's all we get about it. No remorse. No sadness. No Guilt. NO EMPATHY. It never even comes up again.
Absolutely brutal.
Extremely disturbing book. That's not a compliment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
tmwarner_1994's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First I want to say that this was not as gruesome as I thought it would be. Now it was still hard to read at some parts, but it wasn't as detailed as I thought it would be given the subject matter. I like the twist at the end where you kind of find out that the whole story was written like a letter, but you aren't sure if it really happened or not. Was there really an island with a mad scientist who experimented with animal/human creatures? Who knows.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
devermismysteris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
woweewhoa's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, and Medical content
irene_addler's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
"But there are times when the little cloud spreads, until it obscures the whole sky. Then I look about me at my fellow men, and I go in fear."
On my journey through the classics of horror, I knew I would need to traverse The Island of Doctor Moreau. Despite getting fairly short, this story is quite the ride.
We start by knowing how the story ends. While there's potential for that to ruin the story, this story is absolutely not made worse for it. In fact, watching how Prendick gets to the island and simply following the journey was wonderful. I believe that helps offset some of the harder moments in the book. No matter what, the reader always knows there is hope.
I didn't find Prendick very likeable. He felt quick to judge others--though he is one of the most likeable characters in the book. However, most of his decisions make sense, and there are periods of humor in what could have been a horribly depressing book.
The body horror in this story had me literally cringing, and I wouldn't say it was a particularly graphic book. It's one of those stories where what is not shown makes it all the worse.
I think there's more in this story which could have been dug deeper into, but not every horror has to have deep discussions about morality--though that certainly is a topic. I'm also still confused as to why the experiments were happening. Moreau has a long monologue about it and perhaps the length made me glaze over and miss the point, but my understanding leaves me confused and thinking that his goals make no sense with his experiments.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Jonathan Keeble, and I think he's a great at creating unique voices, but there were times I wasn't sure who was talking and sometimes it was a bit much for me, but given how picky I am with narrators and that I finished this book, I think he was definitely a solid narrator. I wouldn't seek a book out to listen to him specifically, but I would absolutely listen to him narrate a book again.
Overall, this is a great book for those who want to dive into classic horror, but I wouldn't say it's a must read for everyone else.
On my journey through the classics of horror, I knew I would need to traverse The Island of Doctor Moreau. Despite getting fairly short, this story is quite the ride.
We start by knowing how the story ends. While there's potential for that to ruin the story, this story is absolutely not made worse for it. In fact, watching how Prendick gets to the island and simply following the journey was wonderful. I believe that helps offset some of the harder moments in the book. No matter what, the reader always knows there is hope.
I didn't find Prendick very likeable. He felt quick to judge others--though he is one of the most likeable characters in the book. However, most of his decisions make sense, and there are periods of humor in what could have been a horribly depressing book.
The body horror in this story had me literally cringing, and I wouldn't say it was a particularly graphic book. It's one of those stories where what is not shown makes it all the worse.
I think there's more in this story which could have been dug deeper into, but not every horror has to have deep discussions about morality--though that certainly is a topic. I'm also still confused as to why the experiments were happening. Moreau has a long monologue about it and perhaps the length made me glaze over and miss the point, but my understanding leaves me confused and thinking that his goals make no sense with his experiments.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Jonathan Keeble, and I think he's a great at creating unique voices, but there were times I wasn't sure who was talking and sometimes it was a bit much for me, but given how picky I am with narrators and that I finished this book, I think he was definitely a solid narrator. I wouldn't seek a book out to listen to him specifically, but I would absolutely listen to him narrate a book again.
Overall, this is a great book for those who want to dive into classic horror, but I wouldn't say it's a must read for everyone else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
fallknitt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Medical content
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, and Medical content
Moderate: Gore, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
apurpleyuan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail