SF Review: The Island of Doctor Moreau can be labeled horror, mad scientist and all, as much as SF. Similar to The Time Machine, it's once again a rollicking adventure story that simultaneously traffics in ideas (Borges liked it). Call it The Tempest (1610) meets Frankenstein (1818) meets On the Origin of Species (1859) with meditations on religion, ethics, and other tangents. I found it most interesting as an allegory with a god-like creator who instills his creations with a set of rules for a religion and then wholly abandons them (the author has acknowledged his debt to Mary Shelley). While verging on blasphemy, Wells shows just how close we are to our animal nature and that we're religious backsliders at heart; notably there are only three humans on the island, but a widely diverse host of beast folk. As with The Time Machine, the story is told in such a pragmatic and straight-forward way as to make it seem credible. The Island of Doctor Moreau was published just a year after The Time Machine, as Wells turned out a book a year for several years. The Penguin version includes helpful annotations for those unfamiliar with 1890 England. Also adapted as an intense 1977 film with Burt Lancaster, Barbara Carrera, and Michael York -- haven't seen the Brando version. Stunning how easily Wells' works have been translated to other media, showing just how prescient his ideas were. The Island of Doctor Moreau is another stellar outing from Wells. [4½★]
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