This is far from being my favourite Wells book. I found the writing didn’t flow in the way I normally expect from Wells. His phonetic writing of the Sussex dialect forced me to really work on much of the dialogue to figure out what was being said. All very realistic I’m sure but not very helpful. Maybe this would have been better for people of Wells’ own time, I’ve certainly not met any modern Sussex fold that talk remotely like that. None of the characters (and I really do mean none of them) were in the least bit likeable; it was impossible to form any empathy for them whatsoever. The plot was disjointed and frankly not very interesting.
The few saving graces were the action scenes which he always does so well and the very shortness of the book! Actually one other saving grace was that the invisibility was not romanticised in any way; rather the book showed very clearly what a curse it was rather than a blessing.
A short book that, for me, fell well below its classic status.
The few saving graces were the action scenes which he always does so well and the very shortness of the book! Actually one other saving grace was that the invisibility was not romanticised in any way; rather the book showed very clearly what a curse it was rather than a blessing.
A short book that, for me, fell well below its classic status.
