The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells; book review

This is an old classic from 1897, by an author who was prolific in many genres including a few very well known early sci-fi.
There are a lot of pros and cons to this book, I did not love it, I do respect it though, and it will keep me thinking for a long time.
#classicsciencefiction
#theinvisibleman

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

I first read THE INVISIBLE MAN half a century ago. What I like most about it is that the title character is so gloriously unapologetic about being who he is - the same character-trait which makes Sherlock Holmes so appealing. And it blooms into such direct, unadulterated punch-in-the-nose menace, expressed in the letter he writes to the police, in which he vows to murder the narrator: "This announces the first day of the Terror. Port Burdock is no longer under the Queen, tell your Colonel of Police, and the rest of them; it is under me-the Terror! This is day one of year one of the new epoch-the Epoch of the Invisible Man. I am Invisible Man the First. To begin with the rule will be easy. The first day there will be one execution for the sake of example-a man named Kemp. Death starts for him to-day. He may lock himself away, hide himself away, get guards about him, put on armour if he likes-Death, the unseen Death, is coming. Let him take precautions; it will impress my people. Death starts from the pillar box by midday. The letter will fall in as the postman comes along, then off! The game begins. Death starts. Help him not, my people, lest Death fall upon you also. To-day Kemp is to die.” Now _that_ is what I call writing.

[@OmnivorousReader]

The slow escalation of the inhumanity is certainly something that sets this book apart. In the beginning, The Invisible Man just comes across as secretive and grumpy, but by the end, when he is trying to murder Kemp for having betrayed him, there is definitely that escalation into horror. As you say, well written horror.