The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells My rating: 3 of 5 stars I am adding a new section to my reviews. In future, I will look at accessibility. This section will cover everything from size of print, to book size and if the book is still in print. The type of things which an author has little control over but that are very important to the reader. Well, this is a classic and therefore is still in print. Looking at Amazon, there are plenty of editions to choose from. It is available for Kindle and it looks like there are several audio versions. The book is short and the copy I read was paperback. The type face was Okay. So, it was a fairly convenient read. Therefore, I will give the book 5/5 for accessibility. This is a classic and you can tell. The writing is impeccable. But, there's something about Well's writing style that seems to alienate me from the text. I can't put my finger on why. But, the writing seems to distance me from the story and the characters. Here's a question for you; do you think that this might have been intentional? Was Wells trying to alienate the reader from the story? Or, is it just that his writing style doesn't suit me? So, I give the language 3/5 The themes timeless and universal. It looks at the issues of vivisection and the limits of science. While, exploring the deeper conceptual questions of what makes a human and what are our responsibilities to each other. In addition, like much of the Wells cannon it questions class relationships within a capitalist society. These themes seems just as relevant today as they were in Well's time and therefore I give it 5/5 for thematic contact. I always have problems with Well's characters. I either have no sympathy for them or they irritate me. The main character of this book is no different. I did not feel any sympathy for him and I found him irritating. I thought that he was a weaker version of Guliver Gulliver's Travels. In fact the ending of this book, when the protagonist begins to hate humanity and isolates it seems to mirror the ending of Gulliver's Travels. Therefore, I give it 3/5 for character. But, This maybe my own personal blind spot coming into play. According to China Miéville, this is one of the key works of weird fiction and therefore one of key inspirations of his work and weird fiction. So, therefore, this will be of interest for those, like myself, who are interested in these sub-genres. What do you think of these longer reviews? Have you read this book? What did you think? View all my reviews