• The Island of Doctor Moreau (AmazonClassics Edition)

  • By: H. G. Wells
  • Narrated by: Michael Page
  • Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (108 ratings)

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The Island of Doctor Moreau (AmazonClassics Edition)  By  cover art

The Island of Doctor Moreau (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: H. G. Wells
Narrated by: Michael Page
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Publisher's summary

On an uncharted South Pacific island, the mad genius Doctor Moreau has found refuge. It’s here, away from London and the civilized world, that the scientist can conduct his experiments on animals without condemnation. When Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck, washes ashore, he bears witness to Moreau’s cruel research and its bloody, inevitable unraveling.

In exploring the disquieting crossroads of scientific progress and ethical responsibility, Wells’s cautionary account about the perversion of natural order rattles audiences’ sensibilities to this day.

Revised edition: Previously published as The Island of Doctor Moreau, this edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

What listeners say about The Island of Doctor Moreau (AmazonClassics Edition)

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Not How I Pictured It

But when is a classic book ever what one imagines it when one only has cursory knowledge of it? Well done narration, and intriguing exploration of then-cutting edge science.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Visual and dull

There was no reason for such a short book to feel so interminable. I think HG Wells was a lackluster author and an extraordinary idea-man. His concepts are captivating and often chilling; he's just the wrong person to write about them.

On the plus side, this novel is visual throughout and the narration is fantastic.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love a classic

I love this story. It wAs great the way he changed his voice to. Details he let you know about the creatures.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Scary still today. A true masterpiece

loves it. wish it was longer. good read before Halloween if you dare. enjoy this classic!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Our House of Pain

The names Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are often coupled as early writers of Science Fiction, two sides of the same coin. Verne’s side is shining bright with optimism and potential, Well’s side is darkly tarnished with humanity’s folly and hubris.

“Island” is certainly a tarnished view of science. I don’t believe Wells was anti-science, he just had misgivings of humanity’s utilization of it.

A man finds himself shipwrecked and an unwanted guest on an island being used for dubious experiments by Dr. Moreau and his assistant. They’re engaged in a sort of forced evolution, turning animals into humans. Had this book been written fifty years later, Wells would’ve replaced genetic manipulation with vivisection as the means Moreau alters his subjects. He theorizes pain and suffering is required to becoming human.

In addition to physically changing the animals to look like humans, Moreau increases their intelligence, tries to instill a social order, and forces his morality on them.

Questionable science aside, this delves into the problematic act of animal testing and justification for inflicting pain for the betterment of humanity and other moral dilemmas.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Did not enjoy

Couldn’t stay interested. Maybe it’s just me since it’s a classic? Not my genre I guess

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Just no

I get what it's going for but it's slow and the main character and his surrounding are uninteresting. Maybe it's just for a older crowd of readers I assume but even then.....

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