The Island of Doctor Moreau

De: H. G. Wells

Narrado por: Alan Munro

A shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates sentient beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. H.G. Wells at his best.

Public Domain (P)2012 Trout Lake Media

Surreal and horrific

This is by far the most terrifying of HG Wells' works. The majesty of Wells' writing is made more evident here, which also makes it feels more real. Not because of the method which produced the human-like creatures but rather the carelessness behind it. Similar to Frankenstein, this is a cautionary take of epic proportions with an interesting take at the end in which the narrator/survivor realizes that his view of the human world mirrors his prejudice towards the chimeras on Moreau's island, implying that just as it was easy for those creatures to devolve, we can easily revert back to our primal selves. Man is after all an animal. A political animal. But an animal nonetheless.
Obviously, we aren't going to have chimeras like the ones created by Dr. Moreau any time soon but advances in medical science has made this book seem less like science fiction and more like a warning. A warning, given our dangerous curiosity, we are likely to dismiss.

Classic story barely tolerable narrator Alan Munro

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

not bad to listen to while doing other things.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Alan Munro?

Just about anyone could do better. this Narrator is kind of like an english William Shatner with his odd pauses in sentences. I usually find english accents and pronunciations humorous and entertaining but this guy is just bad. I dont generally expect narrators to be great at imitating numerous people but this guy was really bad in that respect as well.

Was The Island of Doctor Moreau worth the listening time?

Flip a coin.

Any additional comments?

I really love audio books. ive been able to listen to many of the classics i wouldnt otherwise invest the time to get to know. From now on ill be avoiding books narrated by Alan Munro regardless of how tempting the book may be.

Old time suspence

If you could sum up The Island of Doctor Moreau in three words, what would they be?

Fascinating look at mankind through the eyes of the Doctor. Not so much about the animals as it is about the men involved.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Island of Doctor Moreau?

The Pain of the Puma

What does Alan Munro bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Cool accent and good expression

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The touching of the little animals

Any additional comments?

Not so much like the movie, and old time view of mankind through a "Silence of the Lambs" type of suspense.

H.G. Oh Wells

Great story, well paced. The narration is stilted and dull. Kind of a snoozer.

Perhaps one of the best bargains on Audible

5 ½ hours of a H.G. Wells classic for $1.95!!!

The story is told by the nephew of the gentleman scientist that was stranded on the island from his journal years after his death.

The book became famous in the late 1800’s due to the debate on vivisection and infliction pain on animals. While I agree that it is an important debate between when it is needed for science and when it is just Torture. That is not what I thought the main point of the book was. I came away asking when does something become human? Take an animal that may or may not look somewhat like a man. He can talk do a job, has hopes and dreams, maybe even fall in love and start a family. So now is he still a beast of burden or is he a slave? Some of the Dr. creations are so well done it is not easy to tell by looking and talking the them and some have very little humanity. If you were to give rights the high functioning ones at what point do you take it away when they revert to animals?

The book is written and narrated in proper English of the turn of the century. I enjoyed the way it read. One of the differences between then and now is where we would say – I said “open the door” the book would say - “open the door” said I.

The narrator did a perfect voice of the the gentleman scientist. Which was 80-90% of the book. The voices for the Dr. and his assistant were ok.

Since it is less than $2 do not use a credit. Pay for it and use your credits on $20 books…

Poor Reading of a Great Story

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Alan Munroe has a way of adding many mid-sentence pauses. I never made it near the end of a long-anticipated listen.