The Invisible Man [Paperback]

The Invisible Man(1897) blends comedy and tragedy in its story of a scientist who discovers a way to make himself invisible. His inability to reverse the process leads to a radical disconnection from society—and eventually from his own sanity. Arriving in a town where no one knows him, disguised in bandages and dark glasses, the invisible man is driven to violent and criminal extremes before his secret is revealed. This prescient parable of the dark side of scientific progress demonstrates H. G. Wells’s signature gift for dramatizing humanity’s grandest possibilities and darkest fears.

“I personally consider the greatest of English living writers [to be] H. G. Wells.” —Upton Sinclair

H. G. WELLS (1866-1946) was a prominent English socialist and pacifist, and a prolific writer in many genres. As the author ofThe War of the Worlds,The Invisible Man,The Island of Dr. Moreau, andThe Time Machine, he is considered a pioneer of science fiction.
 

CHAPTER 1

THE STRANGE MAN'S ARRIVAL

THE STRANGER came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself against his shoulders and chest, and added a white crest to the burden he carried. He staggered into the Coach and Horses, more dead than alive as it seemed, and flung his portmanteau down. "A fire," he cried, "in the name of human charity! A room and a fire!" He stamped and shook the snow from off himself in the bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain. And with that much introduction, that and a ready acquiescence to terl¹