Off The Shelf

The Invisible Man was written by H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds) in 1897. The story had been serialised in Pearson's Magazine and was published as a novel in the same year. The Invisible Man tells the story of a scientist named Griffin. Griffin theorises that by changing a person's reflective index to that of air, then their body would not absorb nor reflect light. This would render the person invisible. Griffin carries out his experiment with success but can not reverse the process which sends him into madness.

This really is a good novel in the science fiction vein. The main character of Griffin is a brilliant medial student but arrogant and brash. It is a good story examining that fine line between genius and insanity.

The best film version of the story is James Whale's (Frankenstein) 1933 film, The Invisible Man starring Claude Rains (Casablanca) in the title role. It is considered one of the classic "monster movies" of Universal Pictures.

The two images are from the stage play, The Invisible Man that was part of the Shaw Festival's 2006 season.