The Island Of Doctor Moreau (Readings Classics)

Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean, is rescued by another vessel. Onboard, he cannot help but notice the strange demeanor of M’ling, one of the passengers. He can’t be human, Prendick thinks. The ship finally unloads at an anonymous island. There, he fathoms M’ling’s true identity when he meets a runaway British physiologist Doctor Moreau, the proud creator of the Beast Folk — the human-animal hybrids who can speak and walk on hind legs. They kowtow to him and it appears that they’d do anything for him. Prendick knows that he’d be one of Moreau’s marvels if he couldn’t escape him in time. Published in 1896, The Island of Doctor Moreau is one of the masterpieces of early science fiction. A superb macabre tale, it raises questions about the unbridled ambitions of the human race on one hand and offers insight into the potential of science on the other. It has been adapted for visual media time and again.