The Invisible Man

Now, Nightlife, is there any of you fans of The Invisible Man or The War of the Worlds? I'm talking about books by H.G.

Wells that were published towards the end of the 19th century by a man who could count Winston Churchill, George Orwell and US President Theodore Roosevelt amongst his fans.

and who met many famous figures, including Einstein and Lenin.

I love those

English classes.

But my mother actually read me The Invisible Man.

I can't remember how old I was, probably about 10 or 11, and I was fascinated by the story.

And I think every child is intrigued by the idea of invisibility.

Genetic manipulation, yeah.

And then in 1897, The Invisible Man comes out.

Which tackles the physics of optics and unchecked power.

Exactly.

That's a great question.

There's a lot of talk of the puzzles in the maze, and they actually mentioned something that they find in Bob Taylor's possessions, a book called The Invisible Man.

Finding the

Invisible Man.

Wow.

And I read The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells in four days.

I keep wanting to

say Ralph Ellison.

Superman is flying over Metropolis, right? And he's horny as hell, and he's checking out the rooftops, and all of a sudden he sees Wonder Woman sunning herself on the roof of the Justice League, okay? I mean, she's lying there buck-naked, spread eagle, looking like she wants to be fucked, right? So Superman, [laughs] he says to himself, "Oh my God, I gotta get myself some of that Wonder pussy." But then he realizes that he could fly down, do a little fast pumping, and be gone before she even knows it because he's Superman, right? He's faster than a speeding bullet, right? So Superman, he swoops down, he fucks her so quick she doesn't even see him.

Wonder Woman sits up and says, "What the fuck was that?" And the Invisible Man says, "I don't know, but my [laughs] asshole is killing me." That's funny, right?

Mm.

Come on, guys.

That was the original name of Kevin Bacon.

God damn it.

Kevin Bacon wanted the part so bad because he really wanted to play the invisible man and have all the attendant moral complications, and be part of the cool effects for invisibility that the advent of CGI would allow.

Now, here's the irony, Zach.

He was active from 1895 until his death, and he is generally considered the grandfather of science fiction.

He wasn't the first to craft sci-fi, and it certainly would have gone on without him, but his influence is, is undeniable given such works as The Time Machine, 1895, The Island of Doctor Moreau from 1896, The Invisible Man from 1897, and of course, The War of the Worlds from 1898.

Uh, he was a progressive social critic and futurist, uh, which certainly contributes to the continued readability of his work.

Mm.

Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Tess of the Dubervilles, Gone to Earth, Kim...

The Invisible Man, The Old Man and the Sea, The Sound and the Fury, The Grapes of Wrath, The Good Companions, Brighton Rock, and Animal Farm.

I thought Animal Farm was an interesting choice for a kid.

The other

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Chapters 1 and 2 of The Invisible Man.

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The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

Chapter 1.

The Strange Man's Arrival.