The Invisible Man
This book is the story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
3mentions
3people
2016–2026years
67% recommend33% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Not parent, but while I can appreciate your viewpoint, I would like to point out that many many many books have abridged, reworded, simplified, or disambiguated versions for different audiences.
The Bible is I daresay the most famous of these. Translations aside, even the English versions have had significant alterations done to wording, spelling, and meaning depending on the version.
There's also the Great Illustrated Classics imprint for certain classic novels like H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man. (I read that one like 10 times as a kid and it's what got me into sci-fi as a whole I'd argue. Haha.)
Whether these alternate versions are good or bad is obviously up for debate and depends on the person, but I'm just saying that what SE does is hardly new in the publishing world.
- Fiction:
1) The Sherlock Holmes Canon - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_of_Sherlock_Holmes
My first exposure was through "The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes" and it made such a huge impression on me with its focus on the use of step-by-step logical reasoning to solving problems that in a sense it taught me to "think rationally" in real life. I then set about acquiring the complete canon and have read them all so many times that i can quote entire dialogues/passages from memory. The language used is also elegant and beautiful with lots of memorable phrases/quotes/quips etc. Every kid should be asked to read the complete canon and then discuss takeaways from them.
2) Charles Dickens - Started with Oliver Twist, Great Expectations
These books (read the unabridged versions) were my introduction to the "Human Condition/Human Values" faced by people from different economic strata. His books span different genres but always end with a positive note. The writing style is beautiful with a healthy dose of Melodrama, Humour, Vivid descriptions etc. which draw you in and keep you engaged. Here is a good essay on his narrative technique - https://www.lsj.org/literature/essays/dickens
Non-Fiction:
1) Physics for Entertainment by Yakov Perelman - You can get scans of all his and other Soviet authors books at - https://mirtitles.org/
In those days (80s in India) American/British books were generally not available and too costly but Soviet books were easily available and very affordable. My dad bought me this 2-vol set and that motivated my lifelong interest in Science. An example: I was enamoured of the protagonist in "The Invisible Man" by H.G.Wells but Perelman uses it as a scientific case study and shows that instead of being a most powerful man (because he is invisible) he would be the most powerless/pathetic man. Read the book to find out why :-) It also kick-started my collection of Soviet Science books eg. "Science For Everyone" and "Little Mathematics Library" series. Teachers/Students should take a look at these books and use them productively in the classroom/self-study. They are concise, precise with no fluff and a high s/n ratio.
- 1. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
2. One L by Scott Turow
3. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
5. Believer: My Forty Years in Politics by David Axelrod
6. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
7. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (re-read)
9. I, Claudius by Robert Graves
10. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
11. The Fear Index by Robert Harris
12. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (re-read)
13. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (re-read)
14. Hannibal by Thomas Harris (re-read)
15. Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (re-read)
16. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (re-read)
17. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
Re-reads take hardly any time at all, so I'm not sure whether to count them. If you're not, then 11 books read so far.
