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"The
Invisible Man" by H.G.Wells
Order the CD
or the Cassette
from Amazon.com!
Performed by Leonard Nimoy, John de Lancie,
Kate Mulgrew, Jerry Hardin, Ethan Phillips, Nana Visitor. Simon &
Schuster Audio. Double CD/Double Cassette
"The Invisible Man" is, perhaps, not the
most obvious novel for adaptation as a sound recording, considering the
majority of adaptations of the story have been on film using creative special
effects. However, this production goes back to the original story,
something which has been lost in other adaptations, and brings to the listener
a sense of the paranoia and fear experienced by the Invisible man once
his secret is revealed.
The plot, in summary, a talented young
scientific student, Griffin, finds a way to make matter invisible.
When his lecturer tries to take the credit for the discovery, Griffin uses
the technique on himself, after which he flees. He arrives in a small
village and, covered from head to foot in bandages, he takes up lodgings
as an inn, only for his invisibility to be discovered by the fearful villagers...
Alien Voices co-founder John de Lancie
(Q) takes the role in this recording; he is good, but her portrayal is
of a more mature character, rather than the over-ambitious student that
Griffin was intended to be. Leonard Nimoy, as the crooked lecturer,
is good, and Nana Visitor (Kira in DS9) is, perhaps, under used as Griffin's
girlfriend, though she plays well. The two stand out performances
are Kate Mulgrew, as a semi-Irish Innkeeper's wife, who is entertaining
(even if the accent does wobble slightly at times!) and Jerry Hardin, (whose
many roles in SF TV hare too numerous to list completely here, who is probably
best known as 'Deep Throat' in TXF) as the down and out Griffin uses and
abuses once the secret of his invisibility becomes public knowledge.
The Alien Nations project is doing rather
well; it returns to the original classic stories and, for the most part,
tells them well. With no special effects to distract the listener,
the story can shine through, although (and I admit there may be a little
cultural snobbism here!), the American attempts at certain European accents
does grate a little.
If you want to hear the stories that paved
the way for the TV and movie SF of the present, these are probably the
best place to start, (short of reading the actual books!)
(This is an edited
version of a review that first appeared in issue 28 of the USS Beagle newsletter.)
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