Invisible Man

"The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells was another one of those books I always felt guilty about not reading but actually enjoyed more than I thought I would. It was very short, only about 150 pages. A man of science, Griffin (his name isn't actually revealed until nearly the end of the book; he is referred throughout as "the stranger") has found a way to make himself invisible, but can't figure out how to reverse the process. Once his secret is found out, he is hounded and chased by the frightened townspeople who consider him a monster. Griffin, either because of what he has done to himself or because he's always been that way (I'm leaning towards the latter) decides to use his new found invisibility as an excuse to steal, murder, and intimidate his fellow countrymen. He sees being invisible as being powerful, and intends to use it to his advantage, with no thought whatsoever of how it might affect anyone else. He created a monster, all right, without meaning to.