Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

[Kell]

Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
ISBN # 0192834878
Publisher: Oxford University Press
First Published: 1818
239 pages
Rating: 7/10

The Blurb:
Obsessed by creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life by electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

The Review:
I once read an abridged version of this classic novel as a child (I think I was about eight years old) and I remember being absolutely absorbed by the story of a man so caught up in his own quest for knowledge that he crosses a line and descends into a life of pure horror. Picking up the full, unabridged version more than twenty years later for a reading circle was a little daunting – would I really enjoy it as much? Truth be told – no, I didn’t enjoy it even half as much as I remembered. I found the language flowery and the style stilted, but the story itself is still captivating and I can now appreciate all those nuances that were beyond me at that young age. It wasn’t what I was expecting and I was slightly disappointed, but I did still get some enjoyment from revisiting this gothic portrait of a man consumed by his own madness and the ultimate revenge of his own creation. If you’ve not read it, you really should, if only to be able to say you have, but also because there is something in it that is still relevant today in a world where the pros and cons of genetic research and cloning are debated on an almost-daily basis.

[Tiresias]

Frankenstein is a superb novel.

I was most taken aback by the difference between Shelley's fascinating creature and the hammy one that Hollywood has given us: an innocent, flat-headed man with bolts in his neck who speaks like a lobotomy patient. Shelley's creature, by contrast, is intelligent and morally enigmatic, pursuing his creator with obscure motives and an almost supernatural inexorability.

I didn't find the language flowery. It was florid, but that seemed appropriate to the period and the character of Dr Frankenstein.

[Lukeozade100]

Well i've just read this and thought i might as well add my review/comments here.

A few mates of mine told me to read this when I was saying that I was buying Lord of The Flies because i'd never read it at school, and Frankenstein is regularly used at A Level and they'd all enjoyed it, so whilst needing to break into a tenner i thought how better to than to pick this up, and i'm rather happy I did.

I'll admit to having a bit of trouble reading recently, Lord of the Flies flew by, then I couldn't bring myself to pick back up Freud or Herodotus, Freud repeats himself far to often and could make his point much less labouriously, and Herodotus is just not what i've felt like reading of late. Then on Saturday The Prince by Macchiavelli arrived thanks to my friendly neighberhood postman, and although I quickly finished it, if it wasn't for its tiny size and it being pretty easy to read for just a minute or two at a time was the only reason. Frankenstein has though reinvigorated me.

It isn't even the best novel i've ever read, it's not even frankly up there, but it reads so well! I knew that it didn't follow the path of crazy mad scientist creates a monster with bolts in its neck who eventually gets chased by pitchfork wielding villagers, but it is far flung enough from what I expected from popular culture to be truly fresh unlike some classics which are already known to us through are collective cultural psyche (say The Picture of Dorian Gray, Austen novels, A Christmas Carol etc.) I actually couldn't tell which way it would go at points, how I was meant to feel about the monster and this is perfect for the novel.

I think that this is a novel that has improved with age, 150 years ago Frankensteins creation must have been just a monster, something to terrify, but now I feel that the casual reader will be more likely to consider the monsters feelings, and even to maybe read it as a study of humans when confronted with something that is alien.

Overall 8/10

[Ruth]

Terrific book, and I would also recommend The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, by Peter Ackroyd, which tells the story with Frankenstein himself as a narrator.

This thread has made me want to read Frankenstein again!

[Mr.H]

An all time classic that everyone should read at least once! What a fascinating story!

[Gyre]

An excellent read :readingtwo: