D un cote, bravo a Mary Shelley pour son genie creatif! D un autre cote, la narration apparente vraiment a un concours de redaction:lourd! ( )

“Frankenstein” is a book that is extremely hard to follow and is a boring read. Victor Frankenstein’s creation is supposed to be horrifying, but what is really horrifying is this book. Victor is an overdramatic man that seems to fall ill every time a problem comes along. This book constantly left me depressed and bored out of my mind. The plot is all over the place and makes the monster seem like a convicted killer rather than a classic villain. The only people I recommend this book to are unhappy, stiff people that do not enjoy fun. I gave the book a half of a star because Mary Shelly went through the effort to write it. ( )

Classics tend to disappoint me, and this one certainly wasn't any different. This required reading was forced upon me the summer before tenth grade. Frankenstein's complaints continue throughout the drawn out book making it monotonous and seemingly endless. Honestly, one star is being generous. Do you know how difficult it is to read about depression and death while tanning on a beach? Practically impossible. Please, don't bother with this book unless you enjoy sorrow and take pleasure in redundant tendencies. ( )

SPOILER ALERT. This is the dullest most miserable classic I've ever read. I was bored out of my wits but determined to finish it. 90% of the book is devoted to the wonders of the snowy alpines. Then when it comes to the juicy parts, eg1: Victor changes his mind about creating a female companion for the Monster and destroys her - Shelley dedicates one paragraph on this important turn of events! Eg2: Victor was acquitted on charges of causing the death of Clerval - I was really looking forward to a long drawn out court scene and arguments leading to Victor's acquittal but no - Shelley wraps it up in one paragraph. All suspense, dashed.

There are many tragic but likeable characters in classical literature but Victor Frankinstein comes across as an extremely sad and hapless figure, who spends the whole novel crying, indulging in self-pity, reflecting morosely on his 'evil' creation, and his thoughts volley recklessly from horror to empathy for the creature. The tale about the comings and goings of the de Lacey family was melodramatic at best. Victor's failure to warn his family about the Monster's murderous streak and that their lives were in danger, was selfish and negligent. And as for the Monster - I can hardly sympathize with anyone who has murdered a child and innocent women and men, regardless of how badly he was treated because of his ugly face. It's like saying all criminals on Death Row today were born innocent, so let's be lenient on them too. You just have to take responsibilty for your own criminal actions.

I tried to find a reason to like this book, sparknotes quote: "The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to surge beyond accepted human limits and access the secret of life." If this is really the heart of Frankenstein then I'm sorry but it totally bypassed me. Perhaps it's because Shelley spent only 2 pages (somewhere in Chapters 4 and 5) on describing the night the Monster attained the spark of life.

I was more interested in Shelley's biography, written in the Introduction by herself and Karen Karbiener. Ideas for her story germinates from discussions with other literary and philosophical intellectuals, of which Shelley was often in the company of, (her parents were reknowned radical literary figures during the Romanticism era). Their discussions included Columbus, Darwin and Galvani, the latter developed "the idea that an 'electric fluid' ran through the veins and animated animals". Powerful images of human engineering gone disastrously wrong haunted Shelley one night and she decided to use what she had envisioned as the basis for her story. Shelley had a lot of burden to shoulder in her young life: there were numerous deaths in her family: her mother (died giving birth to her), her stepsister, husband, close friends, several of her own children did not survive infancy. "Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos". Shelley must've suffered tremendous grief - did she ever recover from bereavement? Did she "feel like a fiend....desperately craves the attention and affection of the remaining parent; and ultimately ..responsible for the death of the one who gave it life." Was Shelley "conscious of how much of herself and her experience she was using to create Frankenstein?"

5* for the movie. Sorry, 1 for the novel. 10+ for women's lib. ( )

Science gives us many wonderful discoveries-machines,computers,weapons-but how do we use these things?
Victor Frankenstein creates a new man, bigger and stronger than any other man.But even monsters need love, and begins to destroy everything. I think love is most inportant thing. Love makes us kind. ( )