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Loading... Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Oxford World's Classics) (original 1818; edition 1998)by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, James Kinsley (Editor), M. K. Joseph (Editor)
Work InformationFrankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
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This is another classic I've had forever, but never read.....one I promised myself I'd read before the year ended. Well, I partially succeeded.....I started in 2023, but with the festivities of the holidays keeping me busy, I didn't finish it before the New Year. Ok...thats not entirely true.....the holidays served as a great excuse to avoid a boring book. The truth is...I kinda wish I hadn't read it.....I kinda wish I could still have the belief that Frankenstein is the wonderful horror classic everyone professes it to be. I was completely shocked at how different this was than every single adaption ever made. Yet, I understand those creative liberties......the actual story would make an awfully boring watch. The only positive take away I have from this book......its impressive that Mary Shelley authored this at a mear 18 yrs old....in a time when women didn't write " horror". The bad......where do I start?......the victimization of a deranged monster.......his long drawn out diatribes ....Shelley's attempt at gaining pity for the vengeful ogre......the unrealistic events that rely solely on chance and happenstance......the suspension of realistic thinking asked of the reader to believe the monster achieved such elegant dialect from a few months of listening to the cottages read.......the ridiculous expectations put on the cottagers......Shelley's insinuation that everyone but the monster carried the blame for his nefarious acts......the exasperation I felt everytime the story got the least bit interesting, then quickly returned to the same boring cadence.....I could go on.....but, I'll stop here. Suffice to say....I did not enjoy this at all......I would only recommend this to those interested in reading classics for the sake of doing so. Prior to reading this, I was sure I'd read it before. I suspect, now, that what I read was a 'kids' version, which was significantly less forthright about the horrors that were going on. It is an incredibly well written book, and I can see why it has lasted as it has. Having said that, it is bleak, and the story moves along very slowly at times. I also felt very little sympathy for the viewpoint character, the mad scientist, Frankenstein. Which at times made it a chore to read, as he vacillated between doing and not doing. And I respect that I am not intended to like Frankenstein, but it really does help keep me in a book. I suspect, if I had known less of the story, then it would have gone better. The entire storyline on how the created person had learned to speak had gone past me previously, although the scene with the blind man was not new. Trying to work out how the patchwork of story I knew fitted with this was distracting, and distanced me from the story. I'm fairly certain I read (or attempted to read) this in 8th grade, and it was our book club selection for Oct/Nov Biere Library Storytime Book Club because my cohost has never read it and wanted to get to it, with fall feeling perfect for this! It was a little bit of a struggle to finish, as I kept falling asleep (peril of reading at night), which is an interesting contrast to another member who found she couldn't read it at night because she'd have terrible nightmares. I think I also lagged because I felt like Victor mostly laments his situation despite having the ability to take action on it, such as telling literally anyone earlier about his creature running around strangling people, or warning his loved ones, orrrrrr even making any kind of effort to parent his offspring. Like my friend Amber's review notes, Broke: Frankenstein is the monster For all his bad feels, Victor seems truly unrepentant about bringing new life into this world without taking responsibility for his actions, and as a result all of the bloodshed really could've been avoided, in my opinion. One of the themes that came up in book club is how this could be read as a commentary on parenting, with Viktor reflecting on how supportive and doting his were while abdicating any responsibility whatsoever over The Creature, bringing him into this world without guidance and being appalled at what he is after having to fend for himself (would not pass an IRB review, I think). I found the Creature to be a more compelling point of view than Victor, even though it's creepy to be peeping on your neighbors (makes sense as a means to learn how to speak and read, though!) I recall when I first read this being surprised at how articulate the Creature was, given the pop culture osmosis depiction shows a shambling undead abomination groaning. The Creature is merely a construct with higher stamina who just wants to live but is rejected by all humans he encounters... I found it interesting his plan was to go away to the wilds of South America, which to 1818's eyes must have felt like a truly remote place. One of our book club regulars is German, and he was delighted to inform us about how Ingolstadt is one of the oldest universities in Europe and talked about other places Victor travels and how next time he visits his homeland, he's going to try to stay at some of the same places- glad to inspire travel plans!
the author has powers, both of conception and language...a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity... Belongs to Publisher SeriesAirmont Classics (CL 19) Arion Press (115) Austral singular (4) Bastei Lübbe Taschenbuch (13643) — 62 more Club Joven Bruguera (36) Crisol (265) Doubleday Dolphin (C44) dtv phantastica (1860) El País. Aventuras (14) Everyman's Library (616) Gallimard, Folio SF (5-533) Grandes Novelas de Aventuras (XXIII) Harper Perennial Olive Editions (2018 Olive) Lanterne (L 295) Livro B (12) Mirabilia (42) Mirabilia (42) Oxford English Novels (1818) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2013) Penguin English Library, 2012 series (2012-04) Reclams Universal-Bibliothek (8357) SF Masterworks (New design) SF Utopia (26) Tus Libros. Anaya (24) Is contained inBest of Gothic Horror: The Edgar Allan Poe Collection, Dr Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde (Literate Listener) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Mary Shelley-Volume 1: Including One Novel "Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus" and Fourteen Short Stories of the Strange and Unusual by Mary Shelley 90 Masterpieces You Must Read (Vol.1): Novels, Poetry, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Psychology & Philosophy by Various The World's Greatest Books Set by Arthur Mee (indirect) Is retold inHas the (non-series) sequelHas the (non-series) prequelIs an adaptation ofHas the adaptationThe Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From "Kubla Khan" to the Bronte Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Russ Kick Is abridged inIs expanded inIs parodied inInspiredHas as a studyThe Things That Matter: What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life by Edward Mendelson Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (Icon Reader's Guides to Essential Criticism) by Berthold Schoene-Harwood Has as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideHas as a teacher's guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (97)A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator. No library descriptions found.
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Current DiscussionsMary Shelley's Frankenstein in Gothic Literature Popular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.7Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Early 19th century 1800-37LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin Australia5 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia. Editions: 0141439475, 0141024445, 0141045116, 014133441X, 0141198966 Tantor MediaAn edition of this book was published by Tantor Media. Recorded BooksAn edition of this book was published by Recorded Books. Urban Romantics2 editions of this book were published by Urban Romantics. Editions: 1909175129, 1909175137 |
I already knew that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, an eighteenth-century feminist who penned The Vindication of the Rights of Women and died shortly after giving birth to her daughter), Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Polidori were sitting around the fire by Lake Geneva on a night much like I was reading last night, rainy, and made a bet with each other who could write a scarier ghost story than the “penny dreadful” writers of the day. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus was Mary's ghost story. ( )