Frankenstein (1818)

3,5 ( )

I decided each year in the month of October I would read a classic horror book. Last year I read Dracula, this year I decided to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. I never saw the Kevin Branagh version so I don't know how accurate those are. I can tell you that the ones made in the 1930's are definitely not accurate. Although I did recognize so parts in the book. There is a monster made by Frankenstein, however the monster is neither slow and plodding or unintelligent. In fact in the book he is faster and bigger then most humans. He is also is intelligent, which up to a point makes him rather sympathetic . The other thing that surprised me about the book was how short it was only about 286 pages. The book is told at first by a young explorer trying to reach across the north pole in a ship in letters to his sister, who rescues Frankenstein and then by Frankenstein who tells his story to the young explorer. In fact when I first downloaded the book and started to read the book I thought I was reading the wrong book. If you haven't read the books and like classic horror I would recommend it. ( )

Another of the most formative books I have read. I viewed the world and those in it very differently after finishing it. Who is the monster, really? ( )

Plot:
Victor Frankenstein has always been interested in the natural sciences, although it all started with alchemy for him. After his mother’s death, he buries himself in his work as a student of chemistry. He experiments with reanimation and actually manages to bring a creature to life. But the creature is scary and ugly and Victor abandons him. The creature has to find his own way in the world.

Frankenstein is a beautiful, albeit lengthy novel that is definitely a classic for a very good reason. Still, I have to admit that what I loved most about it is, weirdly enough, the author’s introduction.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2019/02/18/frankenstein-mary-shelley/ ( )

This is a great book. If you haven't read it already put it on top of your list of books you've got to read.

I read this book after watching The National Theatre's incredible play with Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster and Jonny Lee Miller as Dr. Frankenstein. Both the play and the book are worth watching and reading.

The book is short and very difficult to put down, in the positive sense. It is infinitely more engaging than any of the Hollywood adaptations. The prose is lyrical and defies speed reading. Sentences go one way and then another and end up someplace totally different. They have an arc but it's more a spiral. Here's one from page 153 in The Signet Classic edition from 1963 -

….During my youthful days discontent never visited my mind, and if I was ever overcome by ennui, the sight of what is beautiful in nature or the study of what is excellent and sublime in the productions of man could always interest my heart and communicate elasticity to my spirits.

Yes it's a run-on sentence but that's not really the issue.

Like any piece of great fiction this requires much suspension of disbelief. Of course he can't create life - but here's something that says what if he could. And just how does the monster learn everything so quickly. Smart guy but defied belief, somewhat. What I had difficulty with is why Dr. Frankenstein constantly tried to keep it a secret until it was too late. All he had to do was let people in on his secret and they might have helped him undo the deed in some way. But no, in for a penny, in for a….. Some secrets just plain make things worse as this obviously did. And then there's the time frame. Yes life was slower then but it seemed like every time one was ill it was at least two weeks while they were down for the count. And everything seemed to be the height or the bottom, little in-between or ordinary. Even nature was, extraordinary.

The monster (he is actually nameless) eventually confronts Dr. Frankenstein and describes his journey to what he has become. One piece of the puzzle is he did some reading. Shelley has the monster discover a bag with three books, Milton's Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives and Goethe's The Sorrow of Young Werther. While all are classics, compared to the others Goethe's is relatively hot off the press when this was published in 1818. Interestingly it is from Werther that the monster seems to begun to understand the role of emotions.

The monster has been rejected by all the humans, even those he's tried to help. He's lonely and he asks, demands, that Dr. Frankenstein create another creature, a mate for him. Dr. Frankenstein eventually rejects the demand and that's when all hell breaks loose. It a duel to the end from that point on. Yes murders happen but the question is who should we hold accountable.

Read it. It's worth the time. ( )