Paperback, 280 pages
English language
Published Dec. 11, 1983
This was good - I read it straight after Dracula and perhaps enjoyed it a little less.
Lots of themes from this book echo into media and writing today. While it's telling the story of a monster, it's really about what it means to be human - an absolutely required trope in almost all science fiction these days, from Spock, to Data, to Pinocchio, Castiel, and E.T.
Often held as a cautionary tale for blindly ambitious inventors, I see this book instead as an exhibit of moral failure. Frankenstein and his monster had ample opportunities to forgive, forget, and set things right, yet they steeled themselves to vengeance and destruction.
Honestly, I was feeling meh about this book for a bit. Around the middle section, after Junior (the name I call the creature) explains his backstory, I just wasn't feeling it. It wasn't bad, and might not have been anything to do with the book itself. Either way, that section was a bit of a trudge to get through, but the book definitely stuck the landing, and the ending made me look back upon the sections I had deemed to be "weaker" in a different light.
This shit is sad, plain and simple. Really leaves you with a lot to think about too. All in all, I really enjoyed this one.
It's so slooow.
Instead of starting with Frankenstein in his laboratory, the book first talks about a captain (who will rescue Frankenstein) and his First Officer (who doesn't talk much), the officers fiancée, and that fiancée's heart-throb.
And then about Frankenstein's father's friend's daughter.
Yawn.
I think early 19th century literature just isn't for me.
Having been bombarded by re-tellings and interpretations of Frankenstein for many years now, in cartoons and popular media, it felt a bit surreal to actually read the book. It was definitely NOT what I expected!
Contrary to popular belief, the story does not climax with Frankenstein's creation of his iconic monster. The actual creation happens pretty early on. The book is actually far more concerned with the sufferings of both Frankenstein and his monster. The creator is racked with guilt at unleashing such a hideous creation on the world, and the monster is frustrated at being shunned by his creator, and the human race in general. Also contrary to popular belief, the monster is by no means stupid; he's actually extremely intelligent, but because he has no-one to guide and teach him, his intelligence is misdirected and wasted.
It's actually a pretty sad story which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I'd …
Having been bombarded by re-tellings and interpretations of Frankenstein for many years now, in cartoons and popular media, it felt a bit surreal to actually read the book. It was definitely NOT what I expected!
Contrary to popular belief, the story does not climax with Frankenstein's creation of his iconic monster. The actual creation happens pretty early on. The book is actually far more concerned with the sufferings of both Frankenstein and his monster. The creator is racked with guilt at unleashing such a hideous creation on the world, and the monster is frustrated at being shunned by his creator, and the human race in general. Also contrary to popular belief, the monster is by no means stupid; he's actually extremely intelligent, but because he has no-one to guide and teach him, his intelligence is misdirected and wasted.
It's actually a pretty sad story which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I'd recommend anyone with pre-conceived ideas of what the story is actually about to push them aside and read the book!
Wow, another one of those clear cases where the movies have pretty much nothing to do with the book! There's some wicked storytelling going on here (quite literally), considering this book has 4 (or possibly 5) layers to it. In places it was a bit tedious, in other places completely enthralling. I wouldn't really categorize it as a horror story, but rather as a story of grave misunderstandings.
