Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus (1818 Text)

Like most classics this book involves a bit of work to get through and really appreciate. It's stood the tests of time because you can easily compare Dr. Frankenstein to the modern day tech innovators that create for the sake of creation without really stopping to think on what their creation is going to bring to the world.

Frankenstein's chapters are long and drawn out, really building up how much you the reader just want to absolutely strangle him. He is self-pitying and seems to put most of his friends and family on a weirdly high pedestal while also not giving them a second thought when it's inconvenient? I think Shelley has actually done a fabulous job at writing a complete narcissist.

The chapters following Frankenstein's monsters completely sucked me in however, and I wish more of the book had been spent on detailing the monster's experiences in life that ultimately drove him to murder. The monster's chapters begin to feel rushed, and his fall from grace seems a bit ill-supported unless you the reader fill in some blanks. But by the end you absolutely understand that these are two not-great protagonists battling it out in a somewhat weird rivalry/friendship?

I would have loved to see what Shelley could have expanded upon would she have made this original text longer and more detailed. But with this loose framework of a tale she let forth one of the most popular Halloween characters to this date.

(Spoilers ahead.)
Great read, not the spine-chilling tale I expected it to be but enticing nonetheless. The misrepresentation of this story is pretty widespread and the weight of Shelley's writing is not within fear-provoking prose at all.

Shelley's writing is far more intricate than a mere horror tale that it has been portrayed to be. For me, the most congenial aspect of her writing is Frankenstein's dilemma.

Frankenstein sets out to satisfy his curiosity and zeal for knowledge by attempting something never done before by man—the creation of new life. He succeeds, but it is his very success that leads to his downfall. His creation is not simply a thoughtless being without intellect. What he creates desires to be a part of the world but is shunned by it due to his loathsome appearance. In response to man's superficial and shallow treatment, the creation abandons his naive approach to life and his appreciation of virtue, love, and benevolence. The creation seeks out companionship of his own kind, the Eve to his Adam, and realises—to his utter disappointment—that this can only be provided by his creator, the same man who abandoned him. Frankenstein is then torn between creating a companion for the beast he created and risking the torment of humanity by such creatures or declining the beast's request and putting himself and his loved ones in peril. He chooses the latter and witnesses his life perish at the hands of his own creation.

The bitterness of Frankenstein's success being the cause of his destruction is what makes this the great work that it is.

5/5
An absolute must read.

I admit that I avoided reading this book while reading it. That is, if I had something else to distract me (role-playing game manuals, my phone, dishes, cleaning toilets), I'd often opt to do those more interesting things than read this.

The thing is Frankenstein creates a monster. He doesn't think about what he's doing while he's doing it. He doesn't notice that he's suffering ill-health while creating it. He doesn't consider what the implications of his act will be. And in that regard, the story can be a cautionary tale about our habit of jumping into a technology without considering its effects. Yet, consider Frankenstein's warnings against searching for knowledge instead of remaining ignorant; he himself admits his original goal was for riches, not necessarily the betterment of humanity. Is the caution then against growth and knowledge? Or is it against thirsting for knowledge at the desire for filthy lucre?

Now consider that after Frankenstein creates his monster, he's beset by the evil he's created. Only after he's created it does he actually look upon it, and finds it abhorrent. He runs from it, he hides from the monster during a dark, cold rain. He admits, upon reflection, that his is a terrible act, illegal and morally inept. He lacks the courage to face the monster, and I think in his act of cowardice, this moment of tossing aside his creation, is itself the instigating moment of his creation truly monstrous.

I think the monster is ultimately a reflection of Frankenstein's cowardice. His inability to choose love, his willingness to sacrifice others to save himself. His retelling, both of his point of view and the monster's, focus on their wretchedness. A shared wretchedness that Frankenstein is ultimately responsible for, and totally unable to actually act upon to save himself, his friends, or his family, let alone his own creation. In many ways the monster and Frankenstein mirror each other. I suspect that, taken further, we can surmise that Frankenstein's initial step to creation was itself cowardly; that by refusing to consider his actions, he acted without honor. Is that ultimately the story's point? That we, by refusing to consider what repercussions our actions may have against nature, are as cowardly as Frankenstein? That we aren't condemned just by choosing to jump without consideration, but because we chose to jump without asking, for a moment, if what we're about to embark on really is a wise idea?

Frankenstein is dark, as I assume Shelley intended. It's a bit slow in parts, especially as humanity's darkness is further exposed (both against Frankenstein's monster, and later the monster against Frankenstein). A short book in size felt long in the reading. It leaves several possible interpretations to its meaning.