Frankenstein

Rating:
Summary: Excellent chronological time order
Review: This novel was an experience. I was scared but was motivated to continue reading. A great example of romanticism and the ideals of Mary Shelly.

Rating:
Summary: I've read better...like Berenstein Bears
Review: This was the dullest book I have ever read in my entire existence. The theme behind this book is excellent, but the writing is quite dry and wordy. Who ever named this so-called Story a Classic is not someone I would like to meet. Only the theme kept this book from being a ONE

Rating:
Summary: Read it for the concepts, not the writing
Review: What does God owe us, his Creation? What are the responsibilities of parents towards their children? How should society treat its homeless, creations of its own policies? What happens when scientists (or even entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, politicians) pursue a single-minded goal of glory and wonder without stopping to think on the consequences?

All of these interesting and relevant issues are raised in this plodding, poorly written work. The standards of interesting writing may have changed in the last hundreds of years, but some writers and poets are skilled enough with language that their work still endures. Don't be misled by the hype; Mary Shelley should not be remembered for her literary skill. I hope that no schoolchildren actually have to read this. There are enough great works that are enjoyable to read. Frankenstein should be classified as a work of philosophy, not one of literature.

Rating:
Summary: A truly classic original horror tale.
Review: In "Frankenstein" Mary Shelly has created not only one of the most enduring of Gothic stories, but also a uniquely feminine tale of the horror of childbirth and its attendent responsibilities.

While the later film versions of the story have tended to couch the telling of this story in terms of scientific over-reaching and the hubris of man who aspires to the powers of God, the original novel actually contains very little of this theme, with the famous creation scene actually occuring in one terse paragraph. There are no spark shedding electrodes or arcing bolts of electricity in Shelly's original story, only the birth of the creature, and Frankenstein's rejection of his monsterous offspring.

It's hard to read "Frankenstein" without recognizing it's author as a young woman who had suffered at least one miscarriage. The entire work, although written from a masculine perspective, and set in a world of masculine domination, consistently deals with themes of parental abandonment and responsibiltity. The sin of Frankenstein in Shelly's original work is not his aspiration to godlike power over life and death, but his refusal to regard his artifical progeny with the nurturing and unconditional love any parent owes to his or her child.

For fans both of later cinematic retellings of this story, as well as fans of the Gothic novel and those interested in reading a true nightmare myth of feminine construction, "Frankenstein" is a true classic that cannot be reccommended highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the most titanic novel written in English
Review: Frankenstein is a startlingly deep investigation of humanity's place in the world. The reader must sympathize with either Frankenstein or his creation, and and either choice will result in the same humbling realization: that humans are too fragile to exist within their own constructs of society, honor, dignity and truth. -JC Vollmer

Rating:
Summary: Hear the monster's side of the story, very well written
Review: There are many stories that have used the Frankenstein electrical reanimation plot, no matter how unbelievable. This is very well written, as a journal by the monster himself. This is definitely one for those books you will have trouble putting down. An Extra note: There is a reference that the Francis Ford Coppola movie was based on Saberhagen's book but it is not; it is true to the original of Mary Shelley

Rating:
Summary: One of the most beautiful story of all time
Review: Persons think that Frankenstein is a little horror show like the old movies that were made. But the orignial Frankenstein is not a simple horror story but a great, sentimental story about a monster who wants to be like anyone else but his look doesn't give to him the possibility to be happy. He will fight his creator to punish him for the monster he'd done

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, nothing like the movies!!!!!
Review: The novel starts a bit on the slow side,but as chapters progress and you become aquainted with Frankenstein's creation it will be difficult to put the book down. For a great work of horror fiction, the book has some pleasantly surprising moments. In particular when Frankenstein's creature speaks to his maker and compares himself to Adam who has been abandoned by God. The moment is very touching, and made me feel pity and sorrow for the "monster" who never asked to be brought into the world

Rating:
Summary: Typical novel from the romantic period
Review: "Frankenstein" is a typical novel from the romantic period. The story is based on the conflict of a scientist with the results of his work. But Frankenstein is far more than that: It is the story of two individuals (Frankenstein and his "monster") and their acceptance and behavior in society, and of course, the novel contains a lot of latent psychological information (what would Freud have said about that?). However, it is typical for the age of romanticism that the feelings and thoughts of the individuum are at the center of the plot (see e.g. the works by Byron or by the German authors Eichendorff and Novalis). This holds as well for the music composed during that time (Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, ...). Mary Shelley describes in great detail the innermost feelings of Frankenstein and his "wretch" and how they changed from one minute to the other, and what made them change their moods, and why and how, and who was around etc. This actually - because presented through the entire book - makes the reading of the highly interesting story rather tedious. Story: 5 stars, Fun: 1 star

Rating:
Summary: It still holds up
Review: I picked up Frankenstein as sort of a "project" read... I felt like it was such a "classic" that I ought to understand it more than the pop-culture monster image.

I was surprised to find a book that holds its own extremely well some 100 years later. The message of scientific experiment for curiosity's sake is a profound one, especially in this age of nuclear experimentation, biological warfare and the like. It is also compelling as a story in and of itself.

Although I was well-aware that the Boris Karloff image was a far cry from Mary Shelly's novel, I was still surprised to find such full character development and strong motivation. Despite the fact that this was her first effort, and based upon a whimsical challenge to write a "ghost story", it is compelling and well written. If you haven't read this book, don't be put off by it's age. It is exceptional.