Frankenstein

Rating:
Summary: First among monsters
Review: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is at once firmly in the tradition of the Gothic genre that was so popular in the eighteenth century and one of the first of the science fiction genre that was to become so important in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It remains one of the defining works of both genres. The mad scientist, tampering with Nature with disastrous results, has become a stock character of SciFi/horror. As for the Monster itself, only Dracula rivals him as a horror icon. So the novel is important for its place in literary history, but does it still stand up on its own merits as an individual work?

The first thing to say is that it is not the story you know from the Hollywood versions. The scientist is called Frankenstein and he created a man; the similarity ends there. All the details are different. The novel is a strange, obsessive tale, complex in structure and rich in psychological symbolism. The real, underlying themes are incest, sibling rivalry and the self-destructive power of guilt. I will refrain from further comment on the story itself, because you are better coming to it fresh and letting it unfold. In that respect, the Bantam Classic edition has an excellent introduction by Diane Johnson which however, is full of spoilers. Read it after the novel itself. Johnson's interpretation is along psychoanalytic lines which I normally find unconvincing but in this case I think are right on the mark.

The author's style is always competent, often elegent, but never sublime. She is not the poet of the family. We are offered lengthy word-portraits of Alpine landscapes that are clearly intended to transport the readers but in fact leave them prosaicly in place.

Not in the first rank of literature therefore, but so strikingly imaginative and replete with such memorable imagery that it is still worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Real "Literature"
Review: Robert Walton, an explorer trying to discover a Polar Passage, sights a strange, giant creature among the icy environs. Shortly thereafter, he encounters a man on a sleigh, of ill health, who calls himself Victor Frankenstein. He is chasing after that creature, his own monstrous creation, who he created in an obsessive desire for knowledge and power, only to find himself haunted and distressed at every turn by his creature--whose only desire is for companionship, respect, and love from his creator, who hates him, and society, which abhors him. Frankenstein retells his story to Walton, interspersed with the creature's own eloquent thoughts about how he became a murdering wretch. The two of them are bound by destiny to end their lives in misery and shame.

I don't know which Hollywood screenwriter turned a multilayered, profound piece of literature such as Shelley's Frankenstein into cheap horror schlock, but anyone who is only familiar with the Halloween caricature is in for a surprise. Frankenstein is immensely readable (compare this to Percy Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound," which covers some common ground, and see the difference), but there are some genuine wrestlings about why men seek after knowledge, and the ways in which that pursuit can have unintended consequences. There are cogent allusions to the Bible, the myth of Prometheus, and Paradise Lost, reflecting the way in which Frankenstein's Faustian quest becomes a degraded recaptulation of God's creation of man and the rebellion of Satan. Plus, there are moving and eloquent entreaties from the creature himself, whose descent from goodness to coldblooded vengeance is detailed in a startingly believable, psychologically plausible manner. Nor does Shelley's work merely echo stereotypical Romantic themes such as the innocence of man before society and the oppression of social mores--while those elements are present, Shelley's narrative brings up numerous ambiguities in those ideas (some of which were heavily promoted by her famous husband). So there's little surprise that this text is assigned in most English departments and classes on Romantic literature--this is, its popular reputation aside, a genuine work of Literature, capital L with all its hoity-toity implications. There's too much richness here that Hollywood has put aside in its filmed versions, and it would be a great shame if most people aren't aware of just where those visions came from.

Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: Shelley was only 18 when she wrote this?! Incredible! The reason for this being a classic is obvious--a stellar story about a mad scientist and his objectives gone awry. I've learned a lot about the time period, as well, despite the few anachronisms throughout. Shelley did a fabuous job with this novel and I hope it remains in its rightful place in the canons of literature.

Word Ninja

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Despite the surpirsing criticism this book has received on the part of the reader reveiwers, I assert that this is one of the best novels ever written. Never before have I been so involved in the characters, as I was with Victor Frankenstein, and his creation, and I have never had such an urge to turn the page when the intelligent and methodical deamon is out to kill Victor's wife, to his complete ignorance.

This is a story about ambition, obsession, love, the responsibilites of a creator to his creation, and murder. It is a portrait of the once cheerful life of Dr. Frankenstein and it descent into the most melancholy and destable fate imaginable. It is engadging, thought provoking, and wonderfully written novel that represents the optimoe of it's genora.

After comparing my review with those given previous, I had thought, and indeed would have concluded, had I not known better, that they had read an entirely different Frankenstein. I am by no means a big fan of the horror genora, despite having read many among its most reknowned, but I find this to be undisputably the best.

In conclusion, I reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys good literature. At only about two hundred pages, not a single moment can be spared. I found the letters in the beggining perhaps a little irrelevant to the overall story, but they come together int he conclusion, and are well written, so I hardly think they should
have little, if any, negative affect on the novel. Perhaps my favourite book, read it and you won't regreat it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the hype ...
Review: I'm sure that I'll have people wanting my blood for this, but I have to be honest. This book is horrible. Absoulutely horrible from start to finish. The writing is grade-schoolish, the plot moves to slowly and is so far fetched that one can't lose one's suspension of disbelief no matter how hard the reater tries, and frankly the monster itself is sleep-inducing.

Don't bother with this book. For that matter, don't bother with the movies either. Frankenstein, the book and all things spawned from this book, is the single most overrated work in literature.

Rating:
Summary: Drags to much
Review: I've seen other people who have rated this book well, but cannot understand where they see the ingenious in this book. Personally when I started reading this I hoped for a scary book that infered on human behavior. What I got was a drawn of boring story set in 4 parts.
The beginning is somewhat interesting and delves on Frankenstein the scientist learning about life and developing the monster. This part has a somewhat boring start, but once he starts making it it goes faster. Then once hes done with this the monster is made..... and it slows down to a miserable pace.
From here it will have short spurts of something exciting, like for seven pages, then it goes into a fifty page boring streak, prattling on about details you don't care about. If it wants to emphasize that Frankenstein is lonely, it takes 25 pages of examples when five would be sufficient. From about the time Frankensteins monster is born you want it to die and let the story be over with because it is so boring. Not to mention predictable. I could predict the deaths of some of the people fifty pages away! Let me just say leave this book on the shelf and don't start to read it. You'll hate the book, and yet you'll probably make yourself finish it just because you started it. At least thats the way it was with me.

Rating:
Summary: A classic that will remind you of modern problems, etc...
Review: Mary Shelley had no idea when she wrote this that centuries later it would be enjoyed, or that the idea presented in the book would actually be an issue. She presents the issue of "playing" God or creating life. This is the very issue that we are dealing with now as far as cloning goes. What are the consequences of creating a creature? According to Shelley we may be overwhelmed with what we have done, and be unable to control the outcome. Frankenstein is a book that everyone should read and think about long and hard. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction... A great read, don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: Frankenstien=Good
Review: Read this book, everyone else has! I enjoyed it very much and you will to.

Rating:
Summary: don't miss this great read!
Review: Shelley's "Frankenstein" is quite a departure when compared to the films based upon the book. The essence of the novel centers on the horrors experienced by Dr. Frankenstein after he disobeys the natural order of things by creating his "monster". Frankenstein recoils in horror at what he has created, and it is his own personal hell that the reader experiences, rather than the terror of the creature himself.

Her use of atmosphere is astounding. I could feel the cold forest in which the creature dwells, smell the fresh cut firewood, and picture the cabin in the woods where the creature learns his lessons in humanity. While Frankenstein chases the monster through the Arctic chill, I felt almost physically cold. You can breathe the scent of the pine trees surrounding Frankenstein's residence as well.

Beyond the excellent descriptions of places and things, Shelley has gifts when it comes to relating suspenseful horror through the eyes of the monster as well as Frankenstein. The doctor comes across like a desperate, oppressed soul, fleeing from his own creation. The creature is equally desperate in his longing for revenge and his unattainable quest to find peace with the world which rejects him.

The story seems to be missing passages and missing information, or at least it reads in parts as if certain scenes were rushed. The creation of the monster is a good example of this, as we follow Frankenstein through his first days in the university until his much-later monster creation, all in the course of a few pages (interestingly, Shelly downplays the part about reanimating corpses, although it is clear that this is how Frankenstein did it). Immediately thereafter, Frankenstein is horrified by what he has done, and his descent into madness over the course of many months is condensed into a few sentences.

Shelley, for some reason, has Frankenstein marry his adopted sister, Elizabeth. The book explains that Elizabeth and Victor treat each other as "cousins" growing up, and just for added confusion Shelley adds another adopted brother named William. I'm not clear on whether Shelley was going for an "incest" angle or not (probably not, considering the time this was written), but I couldn't help but crack a smile over the excessive cousin-adoptions-sibling-marriage thing. The storyline involving adoption after adoption seems unnecessary to say the least.

Many scenes in which Frankenstein relates the bone-chilling inner torment of having been responsible for the monster who wreaks havoc are over the top and approach camp comedy. As many times as Victor cries out that he is responsible for the death and destruction around him, then backtracks without an explanation for his behavior, you'd think someone in his circle would ask him what the heck he's talking about. This never happens, although Frankenstein is somehow able to convince his family that an innocent has been accused of murder, without giving any real explanation as to why he believes it's a frame-job. This is unintentional comedy at its finest. We also have the bizarre coincidence of the monster finding a bag of books lying in the road, which lead to his very educated and worldly (yet still grotesque and probably smelly) appearance during his first confrontation with the doctor.

Shelley also makes the mistake of using first person narrative for THREE different characters in the book. There were times where I wasn't sure who was speaking, in fact it took a page or two before I understood that it was the monster who was speaking in chapter 11. Maybe I was reading too fast, but the awkwardness of having three first-person narratives caught me off guard.

Well, I sure did a lot of complaining about a book that earned 4 stars from me. Considering Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" when she was 19 years old in a world where women's education wasn't exactly common, this is high art. For all its flaws, "Frankenstein" was a pleasure to read for the creepy atmosphere and riveting suspense. I didn't know what to expect from the story from page to page, and Shelley paints an exceptionally clear picture of the madness surrounding the life of Frankenstein. This reader no longer has any questions regarding why this book has been popular for 180+ years; read it and you'll understand too.

Rating:
Summary: Original Sci-Fi at its BEST
Review: Mary Shelley, the author of the first sci-fi novel ever (Frankenstein), led an absolute horror of a life. A short biography is included in the beginning of this text, which gives you a good standard for seeing where this book came from. It is absolutely brilliant, a landmark in Victorian Era novelization, and defined an entire genre with its page-turning horror. Of course, like all great stories, it's nothing like the dull, ignorant movie and TV re-writes, so don't go into it with any precognition. If you read this book, you're going to be in for a treat. It's dark yet promising, full of intelligent twists and horrific action, and will always be THE original science fiction novel.