Frankenstein

Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: Mary Shelley was ahead of her time in writing what some consider to be the first ever science fiction novel. What I found most intriguing about this book was that the main story was not defined to me until one moment at the very end. In fact, I am still unable to decide for myself whether it is what it is. A definite must read for anyone who is at all interested in fantastic fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Who is the REAL Frankenstein?
Review: Frankenstein is a classic that every child had heard of, but who is the Frankenstein we imagine when we hear that name? A scary, green, ugly monster that holds his hands up like in the maraca? Or is it a lonely and curious scientist that releases an alien creature into a society that kills and destroys? Mary Shelley named the ladder Frankenstein and she did so correctly.

Who are the Frankenstein's in our society today, who are the enemies, who are the destroyers? The scary creatures of man or the quiet, good looking men who smile and fade away? This book is amazing because of the issues it presents by answering this question. This classic doesn't only use the language of the old British that sweep your tongue and give you the feeling of intellectual bliss, but it also poses a question that continues to be asked throughout the centuries. Who are the REAL Frankensteins?

Mary Shelley knew her answer and gave evil a beautiful name that most have used and see each day. Evil is disguised in the finest clothing and the richest words, evil is not in the ugly, the uneducated, the unknown, it is in the men and women who question how to create. Curiosity of God's work, God's hands, God's power. At the end of this book you know where evil resides and who Frankenstein really is. This book will give you a different image every time you heear the word Frankenstein and question, who is the real Frankenstein?

Rating:
Summary: This is a Classic?!
Review: I was forced into reading this for my senior AP humanities class over the summer. I began about three weeks before school started, and it took me a week to get though, despite being a relatively short book. I literally almost fell asleep every ten pages. Mary Shelley almost as much in need of a good editor as John Milton with his insanely written Paradise Lost. She spend eons talking about how lovely the mountains are, then spends around five seconds explaining the birth of The Monster. This tendancy to skip over the exciting parts as though they were unimportant may have been intentional (that's what my humanites teacher tells me) but it still bored me. Also, I don't really care what the mountains looked like. Victor Frankenstein whines his way through the entire novel, which is really irritating because everything that happens to him is his own fault. When it comes to the development of The Monster, Mary Shelley seems to think that somehow, magically, The Monster knows way too much. Too many convient things happen. For example, he just happens to hang out behind a hut housing several very nice peasants, and they never notice? Yeah, right. Also, he just happens to find three very important and significant texts that have striking parallels to his own situation? Again, yeah right. It reached the point of ludicrocity. I sincerley did not enjoy this book, and though I know that it may partially be Percy Shelley's fault (evidently, he was her editor), and I know that Mary Shelley had many miscarriages and children's deaths and this book is about that and blah blah blah, I will never enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: The Original Version of the Classic
Review: The original version of Frankenstein (or, The Modern Prometheus) was published anonymously in 1818. However, the version of Frankenstein that most people have read is the 1831 edition, which has significant changes from the original 1818 text. This book gives the readers a chance to experience the original text, which is less refined and a bit darker then the revised text. It also provides a wonderful introduction and notes discussing Mary Shelley's life, the context in which this story was written, and the differences between the original text and the 1831 edition. These notes and introduction are by Marilyn Butler, who was a Professor of English Literature at Cambridge.

The story is well known, although certainly the book is nothing like most of the movies that use its name. While clearly one can find many issues from Mary Shelley's life and times that are addressed in this book, what makes it stand the test of time is how it can be made to relate to modern day issues as well. One theme, science creates a "monster" which it cannot control and which ultimately destroys the lives of those that created it, can be found today in areas such as genetics, nuclear physics, etc., and will undoubtedly be with us in the future as well. Other themes from the story carry forward from 1818 to today as well, which undoubtedly why this story is a classic and will always endure.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: One on a list of many that I always wanted to read... Recently finding the time, i picked it up from the library and read it. It was a great read, its written in old/middle english, but not bad enough that you cant tell whats going on. Its a great story, it really is. Forget what you think you know about the story of Frankenstien, read the book !!!

Rating:
Summary: The BEST book I EVER read
Review: I have read the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the Hobbit, the Silmarillian, Star Wars books, Treasure Island, and much much more. But this is the best book I have ever read. I would recomend this book to almost anyone.

P.S.Dont expect the flat headed monster from the movie (its nothing like that), but dont try to get bang that image from your head either it fun to see the contrast.

P.P.S. I dont want to insult anyone but if you have limited vocabulary dont read this book, you simply wont apreciate it enough.

P.P.P.S. Please excuse my horrible spelling.

Rating:
Summary: The name refers to the scientist
Review: I love this book and how fitting it should be written by the child of Mary Wollstonecraft and Percy Shelley.

I just think on what my Literary Types prof at the University of Michigan had to say...

"It's the story of a crazed undergraduate."

"All right, Viktor, you put the twelve-inch [organ] on the monster and what do you think he's going to do with it?"

Made a 7 a.m. class worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: A Story That Shall Always Be Remembered
Review: I had to read this in my English class and I always wanted to read it. Mary had quite the imagination! The novel did not disappoint me whatsoever. I found it to be a great read and overall one of those stories that you just can't instantly judge as which character is the antagonist or the protagonist. The novel makes you think deeply about both Victor and the monster he created. It's the splitting image of a gothic novel and indeed just as scary and amazingly thought up as can get. To imagine one man creating his own human is an idea that is mad as well as amazing to think even of.
The story starts off where a ship up North finds a man and takes him up on their ship, and the leader listens to the story the man tells in agony and woe. It's of Victor as when he was younger, and happy and fascinated in an idea he conjured, of creating his own human. But only discord happens afterwards, and Victor realizes he must destroy his creation before the whole human race is in danger. But alas, the monster has a negotiation, and Victor must decide if he will uptake it for the sake of his family and the rest of the world's safety.
This is a story that will leave you thinking deeply and possibly shedding a tear. It's up to the the reader nonetheless, to wonder if they dare read such a chilling tale.