Frankenstein

A frankly astonishing debut novel written when the author was not even 20 years old. Shelley combined elements of Romanticism with a gloomy, Gothic shadow and somehow created a whole new genre - Science Fiction!

The basic plot is so well known it is not worth noting here. What touched me on this re-read was the inhumanity of man: Frankenstein abandoning his creation without attempting to create an emotional bond, the horror and disgust of those who meet the ‘monster' causing his very soul to darken and deform to reflect his countenance.

Shelley's words are beautiful, full or melancholia and poetry with many a nod to the Bard himself (and probably many others but I am horrifically under-read when it comes to classics, I shall get straight onto Milton - cannot be beaten by a ‘daemon'). The pastoral imagery reflects both Shelley's wide reading and the travelling she had done around the UK and Europe.

Her consistently male narrators perhaps seem a little naive and extremely emotional - weeping and expressing brotherly love is amongs their strong points - but perhaps this reflects more of the period than the constitution of her characters or the age or gender of the author.

An astounding book, still relevant today, heavily influenced by the losses young Ms Wollstonecraft had already experienced. With the power to both horrify and make one cry, this should be required reading for all!


I do wonder what happened to Captain Walton?