Frankenstein
Ratings1,265
Average rating3.8
I feel like media image of Frankenstein is very different from the one the book actually portrays. I was ready for a monster named Frankenstein with metal bolts in his head, being chased by an angry medieval village mob with torches and pitchforks. Instead I got a doctor name Frankenstein with commitment issues that is also bipolar. The action was fast paced and simpler than that of Dracula. Even if I gave both books the same rating, I prefer the vampire story simply because it expanded a lot more on the story and the characters. The characters in Frankenstein excluding Viktor and the monster are almost irrelevant. Also, the scene where he animates the monster is almost inexistent, which means the whole lightning hitting a corpse scene was also crafted by the media, womp womp.
It's hard to believe this was written so long ago, I can only imagine what it must have been like reading it when it came out!
Even though the Frankenstein story is very well known I was surprised how different it is from the dominant ‘Universal' version.
I think knowing so much about the story lessened the impact of it for me but it's still a great read that gives you a little window into a different time.
The more you read it, the more you can feel that it really has a lot of depth than what the surface story is telling. Frankenstein as a modern monster icon is really missing the point about the Frankenstein story. Read it slowly and reflect on the emotions portrayed and I found it a satisfying read.
This has probably been my favorite book that I read this summer. What a beautiful message and story. I really identified with the monster. I still think about this book even after I finished it.
Dr. Frankenstein is the worst! And everyone around him thinks he is amazing. I can't even blame the monster much.
So the second time I read it, I realized how the boat captain thinks Dr. Frankenstein is wonderful. So what am I supposed to think about the boat captain? What is Mary Shelley saying about the doctor, the monster, and the boat captain? This I am going to ponder.
Executive Summary: There were a few parts I thought were interesting, but overall this one just wasn't for me.
Full Review
Frankenstein permeates our culture. I think I've seen the movie before, but it's hard to remember for certain. You just feel like you know the story already even if you've never read the book.
The book was certainly different than I expected though. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I'm sure someone who studies literature could explain why the book has what I consider by current books to be a very strange and unnecessary framing device. I don't care about the guy who traveled north and is writing letters to his sister. I just don't.
Then again, I really didn't care for Frankenstein either. Maybe that's the point of the book? Who's the real monster or something? I don't know, I just know that despite how short the book was, it took me a very long time to get through the whole thing.
The highlight for me was some of the early chapters told from the creature's POV. It makes them much more sympathetic despite the horror of their later actions. Could all of this have been prevented if Frankenstein had simply been a better man?
I'll leave the dissection and discussion to others however. At this point I'm simply happy to be moving on.
2.5
This was weirdly story in a story in a story and the best part was the Wikipedia rabbit hole i fell into.
Mary Shelley is a fascinating person and this book touches on a lot of interesting themes but my god is Viktor Frankenstein the WORST .. whiny and pretentious and for a smart person so incredibly stupid that it hurts.
This book started out as a short story and I think it should've stayed one, or a novella at best. The good parts disappear between long tangents and unnecessary monologues but I'm still glad I read it, it really does have great moments.
Spoiler WarningIf you were confused like me by Victor's characteristics and his dummy behaviors through his pov story, I recommend you read about Mary Shelley's parents, her personal life and the shitty society she was living in. You could also watch the movie Mary Shelley (2017) which shows a great deal of what I mentioned.This was my first read.Unfortunately, I was deceived by the media and the very bad but famous picture in 1935 which I now must say fortunately always refused to watch.I have not read [b:Paradise Lost 15997 Paradise Lost John Milton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1526070678l/15997.SY75.jpg 1031493] because of its heavy text and language. But I know its summary + the story of Prometheus.I must say I am glad that I got to read Mary's masterpiece with open eyes.The character Victor Frankenstein represents typical men around Mary: some of them intelligent, yet most of them ignorant and narcissistic. They gaslit her (+ all women), underestimated her, belittled her, and even accused her of stealing the story just because she was a “teenage” AND a “girl” AND her husband was the great poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley! They forced her to publish the story ANONYMOUSLY! Five years later her name appeared in the second edition, and she was recognized for it.I'd also reckon a great influence of Elizabeth (I) and her mother Anne Boleyn on Mary's inspiration and the concepts of creation, love, and abandonment.It aches my heart that her real-life miseries have not actually been solved through the last 206 years; humans still have toxic societies under theocracy and patriarchy, with many men who hate women and underestimate them more than ever, counting “feminism” as a curse word. I feel ashamed of all men in history who have systematically erased women's names and contributions by gaslighting, dismissing and overlooking them and their works. It makes me nauseous to think of all those great women's works being signed under the name of a man by force! Henrietta Swan Leavitt is only one of them!I can see how men loved her book and still do and would probably cum every 2-3 pages, but they are still too jealous, too ignorant, and too arrogant to admit it publicly. They have tried, many many many times, to shove their unoriginal ideas and bad stories into the great gothic world she created. It's March 2, 2024, and there is still NO direct and complete movie adaptation of Frankenstein!Enough said.Mary takes the reader to various real places and describes families and society differences in detail (yes, I love realistic details). Even when the reader does not necessarily travel to an Arab country, Mary shows the true face of Islam through Safie's life so well that I could only nod YESSSSSSS! in awe. (The quote does not exist in the quote pages of GoodReads, so I added it myself, to the top of my list. I read that page several times and admired her knowledge only more, the knowledge many women in 2024 still do not have. This book can wake up many people. Well, if they are willing to wake up!I must mention some of my comments while reading the book:Considering the 17th century in the story, it makes me sick to see how social conventions have constantly changed for the worse. Back then, male friendship wasn't a big deal. In 2024, guys can't express their simple feelings because they're instantly pointed out as “gay” by their very own male friend! But look how openly Victor and Henry speak their mind and feelings. No need to remind that words like “gay” and “intercourse”, which were repeatedly used in the book, have also lost their positive meaning and turned into curses!P.S.: I wish I knew which Persian poems were Henry's favorites. And which were Mary's favorites...The different narrators and POVs make the characters more sensible and it's not like the writer is either preaching or promoting ideas. She's just showing us inside of the characters. I despised the recurring word “monster” from Victor's goddamned mouth. I call him Adam like he himself claimed, which is a fact, and not his personal opinion!!First when Victor was telling his story + how Walton described Victor's appearance, I seriously thought Adam was evil, and wanted to know so badly what the hell he had done that made Victor like this... BUT NO NO NO BABY! The plot twist is right here. Victor believes he's the victim!!!!! MY MY! He has had the best childhood any child could ever have: literally zero problems. He'd never had to ask for all the good things he had in life. He was free to do whatever he wanted, which unfortunately, led him to become a self-centered crybaby. Adam speaks of his intentions and next victim(s) so obvious that a retard could understand but not Victor. He was passionate and motivated in his major, but he was narrow-minded. He never had any responsibility and so never learnt what “consequence” means. Even after all his miseries, even on his deathbed, he did not realize it was all his own fault:Victor obviously represents gods every religion has [pointing to Paradise Lost]. All of them created (an) Adam and sent him off to live without teaching him properly. And after they committed the so-called “sin”, god banished him. Both religious gods and Victor abandon their creature, more importantly their child. A perfect god would never do such horrible things to his creature and expect them not to turn into evil. Additionally, how dare god/Victor blame Adam for the sins he'd done when god/Victor condemned him and left him on his own?! This is too unholy and irresponsible of a good god!!!! (That's just one of the many reasons I believe all religions are man-made.)Children are innocent and have no idea what's going on. It's adults' responsibility to take care of them and educate them. This is the very first rule of parenting, something Victor refused to do even though his father was bright and wealthy to provide for him and some other kids, and his mother took good care of him, two things most kids his age did not have. Take Henry, his friend, whose father did not let to go to Inglostadt to study further! And later in the story, we see how hard Adam tried to educate himself, fortunately and sadly, by reading Paradise Lost.Another thing that bothers me is how Adam's appearance still counts as “hideous” in our time. He says he can only be happy if he had a female companion. And we, in 2024, can confirm that because we've seen this coming true in Shrek. I'm serious. No sarcasm. We are still judging people based on their appearance. If someone does not fit our standards, we refuse to talk to them. I say we, because now I am also including myself.Coming to Paul Cantor's essay: It was boring, and I do not agree with most of what he said.The one thing that I agree with and very much bothered me was Victor and Elizabeth's relationship which I still cannot process. When Henry was introduced, my ultimate guess was Henry and Elizabeth getting married at some point and I had no problem with that BUT “Victor and Elizabeth” ship is beyond me: too “incest”. No other way. End of line.Now, regarding AI, humans have taken the path Victor took. I guess you only learn from the best! which is god himself!!!!But I do believe that we must break the cycle of generational irresponsibility. I would like to refer to [b:Point of View 28182378 Point of View Isaac Asimov https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449977400l/28182378.SY75.jpg 48202954] by Isaac Asimov to clarify that matter,and to [b:I, Robot 30525004 I, Robot (Adam Link, #0.1) Eando Binder https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1465707411l/30525004.SX50.jpg 51047598] another great story for what could have happened if Victor had not panicked.If we want our societies to improve, we need to start with ourselves, put the irrational biases and prejudices behind, and be better parents, and so, better humans.Looking back, I was captivated the whole time reading the book. The dark atmosphere was shivering! Just getting to know that Mary was a pioneer in forming the gothic genre by writing Frankenstein blew me away.She is the mother.She is the creator.She is immortal.
Story : Well, the story is not very interesting: a dude creates a monster and has to stop it from doing bad things, but the characters really bring this story to life. I like how it is told and the jumps between past and present.
Characters : Yeah, I love all of them. Frankenstein is an inteligent person who wants to create revolutionary stuff, but when he acknowledges that he created a monster, he decides to stop it. Contrary, the monster is a very likable person who only wanted to do good things for people, but when he is treated like trash, he starts to hurt people, especially his creator. I felt so sorry for him and I understand why he did what he did... poor fella.
Overall : I was lucky to get the Deluxe version of this book (kinda), which is filled with illustrations and fun facts, so every time I read a page, I kinda saw the summary in one drawing... so beautiful and scary! Great story about wanting to be human... I just want to hug Frankenstein's creation.
Frankenstein's monster is an incel. Gonna read some Victor Frankenstein/Robert Walton Fix-It fics now.
5 Sterne für den Anfang, aber irgendwann wird es leider ziemlich zäh.
Schöner, poetischer Schreibstil :)
While this isn't the most entertaining book I've read, you have to admire it and acknowledge the massive influence it has had on the genre and literature in general. All hail Queen Mary!
A timeless book. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote it at 19, it's a masterpiece of a story. This is why we read classics.
This is a pretty nerdy book. I could have gotten any number of free Project Gutenberg editions of Frankenstein, but I had a dilemma over whether to read the 1818 or the 1831 edition. Annotated versions solve the problem! Included with the 1818 text are several articles on cultural impact, annotations that help you experience both the texts and the changes Shelley made in between, as well as tons of notes fearlessly attempting to explain away plot holes.
I'd never actually read Frankenstein before this, and this might not be the best way to experience it as a first read, but I still enjoyed the process. It seems silly to review the actual story because what could I add to the other two centuries of criticism? That said, one of the forewards writes of Frankenstein as a modern myth in line with Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. When you say “Frankenstein,” people know what you mean even if you've never touched the book. So it's surprising how different the story is from the myth that has been passed down the last few centuries. It's a story I'm glad I finally read, and an edition that does justice to author and the story.
Bonus: Klinger is clearly a big fan of Young Frankenstein and one of the appendices is an interview with Mel Brooks.
I was lowkey so sad when Victor tore down the partner he made for the creature, they would've been adorable together :(
A cute quick and dirty look into the Frankenstein novel, but it was a little too quick. Loved the art style, though.
Another of the most formative books I have read. I viewed the world and those in it very differently after finishing it. Who is the monster, really?
Hm. Definitely one of the most interesting classics I've read so far. I was pretty much never bored, you know, it was really well paced.
Um... but it was also just deeply unsatisfying. I think I had too much sympathy going both sides and somehow that ended with me feeling that the ending was not tragic enough for either of the two sides.
Also, just don't end your story with the villain monologuing why they did what they did. A bad idea. That actually WAS boring. Don't do that, it is awful. The end.
