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Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 466,350 ratings · 8,782 reviews

Frankenstein, loved by many decades of readers and praised by such eminent literary critics as Harold Bloom, seems hardly to need a recommendation. If you haven't read it recently, though, you may not remember the sweeping force of the prose, the grotesque, surreal imagery, and the multilayered doppelgänger themes of Mary Shelley's masterpiece.

Paperback, 166 pages

Published October 21st 1994 by Dover Publications (first published 1818)

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Oct 26, 2009 Hannah added it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, horror, too-awful-for-words

No stars. That's right. Zero, zip. nada.

It's been almost 30 years since I've detested a book this much. I didn't think anything could be worse then Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Seems I'm never too old to be wrong. This time, I don't have the excuse that I was forced to read this for high school lit. class. Oh no, this time I read this of my own volition and for fun. Yeah, fun. Kinda like sticking bamboo shoots between my fingernails type of fun. Watching paint dry fun. Going to an Air Supply conce...more

182 likes · like · see review

Aug 23, 2009 Ceridwen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ceridwen by: Scott Moore, 19th Century Survey

Shelves: ghost-stories, gothic, rule-britannia, incest-is-best, capital-r-romantic, it-s-alive

Cross-posted on Readerling

I first read Frankenstein in a British Survey class when I was nineteen. I'd just hacked my way through the 17th and 18th Centuries, bolting down huge chunks of the raw meat of “Paradise Lost,” the Romantic poets, and early novels. It was perfect time to read Frankenstein, as all of her source material was still digesting in my brain. It was also perfect because Shelly herself was nineteen when she wrote this. This precipitated a sort of pre-life crisis for me. Here's t...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-reads, horror, classics, adapted-to-screen

A great read! highly recommended!

Stephen King in his Danse Macabre novel mentions this as one of three essential horror classics, he says they are ' The Vampire (Dracula), the Werewolf (Jekyl and Hyde) and the thing with no name (Frankenstein).'

The book is so much better than what the movie has tried to communicate. Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who is a brilliant scientist with an obsession tries to play God, by creating a living human being all by himself. But all does not go to plan when the crea...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, ebooks, easton-press, audiobook, horror-classic, 1800s, mad-scientists, classics-european, monsters, gothic, 6-star-books, all-time-favorites

My apologies, but this review is going to be a bit frantic due to my brain being so oxygen-starved by the novel’s breath-stealing gorgeousness that I'm feeling a bit light-headed. So please forgive the random thoughts.

First: Mary Shelley…I love you!!

Second: Dear Hollywood - you lying dung pile of literature-savaging, no talent hacks…you got this all wrong. Please learn to read and get yourself a copy of the source material before you FUBAR it again.

Third: My heart shattered for the “monster” an...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, parody-homage, the-goodreads-experience, pooh-dante

"Pray tell me your story," I said, "if it will not weary you overmuch."

He fixed me with an eye still firm of purpose. "I had long been fascinated by the dark arts of Parody and Homage," he began. "I studied the works of the masters. Juvenal, Swift, Beerbohm, Douglas Adams... I curse the day when I discovered the Grimoire of John Sladek mouldering in an old bookshop. It was then my plan began to take shape..."

He broke off, racked by a fit of coughing. "Sir, you should rest," I said. He snorted co...more

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Jun 21, 2012 mark monday rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: new-dimensions, soul-sucking-review, horrortime-classik, rain-man-reviews

...and so I was born! A man, and not a man; a life, and an un-life. Hair and lips of lustrous black, skin of parchment yellow, watery eyes of dun-colored white. The stature of a giant. A horror among men! And so my creator fled me, horrified of his creation. And so I fled my place of birth, to seek lessons amongst the human kind. My lonesome lessons learnt: man is a loving and noble creature; learning is pathway to beauty, to kindness, to fellowship. And this I also learnt: to witness what diffe...more ...and so I was born! A man, and not a man; a life, and an un-life. Hair and lips of lustrous black, skin of parchment yellow, watery eyes of dun-colored white. The stature of a giant. A horror among men! And so my creator fled me, horrified of his creation. And so I fled my place of birth, to seek lessons amongst the human kind. My lonesome lessons learnt: man is a loving and noble creature; learning is pathway to beauty, to kindness, to fellowship. And this I also learnt: to witness what differs, to meet what may be noble under the skin but ugly above it... is to then reject that other, to cast him out! Man is a brutal and heartless creature. And as I was rejected, I do so reject: turn from me and you shall find my cold hands, seeking some bitter warmth...

O wretched creature am I!

My tale is told by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, in the loveliest and most vivid of flowing prose. A wise writer is this Mary Shelley - and at such a young age! The narrative is as three nesting Russian dolls, a thin one to contain them all, a second of weightier proportions, and a third one within - its gentle and broken heart. That inner story, the smallest, is of my youth - a life of fear, but also of learning, of growing into myself, of witnessing the beauty around me. Of spying upon the family De Lacey - their unknown son. Their own tale is one of bravery and gentleness, of humanity at its weakest and strongest, of survival. But mine is of friendship spurned, kindness returned with terror, a stark rejection, and then a house in flames. And with that burning house burned all the love within this scarcely beating un-heart... all that love, burnt clean away, never to return! The middle story is of my creator, Victor Frankenstein: spoiled child, spoiled man, dreamer, visionary, coward; the foolish instrument of his own despair. A curse upon him, and a blessing, and a curse again! The outer layer is a story of wintry landscapes, an exploration of the icy reaches and the final doom of my creator. It is as well a tale of longing: for justice and for revenge, of course... but also for a companion, for a brother who can never be found. Alas, Captain Walton, a sensitive and lonely soul... I could have been your own brother, such was the depth of our shared yearnings...

O wretched are those who walk the earth alone!

My father and mother both: Victor Frankenstein. Curse the man who rejects his offspring! Curse the man who seeks to forget his own creation! I was the fruit of his mind and of his labors, born rotten, and thus cast away. The tale of my maker is the tale of a parent suddenly fearful of his young, terrified of what he has wrought. It is a tale of responsibility rejected. The record of his actions are of criminal neglect, of shameful weakness, of a man who lives so much in his thoughts that the world around him crumbles, and the people in that world become abused. My wretched self most of all! And yet I am more than his cast-out son. I am the Frankenstein's shadow self: capable of the sublime, yet enacting the abominable. What is dear to him shall be mine to destroy. His precious ideals shall be the instrument of his destruction. As he would embrace his youngest brother, his dearest friend, his beloved wife... so shall I! And as his shadow self, I will follow him as he will follow me, I will lead him to his destiny, on a terrible trail he has forged himself. I shall spare him, and all others, only the faintest pity...

O wretched are those who cross my path!

My story is not simply one of thoughtless cruelty or hideous revenge. It is also one of beauty, and of ugliness. Behold the many descriptions of the natural world, the myriad and vivid wonders of nature, of mountain and forest and lake and ocean. There is true beauty. It is a fact upon which we three - Victor Frankenstein and Captain Walton and I - are truly of one mind. In nature there is true transcendence! But alas, it is not simply nature that is judged as beauty, or as ugliness. Inspect the story closely. Note the good fortune of the child Elizabeth, raised in squalor and then lifted into comfort. Why was she so chosen? Because of her fortunate beauty, her golden hair... so different from the children around her, who remained in poverty. A typical act for the human species: forever embracing the fair and turning away from what their eyes call foul. Terrible human nature, that judges the surface alone. Study Victor's reactions to his professors, both steeped in wisdom: one kindly and elegant in appearance, the other misshapen and coarse... his fondness for the former and his displeasure with the latter. See Victor's uncaring and hysterical flight from his own child - myself! Watch his descent into illness at the mere idea of such ugliness. Witness the family De Lacey, and their rejection of one who sought only to ease their burdens, to bring their kindness back upon them - a being who only craved love! Myself! Again and again, the pleasant surface is favored over the ill-formed; the unknown depths to remain unknowable. Foolish humans - victims of their conceits, forever enchanted by what they call beauty. Foul and petty humans - they are villains of their own making. A curse upon them! And so rejected and abandoned, I shall bring ugliness back to their doorstep. I become nemesis; and shall live forever as your deadly child, a perilous inheritance, a nightmare of your own creation...

O wretched are you all!(less)

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Oct 20, 2012 Keely rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gothic, horror, novel, uk-and-ireland, science-fiction, reviewed

If you have not read the book, then you do not know Frankenstein or his monster. Certainly, there is a creature in our modern mythology which bears that name, but he bears strikingly little resemblance to the original.

It is the opposite with Dracula, where, if you have seen the films, you know the story. Indeed, there is a striking similarity between nearly all the Dracula films, the same story being told over and over again: Harker, bug-eating Renfield, doting Mina, the seduction of Lucy, Dr. V...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Michael by: Mary

Shelves: classics, favourites, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, gothic, reread, 19th-century, romantics

This truly is a classic tale of social insight, a story of one seeking acceptance and desiring companionship but being rejected and branded a monster. The thing that I liked most about this book is the fact that it’s divided into two accounts, designed to view both sides of the story. The first part of the book ‘Frankenstein’ tells the story of the life of Victor Frankenstein, the creation of Monster Frankenstein and the death of his younger brother William. A servant ‘Justine’ has been put on t...more This truly is a classic tale of social insight, a story of one seeking acceptance and desiring companionship but being rejected and branded a monster. The thing that I liked most about this book is the fact that it’s divided into two accounts, designed to view both sides of the story. The first part of the book ‘Frankenstein’ tells the story of the life of Victor Frankenstein, the creation of Monster Frankenstein and the death of his younger brother William. A servant ‘Justine’ has been put on trial for this murder, but Victor knows the identity of the true killer. Monster Frankenstein and Victor finally meet up and despite his desire to kill his creation, Victor is forced to listen to the monster’s story, after being threatened.

‘The Modern Prometheus’ tells the story of the Monster Frankenstein, confused and unsure from the very first day of life, found himself hiding in the woods watching people and learning how to find food, create a fire and how to differentiate between the feelings of happiness and sadness. Watching a family in poverty taught Monster Frankenstein many things and he started chopping wood and shoveling snow for the family while they slept. His loneliness finally drove him to show himself to this family who ended up running away in fear. With a mixture of loneliness and anger, he seeks out his creator, finding his way to William where he decides to kidnap him for companionship and ends up accidentally strangling him.

This is where the two stories meet and monster Frankenstein pleads with Victor saying he’s ‘a good creature turned bad by unforgiving humans who scoffed at friendship’. The monster pleads with Victor to make him a companion which he would take and never be heard from again. Victor reluctantly agrees but found it harder and harder to do, even though his family was in danger. Victor began to realize the female companion could wreck much havoc by giving birth to more monsters and refusing to be with the monster as a mate altogether.
Monster Frankenstein swears revenge and goes about killing everyone close to Victor in attempt to show Victor what it feels like to be alone. As Frankenstein dies, the monster appears in his room and begs his dead body for forgiveness.

In the end the story has no true villain or hero. Monster Frankenstein and Victor Frankenstein were both portrayed as hero and villain. The story also leaves you wondering on how you treat others, do our actions end up turning people into a ‘monsters’? Overall this was a brilliant story, although the language was at times hard to understand, it is still worth the read.

This review can be found on my blog;
http://literary-exploration.com/2009/...(less)

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Nov 14, 2012 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-books, 1000-bymrbyd-list, bbc-big-read-list, 2012, favorites, reviewed, classics, horror

First off, I just want to point out that many people make the mistake of thinking that the creature in the novel is named Frankenstein, but the truth is that Frankenstein is actually the name of the scientist who created the monster.

Victor Frankenstein is an intelligent and promising young student at the University of Ingolstadt. Victor's obsession and passion for science leads to him creating a living creature. Horrified at himself, Victor shuns the creature and attempts to continue his life w...more First off, I just want to point out that many people make the mistake of thinking that the creature in the novel is named Frankenstein, but the truth is that Frankenstein is actually the name of the scientist who created the monster.

Victor Frankenstein is an intelligent and promising young student at the University of Ingolstadt. Victor's obsession and passion for science leads to him creating a living creature. Horrified at himself, Victor shuns the creature and attempts to continue his life without thinking about it. However the creature is left alone in a world where he is shunned and out-casted by humanity. The creature is lonely and depressed and longs for another, like himself, to be his companion. At first Frankenstein promises to create a mate for the creature but then changes his mind. Rejected once again, the creature turns towards revenge.

The novel is beautifully written, enthralling and well-composed. The various settings in the novel each work perfectly to draw the reader in and create suspense. The characterisation and pace of the story is fantastic.

This novel turned out to be nothing like what I was expecting. I was expecting a generic horror story about a monster but what I got was so much more complex, it's quite a philosophical story really. I was extremely surprised and impressed by the actual story itself. There are so many levels to this story. The ethical and moral issues, which Mary Shelley highlights throughout the novel, are still significant, especially today during the scientifically advanced age of human cloning and stem cell research. Is it morally right to play god? It is very hard to believe that Mary Shelley wrote this novel when she was only 18 years old.

I did not like the protagonist of the novel. I found Doctor Victor Frankenstein to be arrogant, chauvinistic, irresponsible and extremely selfish. I found myself sympathising more with the monster he created (despite it's evil deeds), than I did with him! After all, the monster wasn't evil in the beginning. It was his treatment by humans that made him evil! Mary Shelley's monster is actually a pitiful depressing creature – nothing like what Hollywood depicts. It really annoyed me how Victor never felt guilty or responsible, for the deaths of his family, when he was the one who created the murderer.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm happy I finally got around to reading this classic.

Four stars!(less)

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Feb 26, 2008 Trevor rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

I don’t really know what I was expecting – though ‘more’ comes to mind. Let’s start with what I liked about this book. I liked the idea that the monster is ‘made’ a monster by the treatment he receives from humanity. He is ugly and humanity does like to punish the ugly - this is a universal truth about us that in itself is also fairly ugly.

The other thing I liked was that standard ploy of gothic novels – the multiple Chinese whisper narration. In this the story is all written in a series of lett...more I don’t really know what I was expecting – though ‘more’ comes to mind. Let’s start with what I liked about this book. I liked the idea that the monster is ‘made’ a monster by the treatment he receives from humanity. He is ugly and humanity does like to punish the ugly - this is a universal truth about us that in itself is also fairly ugly.

The other thing I liked was that standard ploy of gothic novels – the multiple Chinese whisper narration. In this the story is all written in a series of letters and then continuous prose to the sister of a sea captain who hears the story on a journey to the North Pole from Frankenstein himself, even though much of the story is also told to Frankenstein by his monster. I do like stories like this -that are like Russian Dolls – where it is hard to tell who is telling the story and just how reliable they could be as a narrator. I'm not sure I would trust anything an adventurer sea captain told me about anything - and in the end he is the only source.

Unfortunately, that is about all that I did like. I would have said I know this story well before I read the book. There have been endless films made of this story – so there are elements to the story that are etched into our collective memories. It comes then as a bit of a shock that many (most) of these elements are not in the story at all. No bolts in the neck, no Igor, no organ playing – isn’t it funny how all of these are so strongly associated with the monster and the story, when none of them are in the story at all? I guess that is yet another example of the power of images.

The other difference is that in films the monster is a slow moving automaton, whereas in the book he is much swifter, stronger and agile than people. Frankenstein may not have made a very good looking monster, but in every other respect he did a much better job than God did. Frankenstein is a very fast learner - he learns to speak in less than a year. And given the poverty of instruction Chomsky would really be proud!

Coincidences rarely work in fiction – and while they bring delight when they happen in life, in fiction they tend to stop us in our wilful suspension of disbelief. As Frank Smith points out somewhere – we don’t find it hard to suspend disbelief, it is something we quite like to do. The problem is that this story seems to go out of its way to make us do tutting noises at the improbabilities and constantly strained plotting twists.

My problem was that many of these weren’t really necessary to the story itself. You know, hint - if telling me something silly isn't going to improve the story, don't tell me something silly.

I thought there were some interesting comments about the obligations Gods have to their creations. In this case the ‘god’ is the scientist. He spends most of his time swooning – it seemed the slightest problem has him rushing to his bed for months on end. A friend dies and he is almost at death's door himself. About the only things he never did was tear at either his hair or his clothes – but that is hardly high praise. I guess I’m supposed to say that in these days of genetic engineering and such this is a tale more cautionary now than when it was originally written – but I won’t say that because it is too boring and too obvious.

If it is horror you want, Stephen King is much more frightening, never tells you how scared you are supposed to feel at any given moment in the story and is basically a better writer. But this is a seminal horror story, so I guess for that reason alone…

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Oct 20, 2009 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, book-club, 2007, gothic-horror

Spoilers!
Frankenstein is the first book written by Mary Shelley (daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, friend of Lord Byron), and her most famous. First published in 1818, she later revised it for its second printing in 1823, adding a preface that cleared up conjecture as to what she was writing about, changing the relationship of Elizabeth to the family (in the original, she is Victor Frankenstein's cousin, in the second she has no blood relation but...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Wonders are natural: miracles are supernatural. The whole creation is full of wonders; the Bible contains an account of the miracles that happened in those days......wonders are agreeable to the laws of nature....monsters are violations of the laws of nature

Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein....these books are important to me. Within their pages I discovered something; novels are not single entities. For the first time, I began to think seriously about what one novel shared with others, ho...more Wonders are natural: miracles are supernatural. The whole creation is full of wonders; the Bible contains an account of the miracles that happened in those days......wonders are agreeable to the laws of nature....monsters are violations of the laws of nature

Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein....these books are important to me. Within their pages I discovered something; novels are not single entities. For the first time, I began to think seriously about what one novel shared with others, how these shared elements acted like rules, and existed outside any particular novel to make a genre. And the genre of the Gothic novel was something that I loved, adored, it became everything for a time. After these books a world of literature opened up to me, and the pages of each novel in my bookshelf no longer sat alone within their bindings.

As for Frankenstein, I guess I love Shelly's interaction of realistic, Gothic and romantic. That this book was written in the company of Byron, is appealing, and I imagine that the association influenced the romantic stylistic conventions employed in the novel (I had a few fantasies about this association as a teenager; mainly involving me frolicking with Byron and being the author of Frankenstein). I love that the romantic ideas are mixed with imagination, science, ambition and creativity; I love that it's all totally irrational.

Frankenstein's struggle with the creature he has created is crucial to the novel and Shelly's language has a quality that draws me into this struggle, it's intensely powerful and strikes at my emotions. There is a darkness to its tone.

The remains of the half-finished creature, whom I had destroyed, lay scattered on the floor, and I almost felt as if I had mangled the living flesh of a human being

It's a bit melodramatic too and vocabulary like 'adversary', 'combat', and 'enemy', littered throughout the novel, made me feel like Frankenstein was at war, which I suppose he was. On his wedding night he finds it impossible to be with his beloved resolving not to join her until I had obtained some knowledge as to the situation of my enemy. This constant battle and father/son bond makes Frankenstein and the creature's inward looking relationship fascinatingly complex.

Fundamentally, I see this novel as a story of people coming into contact with things that are strange, foreign and monstrous, and even through the changes that take place in the creature's character, as the novel progresses, I find it difficult to distance myself from his point of view, I find it hard to forget the tragic fate of a creature whose whole being is tied to his master.

(view spoiler)

But most of all, this novel means something to me. The elements are powerful enough to create wider meanings in the novel, and in my life.
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Oct 24, 2011 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: classic-horror, gothic-fiction, epistolary-narrative, zombie, antihero, owned-copy, october-scare-fest-2011, kindle-book, philosophical-meanderings, mad-scientists, angsty-read, all-things-autumn-challenge, winter-cold-setting, 2011-reading, classic

Mary W. Shelley explored themes that still resonate today in her proto-science fiction work, Frankenstein. Themes of the relentless drive and search for ultimate (even forbidden) knowledge; intellectual arrogance; the desire to create something enduring; the need for love and recognition; and a study in how bitterness, hatred and rage can destroy a person. What separates men from God? What separates man from monster? Can a so-called monster have the heart (the humanity) and the accompanying need...more Mary W. Shelley explored themes that still resonate today in her proto-science fiction work, Frankenstein. Themes of the relentless drive and search for ultimate (even forbidden) knowledge; intellectual arrogance; the desire to create something enduring; the need for love and recognition; and a study in how bitterness, hatred and rage can destroy a person. What separates men from God? What separates man from monster? Can a so-called monster have the heart (the humanity) and the accompanying needs and desires of a man? Does beauty or ugliness penetrate deeper than the skin? Can one expect good to come from an act of utter selfishness?

Frankenstein is very much a philosophical work. Although there are some primordial science fiction elements, they are merely the impetus--the laying of the groundwork for this story. For it is not about how Frankenstein makes his creation. It’s about the aftermath of that act. This is a moving work of fiction that skirts the edges of horror, but the horror is more of a psychological sort. The horror is that a man would take knowledge to create a man from unliving flesh. A man so hideous in visage that people turn away in horror. This man chases after his creator, demands his love and tender regard, to merely be noticed and acknowledged by his creator; and if not that, at least the right to have a companion in his lonely life. Many times, I was deeply affected emotionally by this story. I felt so much sympathy for the creature. To be brought to life and abandoned by his creator seemed so cruel. He couldn’t help that his external appearance was ugly and a constant reminder of the unspeakable act his maker had perpetrated. He had not been given the opportunity to prove that he was something more, something worthwhile; that he was capable of deep emotions, an ability to appreciate beauty in life, to love and to give to others. This made me so very sad. There were times when I truly felt disdain towards Frankenstein. For his arrogance, for his selfishness. Although Shelley couldn’t have known about the capabilities of science now, the caution about science and its ethical considerations couldn’t be more timely. Should we create something just because we have the knowledge and skill to do so? And how often do we truly count the cost of such an action before it’s too late? Although I felt great enmity towards Frankenstein at times, I certainly didn’t condone the creature’s actions. I felt a profound sense of horror when the created man committed acts of violence to innocents around him in vengeance against his creator. I was still angry at Frankenstein for bringing it on himself, but I also felt sad for him to lose everyone he valued in his life. Surely, he couldn’t have known how horrible the results his creation act would result in. When he is given the ultimatum to create a mate for the creature, I could understand his terrible dilemma, and I still question whether his final actions were the right ones. Finally, I was back to feeling pity for the creature, deeply empathizing with him in his loneliness, how his desire for love and understanding turned into selfish rage that he truly regretted and repented for in the end.

Mary Shelley doesn’t give the answers to these moral dilemmas. She merely presents these profound queries in this narrative. Where does it place the reader in the end? Deeply entrenched within this tumultuous, roiling cauldron of emotions—fear, love, rage, regret, hope, and despair. One simply cannot be detached when reading this book.

I found this to be very readable despite the fact that it was written about two hundred years ago. I only found my interest wavering in the moments of the somewhat excessive travelogues of the natural surroundings. In my opinion, this took up too prominent a role in the narrative, and it was distracting. Despite that small shortcoming, this was powerful reading, not comfortable, but deeply involving. No easy answers, but lots of questions for each reader to process and come up with their own conclusions. I won’t forget this book.

4.5 stars.
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Nov 04, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone considering messing with the laws of nature in the comfort of their own home

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

The Modern Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the Gods. Well presumably they weren't using it that much anyway and if you can generate lightening bolts on a whim surely it's greedy to hog it?

Victor Frankenstein acquired/borrowed/stole the power to give life after substantial meddling... this book is a prime example of what happens when your parents are overly encouraging and want you to have a well rounded education and an enquiring mind. Enquiring minds are trouble!

Lessons learned by enqu...more The Modern Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the Gods. Well presumably they weren't using it that much anyway and if you can generate lightening bolts on a whim surely it's greedy to hog it?

Victor Frankenstein acquired/borrowed/stole the power to give life after substantial meddling... this book is a prime example of what happens when your parents are overly encouraging and want you to have a well rounded education and an enquiring mind. Enquiring minds are trouble!

Lessons learned by enquiring minds at a young age frequently include the following:
1.Poking things with sticks may encourage them to bite you.
2.Eating things which are not food and are possibly toxic will result in hospital visits
3.Falling out of trees or from other similar heights will teach you that you don't bounce too well.
4.Picking on people who are bigger than you can be painful.
5.Picking on people who are smaller than you is not painful but may lead to boughts of guilt and self recrimination.
6. Don't mess with things you don't understand.

All of these lessons will serve you well in adult life. You should have paid attention Victor!

Essentially the monster in question is not really a bona fide creation of new life, more of a patch work rag doll creation generated by stitching together various elements retrieved from corpses and charnel houses. A sort of DIY build your own zombie. Clearly this kind of recycled parts approach was never going to generate anything pretty and sadly in this shallow world, appearance is all.

Despite being the architect of this unfortunate being, Frankenstein is both afraid of and repulsed by his creation and flees to leave his untutored Franken-child to fend for itself with unhappy consequences for all concerned. Surprisingly clever and astute,capable of becoming self educated and trusting and unaware of its true form, the monster seeks to learn from people. But when humans turn on him he becomes vengeful and destructive hoping to reek havoc in the life of the man who created him and brought him into the cruel world in the first place. Thus a monster has been created in more ways than one. Frankenstein needs a good lesson in dealing with the consequences of his actions, especially as he tries to run from every problem he creates in this novel. This is problematic mainly because the problem is running about on two ill-matched legs and is chasing him.

I won't tell you about the ending because that would ruin the end of a romantic/gothic masterpiece but the bottom line is that I'm cheering for the monster in this one.

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Dec 01, 2010 Rose added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Looking at how often some of the most common words in this book are used gives you a good sense of what it is like.

Feelings 76
Death 76
Heart 76
Miserable 63
Happy/happiness 104
Despair 47
Joy 41
Wretch(ed) 47

In short, this book is pretty emo. I'm not surprised it was written by a teenage girl. If Mary Shelley was alive today, I can't help feeling that she would be writing Twilight fanfic on the internet.

Frankenstein is so annoying that I was longing for him to come to a gruesome end at the hands of...more Looking at how often some of the most common words in this book are used gives you a good sense of what it is like.

Feelings 76
Death 76
Heart 76
Miserable 63
Happy/happiness 104
Despair 47
Joy 41
Wretch(ed) 47

In short, this book is pretty emo. I'm not surprised it was written by a teenage girl. If Mary Shelley was alive today, I can't help feeling that she would be writing Twilight fanfic on the internet.

Frankenstein is so annoying that I was longing for him to come to a gruesome end at the hands of his monster; quite how he appears to be possibly the most wonderful human on Earth to his new mate Walton, I'm not sure. I found myself wishing that Frankenstein didn't have alibis for the murders, because I would have enjoyed the story much more if I could have interpreted Frankenstein as himself the utterly deranged killer.

Victor needs to man up and stop collapsing into months of dire illness every time something happens, being so utterly self-obsessed (e.g. Justine is about to be executed, but apparently it's far worse for him than it is for her; it never once occurs to him that his monster might have plans for Elizabeth rather than for him; after Elizabeth and Frankenstein's father die, he apparently makes no arrangements to ensure that his younger brother Ernest, now orphaned and alone save for Victor, is cared for and protected while Victor travels about), and talking about his feelings so damn much. Between him and his monster, I felt like I was at some kind of self help group. I get that it's supposed to be Gothic and melodramatic, but I couldn't really cope with two such high-level drama queens.

While I'm perfectly happy to accept that a man created this hideous beast out of bits and pieces, certain aspects of the book puzzled me and placed a severe strain on my suspension of disbelief.

For example, whilst on a tiny rock of an island inhabited by 5 people, how did Frankenstein manage to make a start on assembling Mrs Monster without the dissecting rooms and slaughterhouses he needed in Paris? You would think that in such a small place the supply of any kind of reasonably fresh corpses would be extremely limited (particularly when you would probably take them over to the mainland on a supply trip rather than try to inter them or construct a tomb with no real materials on solid rock). When being pursued by a monster and on a desperate quest to create it a friend so that it leaves you alone, would you take a break to go and admire Edinburgh Castle, the Cumberland lakes, and St Arthur's Seat? (And why make a special trip to Matlock, of all places? I've been there, and there's absolutely nothing worth going for unless you are a fan of motorbikes or cable cars.)

It never seems to have occured to Frankenstein until the very end of the book to get a gun and shoot the monster. He just decides that the monster is essentially impossible for him to capture or kill by any means because he can climb mountains. His powers are admittedly strange; forget his strength, speed, and stamina, I'm impressed that he acquired sufficient mastery of French to be able to read Paradise Lost and make statements like "I have good dispositions; my life has been hitherto harmless and in some degree beneficial; but a fatal prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to see a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a detestable monster," after just a few months of eavesdropping, and also that he manages to travel all over the world as a hideous fiend with remarkably little inconvenience.

I guess I should conclude that this is just one of those works of literature that is above my head and that I am too literal and unintelligent to truly understand or appreciate. I get that it's original; the basic conceit of the story is alright, and a worthwhile comment on our approach to science and ethics. But I don't see anything all that great in how it's written or in the details of the plot, and for me, its heavy-handed approach diluted rather than enhanced the point it was trying to make. (less)

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May 19, 2012 Sath rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, science-fiction, sfx-100-writers, horror, sfx-book-club, 2011-must-read, reviewed

The book is actually written as a record of letters from Captain Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Walton Saville. Walton is on a sea journey to the north pole, and he comes across Victor Frankenstein in failed pursuit of his monster, floating on a raft of ice. When they take him on board, Walton and Frankenstein quickly become friends and Frankenstein relates his tale, which Walton faithfully records in his letter to his sister.

Victor Frankenstein's tale begins with a pretty idyllic childho...more The book is actually written as a record of letters from Captain Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Walton Saville. Walton is on a sea journey to the north pole, and he comes across Victor Frankenstein in failed pursuit of his monster, floating on a raft of ice. When they take him on board, Walton and Frankenstein quickly become friends and Frankenstein relates his tale, which Walton faithfully records in his letter to his sister.

Victor Frankenstein's tale begins with a pretty idyllic childhood, he's rich and well loved. The first tragedy comes with the death of his mother, just before he moves away to university. But then he throws himself into his studies, in which he discovers the secret of life. (We are never told what this is, although we know all the movies asume it is elecricity). And he decides to create a man, by gathering pieces of dead bodies and then bring it to life with his new secret method. He pursues this in a kind of maniacal frenzy, and then suddenly when he is finished, he is absolutely horrified by what he has done, has a complete break down and retires to bed for 2 months with a nervous fever.

When his friend Clerval comes to see him, he fairly quickly gets over his upset and plans on going home to Geneva, almost as if nothing has happened. And little does he think of his Monster, who is off in the world on his own, desperately seeking the meaning of his life.

I find it hard to review this book, as I was of two different minds about it.

On the one hand I did love it, because to think of it, this must almost be the genesis of the horror genre as we know it.. Written by Mary Shelly when she was only 19 years old, and in the same decade that Jane Austen was writing romances. This constantly amazes me. And it completely laughs in the face of this 'new' monster mashup-up genre - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies etc - monsters in that era.. it's been done before.. way before.

I did also love the character of the Monster, once you hear his story you can almost forgive him for all his homicidal tendencies. How it must be like to be created, fully grown but hideous, and then completely abandoned. What would I think of my maker? Would I hate him, would I want to inflict untold misery upon him?

As it happens, I do hate Frankenstein. He has no sense of responsibility. He constantly avoids even the thought of his Monster, even after he realises it is at large and capable of great harm, he chooses to convince himself that everything will be fine. When he should be doing something about it. And every time something bad happens, he can't take the stress, and he faints and falls into a delerious fever for several months. Perhaps I ought to understand the relationship between massive psychological depression, and the whole avoidance routine, I do it myself. A lot. But maybe because of this I hate him. And I don't want to understand him. How can he be like this when his life is so otherwise idyllic, he has everything he wants, and this is his only responsibility, but he turns away from it, while it destroys everyone else. He's selfish, weak, irresposible, apathetic.. and I hate him for it.

Many people have ideas what the book is realy about.. What Mary Shelley meant by it all.. I think it's a book about G-d, From G-d's point of view. For all those people who ask 'Where is G-d, why has he created us and abandoned us?'. Mary tells us.. Well he's horrified, he's depressed, and he can't cope. Because we are monsters.

(less)

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Oct 13, 2008 Charity rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Classic Lit/Horror /Scifi Lovers

Shelves: 1001books, brit-lit

First of all, Frankenstein is the doctor, not the monster.

Second, with all due respect to Boris Karloff and Kenneth Branagh, no film version of Mary Shelley's novel has ever gotten the themes or the characters straight, so the book is by FAR superior to the adaptations.

This is a novel that wonders how far science can go before it offends against the laws of god and nature and debates the responsibility of a creator for his creation. Packed with creepy scenes and challenging ideas, Frankenstein...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Jonfaith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As an eight year old child, I found myself in love with horror films. It was a Scholastic Pres survey of horror cinema for children which appeared to crystallize this fascination. It was terrible time for a kid. We had moved twice in four years and my mom had left. My dad was traveling for work and a series of housekeepers and sitters were keeping the home fires burning. It is no surprise that I was reading all the time and staying up too late watching inappropriate films on television. That sai...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not they deserve the label

Essay #36: Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley

The story in a nutshell:
To truly understand why Mary Shelley's 1818 Frankenstein first had the impact that it did, it'...more

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Nov 29, 2007 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

first i'd like to say this book should (if it hasn't already) be recorded as an audio book with Jon Lovitz as the narrator using his Saturday Nite Live "thespian" voice. i think i read the entire book with that voice in my head which made me laugh out loud when i read "Begone, vile insect!" ha ha! i am still laughing!

second, i wish i had a dollar for every time the word "wretch" was used.

i'm sort of on the fence with this book. while the storyline kept my interest throughout, i feel i would hav...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Zaki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Frankenstein gave birth to one of the few modern myths.

It has the greatest pursuit in fiction.

It transforms fear into affection.

7 likes · like · see review

Aug 23, 2012 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-favourites, classic-literature, own, science-fiction, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, fantasy, re-read

Note: If anyone has a sad and lonely copy of Frankenstein floating around that looks like the picture above it's probably mine. I misplaced it and really would like to read it again...

I devoted my heart and soul to this novel last year in much the same way that Victor Frankenstein devoted his life to creation and destruction. I now finally come back to writing a brilliant review and discussing the intricacies of this construct that is Frankenstein. My previous review of course lacking the necess...more
Note: If anyone has a sad and lonely copy of Frankenstein floating around that looks like the picture above it's probably mine. I misplaced it and really would like to read it again...

I devoted my heart and soul to this novel last year in much the same way that Victor Frankenstein devoted his life to creation and destruction. I now finally come back to writing a brilliant review and discussing the intricacies of this construct that is Frankenstein. My previous review of course lacking the necessary depth and diligence of perusal.

This is a hard review for me to write. How can I channel the raw elemental and emotional beauty of such a book with my own flighty and often flippant words? How can I tame such a monster and convey to anyone else how powerful and vibrant this novel is? How much depth this contains for a book written by a nineteen year old is really astounding so to do such a thing would be like to magic.

I could write about the tormented creation of the book. I could mention the psychologically damaged scientist and his obsession with forbidden knowledge. I could refer of course to Freud and Jung. I might even delve into the texts hinted at within this work: such as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Paradise Lost. However I won't because to do such would be to spoil such discoveries for the reader who desires to read this book after viewing this review.

No instead I'll explain what I think is the most powerful aspect of this book. Apart from the overall legend it is an idea representative of what the book is about. Frankenstein for me is a tale of a man messing with powers greater than he can handle. It is an idea that men should not mess with forbidden knowledge, nor try and draw life from death. I think for me personally that the element of attempting to draw life from its incongruous opposite was powerful. You cannot create life where there is none and you cannot bring it forth from death. To attempt such was beyond the protagonist and resulted in his personal torment. It could also be debated that the 'protagonist' was more of the villain in this story.

It is both a philosophical book full of cautions, a book that is in many ways prescient. And it is that eternal element. The fact that it still can be applied to today which makes it a classic. Like Dracula this is a gothic horror story that has had philosophical and psychological tags attached. However it is greater than any of the surrounding tales and stories. It is a beautiful work of art that deserves the title of classic and should be read by all readers.

Even after a year of studying this text I love this book as much as I did the first time I read it. In fact I believe the perspective of studying it has made me appreciate it more. It is truly a book that I love. A book that represents my final year of education in many various ways.(less)

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Sep 15, 2011 Yvette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lit

I read this book in high school and really enjoyed it. This book was deeper than a mad scientist trying to recreate life. This book is about emotions and consequences. Amazingly enough I was touched by this monster. I was so affected by his need for companionship and love. I remember being so touched by his loneliness that I wept. I was angered that Frankenstein shuns his creation. Reminded me of the many people who are shunned by others just because they are different. We all need love and comp...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Tasha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Probably even more so because it turned out to be a surprise. A surprise in that it was completely not what I expected. I expected a story focused exclusively from Frankenstein's POV and the havoc he would leave in his wake. Well, I got the story mainly from Frankenstein's POV but Frankenstein was the doctor, not the monster! I have always thought that the monster was named Frankenstein however, he remained nameless.

Another surprise was that the story was told fro...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Snoozie Suzie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: around-the-world-challenge, classics, guardian-s1000, reviewed

This was so much more than I expected. I didn't expect very much tbh, so 3 stars is great. This was an audiobook (my 2nd experience and millions of times better than my first) and the narrator really brought the entire story to life. Although the only image of the monster I could conjure up was admixture of Herman Munster and The Incredible Hulk.

I felt both sorrow and anger toward both Frankenstein and his monster. However feel that the outcome was the best and the right decision was made.

The...more

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Mar 08, 2008 Brandon Pearce rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Mary Shelly wrote this book when she was only 18 years old. She was under the heavy influence of her politically radical, and powerful parents. And she was very much aware of the political movements that had shattered Europe in the late 1700's and early 1800's. The noble efforts of the French Revolution had recently ended with the reign of Terror and left Europe in a conservative backlash that included a crack down on civil liberties. Also keep in mind that the book's full title is "Frankenstein...more

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May 12, 2010 Sparrow rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Elizabeth Gilbert

Recommended to Sparrow by: some professor

Shelves: punching-tour, reviewed

I had this professor in college who assigned Frankenstein, so I thought I'd read it for the third time because maybe that time Frankenstein's whining wouldn't kill me. The professor was kind of an abomination in a lot of ways, but not the worst professor ever. Anyway, I'll never forget going to class for the lecture on the book. The professor was lecturing in this caught-you-with-your-hand-in-the-cookie-jar voice and said, "Frankenstein's monster was a vewy, vewy baaaaad monster!" So, that's wha...more

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Jun 02, 2007 Conrad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, masterpieces, science-fiction, in-storage

Shelly's book is easily one of my top five or ten of all time, and it's almost unbearably innovative and as rich and ambiguous in its symbolism as anything Melville or James ever wrote.

It's anti-Romantic, presenting Paracelsus and mysticism as destructive forces, but it's also skeptical of the Enlightenment values of Shelly's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft; it's not overfond of what society does to people but terrified that anyone should live without human company; it's both heartbreaking and hear...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, most-hated

Warning!: Buttload of sarcasm incoming!!!

Oh yes, that's just brilliant...Let's tell the story in a second-hand past tense. That'll get us right into the action! And I love how this second-hand story-teller is able to relate in very fine detail dialogue exchanges between the monster and people he met years ago via a third person account from the dying Dr. Frankenstein. I mean honestly, what were you thinking Mary?! Why remove the reader so far from the story? This is potentially exciting subject...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Angus rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-novel-100, the-classics-club, reviewed-and-blogged

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

The Fame Monster

Blast the media for making me think all these years that Frankenstein is a horror story. True, it was intended by the author to be a ghost story, which materialized from a writing activity she did one summer, along with her husband and their poet host. But it didn’t end up to be as horrifying as I imagined it to be, the way Sadako and Toshio are. But yes, I must concede, I was horrified in a different sense. My horror stemmed from an anger toward...more

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Devil's Advocate: Frankenstein	10	19	May 11, 2013 02:55pm
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About Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft ...more Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.

The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.

The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.(less)

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Books by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein / Dracula / Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (Signet Classics)

Frankenstein The Graphic Novel: Original Text

Frankenstein & Dracula (Classic Library Series)

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