From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

Frankenstein: The 1818 Text

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,

Charlotte Gordon (Introduction)

Start date: September 1, 2018

Finish date: September 30, 2018

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: September 2018 Reading List Completests Group Selection
[close] September 2018 Reading List Completests Group Selection

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 98 topics — 1,581 comments total

Group Reads

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
By Matthew , Assistant List Master · 4 posts · 18 views

last updated Sep 18, 2022 11:34AM

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
By Matthew , Assistant List Master · 7 posts · 22 views

last updated Aug 31, 2022 01:49PM

showing 1 of 1 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Mar 06, 2014 Matthew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: required-reading-high-school, favorites, classic, own, read-more-than-once, action-thriller, audio, horror, 2018

REREAD UPDATE - September 2018:

One of my bookclubs (Click to check out Reading List Completists) is reading this for September 2018. I figure it was a good time for a reread since it was one of my favorites and it has been over 20 years since I read it.

I did enjoy it again this time and it stands up to the 5 star review and designation of classic. There were a few slow parts - mainly when Dr. Frankenstein would stop the narrative to wax poetical about something - but, not enough t take a way fr REREAD UPDATE - September 2018:

One of my bookclubs (Click to check out Reading List Completists) is reading this for September 2018. I figure it was a good time for a reread since it was one of my favorites and it has been over 20 years since I read it.

I did enjoy it again this time and it stands up to the 5 star review and designation of classic. There were a few slow parts - mainly when Dr. Frankenstein would stop the narrative to wax poetical about something - but, not enough t take a way from my overall enjoyment.

I still recommend this for everyone and be sure to check out my full original review below.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

This is definitely one of my favorite books I was required to read in High School. Also, it is my favorite of the classic horror novels. It is perfectly written, suspenseful, and is a bit more thought provoking than scary. One of the best ways I can compare it to other classic horror novels is to Dracula - which I read recently. Dracula has so much repetitive filler that you do not find in Frankenstein, which is the main reason I find Frankenstein to be a more enjoyable book.

Also, I would say that this is more a novel of the human condition than an actual horror novel. Some terrifying things happen, but it is the monster within all of us that may end up being more terrifying!

Funny side story: when I read this in High School, it was around the same time that the Kenneth Branaugh adaptation came out at the theaters. We were all encouraged to go see it and found it pretty close to the source material. What was amusing was that Time Magazine had a review of the movie bashing it as untrue to the source material and how disappointed Shelley would be that the Boris Karlovian depiction of a lurching, flattop monster with bolts in its neck was ignored for a more serious drama movie. WHAT!? Time Magazine, for goodness sakes, published an article that claims to know the content of the book but is completely wrong and does it while bashing a movie that did a pretty good job with it!? I mean, it it is okay if you prefer the old time movie version of Frankenstein - and it is a classic - but to make definitive statements that are completely wrong in what is supposed to be a well thought of publication (not your typical tabloid supermarket checkout fodder), that is just too much!

We need a copy editor over here! ...more

285 likes · Like · see review

Oct 02, 2018 Brooklyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: great-books-groupreads-completist, classics

Great seminal read - i'm surprised I had never read it before. TOTALLY different than iconic 1930s movie (and even Young Frankenstein) -- which makes me admire those movies even more. Much more in the Byron-esque vein of 19th century romanticism - and a lot more philosophizing about "why am i here." Also an exciting story with breath-taking background - and inside the mind of the scientist Dr Frankenstein and his "monster" who in the book is actually intelligent - witty - quick and deadly. The s ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2014 Erma Talamante rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, corruption, 2015, edx, classic, victorian, mad-science, horror, gothic

A classic tale of creation, life, death, and morality - just because you can do it, should you? This should be required reading for all scientists, especially ones that deal closely with highly sensitive subjects, such as cloning, stem cells, and research.

I remember being intimidated by this book when I was much younger (in my early teens). But the theme and fact that this was written by a woman so scientifically, so distinctly, makes me keep coming back. I have read this book a number of times ...more

3 likes · Like · see review