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 24, 2024 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, sci-fi, fiction, novels, horror, english-19th-c

I knew that contrary to the popular use of the word, Frankenstein was the creator of the monster and not the monster himself. That being said, I thought that Victor Frankenstein came off as a total asshole. He creates artificial life - a child for this otherwise childless bachelor - and then runs away from it rather than deal with it. The result is that the monster tries to connect with humanity, gets rejected, and since it was not raised with any way of understanding how to control his emotions ...more

41 likes · Like · see review

Apr 06, 2023 Tony rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action-and-adventure, oh-the-horror, a-classic-example, 2023-read-shelf

I don't think I can write a fair review and give this book its due. I went into this story with a preconceived idea of what to expect, at least what I thought was the story. Nope, nope, nope! This is NOT the Frankenstein's monster that we all grew up with: the scary movies, the comic books, the decorations hanging in your house at Halloween. I was totally thrown off as I read Shelley's story, wondering when the Hollywood version would show up. Answer: Never. And that's MY fault, so take this rev I don't think I can write a fair review and give this book its due. I went into this story with a preconceived idea of what to expect, at least what I thought was the story. Nope, nope, nope! This is NOT the Frankenstein's monster that we all grew up with: the scary movies, the comic books, the decorations hanging in your house at Halloween. I was totally thrown off as I read Shelley's story, wondering when the Hollywood version would show up. Answer: Never. And that's MY fault, so take this review with a grain of salt.

The book started out as a series of letters written by a very minor character who is recapping Victor Frankenstein's story, told to him by V.F. on a ship up at the Artic Circle. I was a bit disappointed with the creation of the monster, as it was only a few paragraphs long and not much detail. I was hoping for the big, dungeon-like laboratory filled with smoking beakers and those big electric Tesla ball gadgets that shoot lightening and make your hair stand on end. None of that. Shelley spent chapters upon chapters on Victor Frankenstein's education and dealings with college professors. Zzzzzzzzzz! Snooze-fest. I was waiting for Frankenstein's great exclamation: "IT'S ALIVE, ALIVE!!" Nope, it was more like a very anti-climatic: "There, I did it. Wow, is it ever ugly. Hmm, guess I'll go to bed." Again, my fault!

Let me say that Mary Shelley writes beautifully. It's the typical 19th century literature, filled with loads of scene description and frilly dialogue. But for a "horror/thriller"? Eh. Imagine Bram Stoker's "Dracula" being written by Emily Bronte. There would be pages upon pages of 'feelings', 'whiney, sickly characters', 'depression and bi-polar emotions', 'overly descriptive scenes', and very 'formal dialogue'. THAT is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's difficult to imagine the folks of the 1800's getting chills while reading this.

It's not a bad story, frankly, it's rather quite interesting. You just need to wade thru depths of verbage to find the story, parts of which are quite good. But then other parts....well...not so much. The monster was not what I was expecting (again, my fault). Based on Shelley's description, I kept picturing a mix of Quasimodo and Wreck-it Ralph: a big oafy guy with a deformed face/body. Ok, so the monster looked a bit different than the greenish-skinned Herman Munster we all know and love. No problem. But for the monster to quote Milton and speak so eloquently? Come on! I think the part of the story that started to lose me was when Victor meets the monster and the monster tells his story: where he's been the last couple years, how he learned to speak (and speak eloquently, mind you), and learned geography. It felt like a bad Doctor Phil episode.

Obviously, the monster is supposed to create some mayhem and kill a few folks; thus, a scary story. But for every chapter that told of his maniacal exploits, there would be five other chapters discussing how the monster, or Dr. Frankenstein, or some other mid-level character felt and why they were so sad...boo hoo. Yes, Emily Bronte. Talk about a bunch of spineless cry babies. Everyone is so emotionally fragile, to the point that they get ill from their moments of depression. Instead of having an emotional intervention with the monster, just grab yourself by the short-hairs, rally the villagers with the pitchforks and have at it, man! Once again, my fault for the expectations.

Overall, not a horrible story. It's just not the Frankenstein story that's been told and retold in popular culture. And that's OK. Just go into this story with a CLEAR open mind and disregard what you THINK is the story of Dr. Frankenstein. I give this book 3 stars and check it off of my Classics bucket list. Just my two cents. :) ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Oct 19, 2018 Tara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, bartow-pell-elevenses, fantasy

I vaguely recall reading this book in my youth, but seemingly I retained none of the salient plot points, so this might as well have been my first read. I suspect my experience was like many others, colored by my memories of movie versions of Frankenstein, most notably the role made infamous by Boris Karloff. While the Karloff monster is in and of itself historic and important in its own right, this version bears little resemblance to Mary Shelley's creation. The movie monster is a stumbling, bu ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 31, 2022 Summer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: a-z-of-classics-readalong

Wow.

Mary Shelley back at it again.

Mary Shelley is a dark read, the way she describes the capitulation of the darkest emotions, in a melancholic but beautiful way, is just astounding. Frankenstein is just eminently quotable.

As well as emotions, she has such a beautiful way of describing nature and scenery.

This book first became a five-star for me when Frankenstein's (monster's) mood was directly related to the season;
"But my chief delights were the sight of the flowers, the birds, and all the gay ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 22, 2021 Joy Liabres rated it it was amazing

It's hard to describe how I'm feeling after reading this book.

I'm teary eyed with the ending.

I'm not sure if I hate the monster. But I'm sure feel a lot of sympathy for him. I kept imagining 'what if it really exists now? How hard that life must be? Getting hatred and fear when you only want love and acceptance'

I loved every bit of it. Words are full of emotions. Great story. ...more

Like · see review