Frankenstein in Overdue Podcast

May 30, 2013 Tiffani rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, read-in-2013, lit-explorer-2013, horror

I have always equated horror with violence and bloodshed simply for the sake of it. Maybe that is not a completely fair characterization of horror, I don't know. In any case, with the goal of completing the Literary Exploration Challenge I was ready and willing to give horror a try. Being a classic and as I understand it, one of the first of its kind, I chose Frankenstein as my introduction to the genre. I ended up not enjoying the story all that much, but not for the reason I expected.

When I th I have always equated horror with violence and bloodshed simply for the sake of it. Maybe that is not a completely fair characterization of horror, I don't know. In any case, with the goal of completing the Literary Exploration Challenge I was ready and willing to give horror a try. Being a classic and as I understand it, one of the first of its kind, I chose Frankenstein as my introduction to the genre. I ended up not enjoying the story all that much, but not for the reason I expected.

When I think of horror stories I imagine something grisly, bloody, and well horrible. Not horrible as in bad writing, but horrible as in more terrifying that you really want to imagine. What I don't associate with horror is boredom, and that is what best characterizes my experience reading Frankenstein. The story begins with a series of letters. The crazy part is that neither the author nor the intended reader of the letters is Frankenstein, the monster, or any other character directly related to the action. No, the author of the letters is a sea captain writing to his sister about his voyage. It is not until the fourth letter that the letter writer mentions discovering Victor Frankenstein on an ice covered island. When Frankenstein finally entered the story, I thought, now we're getting to the good part. Instead, I spent the next several dozen pages reading about Frankenstein's childhood, all the while wondering when the monster was going to show up.

I get why this is a classic. I understand why graduate students have written pages and pages of dissertations about Frankenstein and why it might be taught in school. The parallels of the biblical story of the creation of Adam (and Eve), the pursuit of knowledge no matter the cost, the power of nature, rejection and acceptance - all these themes (and probably more) are all there. Still, I was so bored.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if it were shorter. There is so much that could be cut out (the correspondence in the beginning, for example). The parts that were most interesting were when the monster was around - studying the poor family, trying to introduce himself to them, begging Frankenstein to make him a mate. The rest was background that just didn't need to be there. It would have also helped if it were written more in the present and less in the past tense. That the sea captain, and later Frankenstein, is telling us about something that happened in the past made the action seem even more muted and more than anything the volume needed to be turned up. ...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Nicola rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read Frankenstein for the first time in a draughty Cambridge attic, on the eve of my interview at Trinity. This is the first time I've returned to it since, but even in the sunshine and read in several parts rather than consumed in one sitting at the desperate pace I read the first time - it's a classic for a reason.

Best read in the dark and the cold, with a blanket and a hot mug of tea and the wind howling outside. ...more

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