From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Frankenstein

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Start date: September 22, 2011

Finish date: October 18, 2011

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Connor Kinkade

Why we're reading this: Group discussion Oct 2011
Connor is reading it for his British Literature class.
#20 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F …more
[close] Group discussion Oct 2011
Connor is reading it for his British Literature class.
#20 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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What Members Thought

Feb 21, 2011 Ash rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: movie-tv, hard-sf, science-fiction, gothic-horror, 2011-read, 200bbc, steampunk, 1001, 1000guardian, sf-masterworks

Great story but not very well written. I read this word "Wretched" so many times that I think I will end up using it in every sentence from now onwards. More than the horror element, I was kind of touched by the moving tale of the monster. I feel pity for it, even though it wreaked havoc. I don't quite pity Frankenstein.
The narration was pretty repetitive, he felt remorse throughout the novel. And "thou, thy" were turn offs. In the middle it got little dragging and boring, but it soon picked up ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2011 Xdyj rated it really liked it

Shelves: o, poc, fa

Probably one of the earliest science fiction/gothic fiction & the first mad scientist archetype. imo like many stuff in that period the author was willing to deal with deep issues about human conditions while characters and plot are largely driven by gut reactions & sweeping statements.

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 02, 2013 David Donaghe rated it really liked it

This was a good story, but I like the old horror movies better than the book.

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2011 EA Solinas rated it really liked it

Everyone has heard of Frankenstein's monster... or at least the Hollywood version, with green skin, boxy head and bolts in his neck.

But the original creature is quite different in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," which starts off rather slow but builds into a tragic, darkly hypnotic tale about tampering in God's domain, and the terrible consequences that come from it. Also: if you create a new creature out of dead body parts, don't disown him or he'll kill your family.

During a trip across the Arct Everyone has heard of Frankenstein's monster... or at least the Hollywood version, with green skin, boxy head and bolts in his neck.

But the original creature is quite different in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," which starts off rather slow but builds into a tragic, darkly hypnotic tale about tampering in God's domain, and the terrible consequences that come from it. Also: if you create a new creature out of dead body parts, don't disown him or he'll kill your family.

During a trip across the Arctic, a ship picks up a starved, half-frozen man named Victor Frankenstein. As he recovers, Frankenstein tells them his life story -- especially about how he became fascinated with science, and developed a process to reanimate dead tissue. Eventually he constructs a new creature out of dead body parts, and brings him to life.

But while the creature is intelligent and articulate, he's also hideously ugly. Horrified that he's not beautiful, Frankenstein flees... and has a nervous breakdown. Wimp.

But months later, the murder of his little brother brings Victor back to his home, where he figures out that the creature was involved. And to his horror, the creature now wants a mate. But the loathing between them -- caused by Frankenstein's disgust and the creature's increasing bitterness -- leads to even more tragedy...

"Frankenstein" is one of those rare novels that is almost beyond classification -- it's gothic horror, it's sci-fi, it's a tragedy about scientific ambition that goes where it shouldn't go. Mary Shelley was only eighteen years old when she began writing this book, but she interwove religion, science and a fiercely intelligent knowledge of human nature into it.

Her writing is a bit stuffy at times ("All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own"), but that's because it was written in the early 1800s. Despite this, Shelley's writing skills shine in the more horrific moments of the story ("I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs"), and she imbues it with a sense of painful, grimy suspense.

But the complicated characters of Victor and the creature are what really make the story work. Victor is actually a pretty horrible person -- while he's a tragic figure whose unnatural ambitions end up destroying his wife, brother and father, he's also incredibly cruel and callous to the creature because... he's ugly.

The creature, on the other hand, instantly gets our sympathy. He's intelligent and childlike at first, but his ugliness causes everyone to immediately hate and fear him. When him becomes embittered and eventually murderous, you still feel sorry for him.

Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is one of those few, rare horror books -- it adds a little more of that scientific gothic atmosphere to a classic tale of horror, slime and sorrow.
...more

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Dec 22, 2013 BubblesTheMonkey rated it liked it

Read in school. Took a few weeks. Definitely an interesting story- not just a horror but a story about a lot of different, deeper things.

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Dec 19, 2013 David Benson rated it it was amazing

Better than I had hoped and far better than I had heard. Never trust your children for book reviews.

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May 09, 2011 Connor Kinkade rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, sci-fi, english-literature

This book was excellent! Frankenstein tried to "play God" and create life and he succeeded but he ended in losing everything. Probably had to be one of the most miserable people alive (save the fact he didn't really exist). ...more

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