Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821.
Well worth reading. Shelley commands many voices with equal poetry. At times reading it felt bleak, but perhaps that is the result of hubris. Frankenstein opens beautifully. Towards the latter half the plot turns into Victor being sad and everything happens just as you'd expect it to, which lost my interest a little. The end was warmer, it definitely found its direction again.
Well worth reading. Shelley commands many voices with equal poetry. At times reading it felt bleak, but perhaps that is the result of hubris. Frankenstein opens beautifully. Towards the latter half the plot turns into Victor being sad and everything happens just as you'd expect it to, which lost my interest a little. The end was warmer, it definitely found its direction again.
Relectura del clásico de la literatura de género. No recordaba tanta descripción y sigue sorprendiéndome como el relato original defiere tanto de la mayor parte de adaptaciones.
I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.
There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence …
I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.
There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to behave as badly as they like in others.
I read a good biography of Mary Shelley back in April, but had never actually gotten around to reading her famous novel, Frankenstein, until now. I spotted it on a campsite book exchange and thought it really was about time! Frankenstein is such a cultural icon that I assumed I already knew the basic storyline, but it turned out that much of what I thought I knew isn't actually in the novel at all! And much of the novel is far deeper in ideas and tone than many of its recreations would have us believe.
Beginning with letters back home from an arctic explorer, Walton, we learn of his scientific intentions and of his bizarre meeting with a lone man stranded on an ice floe. That lone man is Victor Frankenstein, an obsessive Swiss scientist who had created and animated a monstrous man, but terrified by his creation, had …
I read a good biography of Mary Shelley back in April, but had never actually gotten around to reading her famous novel, Frankenstein, until now. I spotted it on a campsite book exchange and thought it really was about time! Frankenstein is such a cultural icon that I assumed I already knew the basic storyline, but it turned out that much of what I thought I knew isn't actually in the novel at all! And much of the novel is far deeper in ideas and tone than many of its recreations would have us believe.
Beginning with letters back home from an arctic explorer, Walton, we learn of his scientific intentions and of his bizarre meeting with a lone man stranded on an ice floe. That lone man is Victor Frankenstein, an obsessive Swiss scientist who had created and animated a monstrous man, but terrified by his creation, had immediately abandoned it. I really didn't like Victor at all. Not only is there his obvious and total lack of responsibility for his own actions and creation, but his incessant 'woe is me' whinging is infuriating. Even as his friends and family start dying off around him, he is still unable to find a backbone!
By contrast, our third narrator, the unnamed monster himself, is surprisingly erudite and eloquent for, essentially, a self-educated vagabond. Of course we only have his own words to support his claim of a kind and gentle disposition prior to the commencement of his murderous spree, but his story of being turned against humanity by people repeatedly recoiling from or even attacking him does ring depressingly true. For a book written practically two hundred years ago, Frankenstein is still remarkably relevant. Denying a person understanding, respect and companionship simply on the basis of their appearance might well result in them becoming an enemy.
Frankenstein, the novel, is written in wonderfully pompous language which dates it but not in a negative way. I don't think I would have been so swept up in the story otherwise. For a violent tale, there is practically nothing graphically described (which I appreciated), but Shelley's build-up of tension and suspense is brilliantly done. She takes her times evoking every scene and landscape so I could always envisage exactly where the characters were. By modern standards, I did think those characters weren't as developed as they could have been. The monster actually comes across as the most human of all and Victor, moving from arrogance to vengeance, simply doesn't learn - I suspect that is the point.
This really is the first time I've picked up the original Frankenstein, and it was not at all what I'd expected, not one bit. Years ago, I'd seen a couple movies based on this classic, but neither version had much resemblance to Mary Shelley's original story. One of the most vivid scenes I can remember seeing in the movies was of Frankenstein's monster being chased by a band of villagers with torches, out to destroy this deformed creature, but nothing of the sort ever happens in the book.
Mary Shelley's story is the tragedy of a life brought into existence without any regard for that life; Frankenstein's monster does not even possess a name, much less the compassion of any other being on earth.
This novel actually begins aboard a ship, with the lonely Captain Walton writing letters to his sister, lamenting his extreme lonliness and lack of friends aboard …
This really is the first time I've picked up the original Frankenstein, and it was not at all what I'd expected, not one bit. Years ago, I'd seen a couple movies based on this classic, but neither version had much resemblance to Mary Shelley's original story. One of the most vivid scenes I can remember seeing in the movies was of Frankenstein's monster being chased by a band of villagers with torches, out to destroy this deformed creature, but nothing of the sort ever happens in the book.
Mary Shelley's story is the tragedy of a life brought into existence without any regard for that life; Frankenstein's monster does not even possess a name, much less the compassion of any other being on earth.
This novel actually begins aboard a ship, with the lonely Captain Walton writing letters to his sister, lamenting his extreme lonliness and lack of friends aboard his vessel, when suddenly, he and his crew spy a stranded man adrift on an ice floe. After rescuing this man, Walton becomes enraptured with his tale. Walton's new companion is none other than Victor Frankenstein, and his tale of woe is told in flashback.
Frankenstein's dissertation is full of remorse and uncertainty. The lonely, angry being which Frankenstein has created has already caused pain and despair to his loved ones, and is now demanding a mate, and Frankenstein vacillates on the morality of such an action.
The plot is still a meaningful one, though the style of Shelley's prose can get tedious and at times seems overly verbose--But then, it was written in 1818.
