Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
225 pages, @ 1818
One of my blog New Year’s Resolutions was to post everday. I didn’t get off to a very good start in that I didn’t post at all last week. To make up for that I’m double posting all week so that we stay on track (in a way). I’m off to a good start this year in my challenge to read one book a week; I’ve already finished 3, hopefully I can keep this pace up.
My second book this year was Frankenstein, chosen by my friend Alison as her book group book. I was excited to read this book – 1) it’s a classic, 2) it’s on my magical book shelf and 3) I had never read it. Frankenstein is the story of Dr. Frankenstein from childhood to adulthood. Obviously the most life altering thing that happened to him was that at University he created a “monster”. A monster that was leashed on society and seeked acceptance from his creator. When that was not received he set out to destroy everything/everyone that was dear to Frankenstein.
For a book that was published in 1818 this book read remarkably well. Sometimes when I read old classics it takes me a good 50-75 pages before I can adjust to the language. That was not the case while reading Frankenstein. The main thing that our book group was most surprised by was that our idea of Frankenstein from movies and Halloween images (you know, tall green, screws in his head, incoherent speech, etc) was not at all the Frankenstein from the novel. And just for the record the monster in the novel isn’t even called Frankstein, his creator is Frankenstein. Anyway, the monster in the novel is tall, super human, but human looking, and incredibly intelligent. The monster surprisingly was a sympathetic character. All he wanted was to be accepted and loved by his creator and by those in society. I didn’t think what he was asking of Frankenstein was a lot and I didn’t understand why Frankenstein didn’t just acquiesce. Obviously the way the novel was written was a reflection on society. That those that are on the fringe of society or are different many times aren’t accepted by those more fortunate or more in the main stream of society. It’s a sad reflection…but one that still holds true some 200 years later.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it to all. If you decide to pick it up, make sure to pick up a version that has a synopses on Mary Shelley’s life. Her life is reflected in many ways in the novel (creator/author; monster/novel; water themes, etc). In addition, her life was pretty interesting (and scandalous for 1818). We all enjoyed discussing the appendices almost as much as the novel itself.
5 stars
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Have you read Frankenstein, if so, what did you think about it?
