The story of Victor Frankenstein’s monstrous creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense. With the author’s own 1831 introduction.
A complete classic. It has everything and yet it is built on just one principle: no one likes rejection. The agony of despair in being both prey and predator portrayed so eloquently and all imagined from creatures such as the Angel of Destruction and the philosophy of—-‘ almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows.’ Such imagery.
Author
kevinakuhn
3 years ago
In the early 1800’s the author Percy B. Shelley, the poet Lord Byron, and Percy’s wife, Mary Shelley, challenged each other as to who could write the best horror story. Mary Shelley won (to put it mildly) by creating one of the earlier gothic horror novels. Some also consider ‘Frankenstein’ to be one of the earliest Science Fiction novels. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne didn’t come along until the late 1800’s.
I’m astonished when I think that this work was written and published over 200 years ago. In the early 1800’s, Napoleon was invading much of Europe expanding its territory until he met his Waterloo. Gas lighting was only recently improved and deployed in many cities in Europe. Luddites were destroying machines in Britain over concerns about losing their jobs. Antarctica had yet to be discovered. It was a tumultuous time of war and discovery.
Obviously, the work has inspired countless movies, plays, and television series. The Frankenstein monster remains as one of the most familiar images in horror. Often the retellings depict a brutish, awkward, mute creature, which is quite different than Mary Shelley’s monster, who was agile, intelligent, and well-spoken.
The story has its flaws. The various narrators (Victor Frankenstein, the monster, etc.), all have a similar voice and most of the book is ‘telling’. However, it’s an extremely emotional story and much of the narration focused on Victor’s Frankenstein exploration of his sentiments concerning the creation of the monster as well as a series of tragedies in his life. If all you know about Frankenstein is based on movies and TV shows, this original novel will likely surprise you.
I enjoyed the read, often wondering about word choice – what was common usage at the time, verses Shelley’s literary chops. It’s incredible quotable, pick almost any page and you can find an intriguing, evocative quote. It’s not a perfect novel in today’s standards, but it’s expressive and rich with allegory. I easily give it five stars not only for its cultural impact, but also for the pioneering exploration which allowed future horror and science fiction to progress. If you’ve a horror or science fiction fan and you’ve never read it, you must!
Author
debbralmartin
3 years ago
A classic story from an classic author. Simple, strange story that tickles the imagination and delves into the psyche or a monster / or maybe a genius.
Author
lizzie
3 years ago
A great book with a disappointing ending
Author
ajy
3 years ago
When this was written, it was original and very thoughtfully done. Frankenstein”s “monster” was far from the joke it became in later copycat stories and movies, and was actually a tragic and sympathetic figure.
Author
kenkuhlken
3 years ago
Having read Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein several times, some years apart, each time I have been wowed by the quality of her insights (especially for someone young as she was) and for her masterful writing. Also, as a special treat, couple the book with Kenneth Branaugh’s film of the story. The are quite different but both wonderful.
Author
michaelpritchett
3 years ago
For fiction writers writing now, this is the book that really launches our entire industry, starting in 1818. In 1818, America barely exists as a sovereign nation. Lewis & Clark only recently found an over-land route to the Pacific. Out of this one book, we find the start of a path that will fork and give us all our literary, speculative and genre fiction — or all the forms of contemporary high and low literary art we have today. Though it’s from the romantic period, this novel has elements of all three recent literary periods, romanticism, modernism and post-modernism. Though it’s a tragedy, it’s also a melodrama, and a comedy about human folly. It’s one of those books that, while you are reading it, seems to be about everything. It’s about creating, and everyone who creates knows that creating is about first destroying in order to free up materials needed for building. It’s about being a parent, which about 85% of us are, and it’s about the debt owed to our parents for making us that 100% of us share. If we are ever sad or angry or suffer anguish in either of these roles, parent or child, here’s the book that imagines the worst possible parent-child relationship possible, one that not only proves tragically destructive to both sides, but kills other people besides. We don’t know exactly what it says about Mary Shelley or her famous mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, or her mother’s suicide attempts, or her death giving birth to Mary.
It’s certainly a book about not wanting the child once it has arrived or post-partum depression. It’s also about the child’s rage at being rejected by its maker and thus going through the world forever after feeling hideous and unworthy of love. Though every human, regardless of origin, has to suffer periods in life of plodding hopelessly along, feeling hideous and unworthy. So feeling like Frankenstein’s monster is actually an experience none of us is completely spared on earth and one thing we all have in common.
Author
libbiduncan
3 years ago
One of my favorite books of all time. Beautiful, powerful sci-fi/horror with deep themes and ethereal imagery.
Author
lanareed
3 years ago
A timeless classic. Reworked, rewritten, copied, but the original still holds it’s own!
Author
pauldouglaslovell
3 years ago
Comparing it to Dracula. A book I read prior to this, which is quite similar in many ways. I thought the writing was excellent, better in many ways but the story was somewhat dull, yet worthy of a read. I felt so sorry for the monster, a poor sad creature and thought Frankenstein very self obsessed and cruel.
The style of these old classics takes a certain amount of consideration. I read them as if watching an old-time movie on a Sunday afternoon. Still it is a classic and deservedly so.
READING PROGRESS
August 24, 2016 – Started Reading
August 24, 2016 – Shelved
August 24, 2016 –
1.0% “Similar to Dracula in the way the story is delivered in letters. Too early to judge the book at this early stage although I don’t dislike it.”
September 7, 2016 – Finished Reading
Note: All books start off being rewarded five stars, I take stars away the more the book annoys me.
Author
leftyleo
3 years ago
This is a classic monster horror novel. when you read this you have to forget all the movies that you may have seen. The original novel is not going to be quite what you are expecting. If you dont look for it you will miss the actual creation ‘scene’ – i think this is because that is not the main idea of the book. As the creation awakens literally put yourself in its place, look from his eyes, think and feel what he feels and you will understand the horror the Victor Frankenstein’s creation feels and why this motivates the creation’s behavior. Might you not feel the same way?
Author
anthonygallucci
3 years ago
THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK!
Author
lizsylickliter
3 years ago
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was such an interesting lady! If you never actually read this when it was assigned in high school, you should totally read it! And the question you hold in mind: If humanity can do something, should they? Happy Reading!
Author
jackiegamber
3 years ago
There is so much more depth to this story than movies or adaptations can ever tell. Shelley’s writing language (of her time) is easy to adjust to, leaving you free to be engrossed in the tale. This is a book you savor. One of my top five “must-haves” on a deserted island.
Author
mkirmaier
3 years ago
Great read.
Author
rhohamp
3 years ago
One of my favorite books!! The story has always been sad and tragic to me even reading it at a young age. I felt great empathy for the sad life of Frankenstein’s monster.
Author
bwilhoite87
3 years ago
Note to self: Don’t make a creation bigger than you!
That is one question I have. Why did Victor Frankenstein think it was a good idea to make his creation larger than himself?
I did find this story interesting and I liked it but not as much as my 4 Star books. Most of my thoughts would probably be better as a discussion, not in a review.
Author
tigercrocodilebear
3 years ago
One of the best stories ever told and worth reading over and over again.
Author
luradungan
3 years ago
One of my favorite books. If you only know Frankenstein through the James Wale movie, you need to read this book.
By maryshelley
A complete classic. It has everything and yet it is built on just one principle: no one likes rejection. The agony of despair in being both prey and predator portrayed so eloquently and all imagined from creatures such as the Angel of Destruction and the philosophy of—-‘ almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows.’ Such imagery.
In the early 1800’s the author Percy B. Shelley, the poet Lord Byron, and Percy’s wife, Mary Shelley, challenged each other as to who could write the best horror story. Mary Shelley won (to put it mildly) by creating one of the earlier gothic horror novels. Some also consider ‘Frankenstein’ to be one of the earliest Science Fiction novels. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne didn’t come along until the late 1800’s.
I’m astonished when I think that this work was written and published over 200 years ago. In the early 1800’s, Napoleon was invading much of Europe expanding its territory until he met his Waterloo. Gas lighting was only recently improved and deployed in many cities in Europe. Luddites were destroying machines in Britain over concerns about losing their jobs. Antarctica had yet to be discovered. It was a tumultuous time of war and discovery.
Obviously, the work has inspired countless movies, plays, and television series. The Frankenstein monster remains as one of the most familiar images in horror. Often the retellings depict a brutish, awkward, mute creature, which is quite different than Mary Shelley’s monster, who was agile, intelligent, and well-spoken.
The story has its flaws. The various narrators (Victor Frankenstein, the monster, etc.), all have a similar voice and most of the book is ‘telling’. However, it’s an extremely emotional story and much of the narration focused on Victor’s Frankenstein exploration of his sentiments concerning the creation of the monster as well as a series of tragedies in his life. If all you know about Frankenstein is based on movies and TV shows, this original novel will likely surprise you.
I enjoyed the read, often wondering about word choice – what was common usage at the time, verses Shelley’s literary chops. It’s incredible quotable, pick almost any page and you can find an intriguing, evocative quote. It’s not a perfect novel in today’s standards, but it’s expressive and rich with allegory. I easily give it five stars not only for its cultural impact, but also for the pioneering exploration which allowed future horror and science fiction to progress. If you’ve a horror or science fiction fan and you’ve never read it, you must!
A classic story from an classic author. Simple, strange story that tickles the imagination and delves into the psyche or a monster / or maybe a genius.
A great book with a disappointing ending
When this was written, it was original and very thoughtfully done. Frankenstein”s “monster” was far from the joke it became in later copycat stories and movies, and was actually a tragic and sympathetic figure.
Having read Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein several times, some years apart, each time I have been wowed by the quality of her insights (especially for someone young as she was) and for her masterful writing. Also, as a special treat, couple the book with Kenneth Branaugh’s film of the story. The are quite different but both wonderful.
For fiction writers writing now, this is the book that really launches our entire industry, starting in 1818. In 1818, America barely exists as a sovereign nation. Lewis & Clark only recently found an over-land route to the Pacific. Out of this one book, we find the start of a path that will fork and give us all our literary, speculative and genre fiction — or all the forms of contemporary high and low literary art we have today. Though it’s from the romantic period, this novel has elements of all three recent literary periods, romanticism, modernism and post-modernism. Though it’s a tragedy, it’s also a melodrama, and a comedy about human folly. It’s one of those books that, while you are reading it, seems to be about everything. It’s about creating, and everyone who creates knows that creating is about first destroying in order to free up materials needed for building. It’s about being a parent, which about 85% of us are, and it’s about the debt owed to our parents for making us that 100% of us share. If we are ever sad or angry or suffer anguish in either of these roles, parent or child, here’s the book that imagines the worst possible parent-child relationship possible, one that not only proves tragically destructive to both sides, but kills other people besides. We don’t know exactly what it says about Mary Shelley or her famous mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, or her mother’s suicide attempts, or her death giving birth to Mary.
It’s certainly a book about not wanting the child once it has arrived or post-partum depression. It’s also about the child’s rage at being rejected by its maker and thus going through the world forever after feeling hideous and unworthy of love. Though every human, regardless of origin, has to suffer periods in life of plodding hopelessly along, feeling hideous and unworthy. So feeling like Frankenstein’s monster is actually an experience none of us is completely spared on earth and one thing we all have in common.
One of my favorite books of all time. Beautiful, powerful sci-fi/horror with deep themes and ethereal imagery.
A timeless classic. Reworked, rewritten, copied, but the original still holds it’s own!
Comparing it to Dracula. A book I read prior to this, which is quite similar in many ways. I thought the writing was excellent, better in many ways but the story was somewhat dull, yet worthy of a read. I felt so sorry for the monster, a poor sad creature and thought Frankenstein very self obsessed and cruel.
The style of these old classics takes a certain amount of consideration. I read them as if watching an old-time movie on a Sunday afternoon. Still it is a classic and deservedly so.
READING PROGRESS
August 24, 2016 – Started Reading
August 24, 2016 – Shelved
August 24, 2016 –
1.0% “Similar to Dracula in the way the story is delivered in letters. Too early to judge the book at this early stage although I don’t dislike it.”
September 7, 2016 – Finished Reading
Note: All books start off being rewarded five stars, I take stars away the more the book annoys me.
This is a classic monster horror novel. when you read this you have to forget all the movies that you may have seen. The original novel is not going to be quite what you are expecting. If you dont look for it you will miss the actual creation ‘scene’ – i think this is because that is not the main idea of the book. As the creation awakens literally put yourself in its place, look from his eyes, think and feel what he feels and you will understand the horror the Victor Frankenstein’s creation feels and why this motivates the creation’s behavior. Might you not feel the same way?
THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK!
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was such an interesting lady! If you never actually read this when it was assigned in high school, you should totally read it! And the question you hold in mind: If humanity can do something, should they? Happy Reading!
There is so much more depth to this story than movies or adaptations can ever tell. Shelley’s writing language (of her time) is easy to adjust to, leaving you free to be engrossed in the tale. This is a book you savor. One of my top five “must-haves” on a deserted island.
Great read.
One of my favorite books!! The story has always been sad and tragic to me even reading it at a young age. I felt great empathy for the sad life of Frankenstein’s monster.
Note to self: Don’t make a creation bigger than you!
That is one question I have. Why did Victor Frankenstein think it was a good idea to make his creation larger than himself?
I did find this story interesting and I liked it but not as much as my 4 Star books. Most of my thoughts would probably be better as a discussion, not in a review.
One of the best stories ever told and worth reading over and over again.
One of my favorite books. If you only know Frankenstein through the James Wale movie, you need to read this book.
Archetypal. Must read.