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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. This is some beautiful prose. The language is appropriately florid for its time and the flow of the prose itself approaches poetry. The story is incredibly well paced to such a degree that even when essentially nothing was happening, or we were taking another flashback or hearing another story within a story, the momentum of the story continued, and I couldn’t help but read on.
Shelley failed utterly in creating a “ghost storie” that was her initial intent in writing this classic so long ago on holiday, but she succeeded superbly in creating one of my favorite literary characters (whose representation in film has been so thoroughly botched as to be unrecognizable) in Frankenstein’s “monster.”
The constant monologues were a joy to read, and though I would certainly agree that Frankenstein himself is the real villain of the piece, I could generally understand his motivations even if I did not at all agree with them.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience, and certainly one of my favorites all time.
Shelley failed utterly in creating a “ghost storie” that was her initial intent in writing this classic so long ago on holiday, but she succeeded superbly in creating one of my favorite literary characters (whose representation in film has been so thoroughly botched as to be unrecognizable) in Frankenstein’s “monster.”
The constant monologues were a joy to read, and though I would certainly agree that Frankenstein himself is the real villain of the piece, I could generally understand his motivations even if I did not at all agree with them.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience, and certainly one of my favorites all time.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For as iconic of a story as this is, I thought this was incredibly mid. Victor Frankenstein is an insufferable character, which made this a real slog to get through. The middle third of the book was leaps and bounds better than the first and last, and it’s that piece that makes this book a 3 star read for me.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t read anything this old in like a decade so I have nothing to compare it to, but I didn’t think the prose was anything special either. I will say it was interesting to learn how different the OG story is from its contemporary retellings. And I do think the forthcoming movie, which is supposedly staying close to this source material, has the potential to better than the book if its just the straight up plot and not the story-within-a-story structure that this is. I just really can’t stand Victor.
I can appreciate the impact it’s had on literature and horror, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend unless you genuinely enjoy reading classics. It’s back to works from the 20th and 21st centuries for me!
Maybe it’s because I haven’t read anything this old in like a decade so I have nothing to compare it to, but I didn’t think the prose was anything special either. I will say it was interesting to learn how different the OG story is from its contemporary retellings. And I do think the forthcoming movie, which is supposedly staying close to this source material, has the potential to better than the book if its just the straight up plot and not the story-within-a-story structure that this is. I just really can’t stand Victor.
I can appreciate the impact it’s had on literature and horror, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend unless you genuinely enjoy reading classics. It’s back to works from the 20th and 21st centuries for me!
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Picked up to reread at the same time as my students, couldn't keep the pace while also balancing new reads and revising materials. Continued to dip in and out of chapters, but no more "every page, every word" beyond this point.
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes