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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
The idea of an author delving into the life of a young Victor Frankenstein immediately had me hooked as soon as I heard about it. This Dark Endeavor looks into the past of Victor Frankenstein and what drove him to become so mad. I absolutely love the liberties that Kenneth Oppel has taken with the story.
The Frankenstein’s are a wealthy family with influence and power. Victor and Konrad are twins, and along with their cousins Elizabeth and Henry, they are adventurous to no end. I was caught by surprise at how normal Victor seemed as a teenager. A lot of things occur in This Dark Endeavor to change that, however.
Konrad becomes suddenly horribly ill and bedridden. Hope is slowly falling for his recovery. Konrad and Victor have always been extremely close brothers. Victor cannot just stand idly by while his twin withers away and decides to consult alchemy from a hidden library found on the Frankenstein estate. I really admired the love between the brothers and also the forgiveness they gave each other. The alchemy, I knew, would lead to no good place, and likely Victor’s downfall, but I still madly flipped the pages! This Dark Endeavor was dark and mystic, while having romantic themes and lots of action and suspense!
The suspense in This Dark Endeavor is mainly built upon Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry procuring the Elixir of Life to save Konrad’s life. The stakes grew ever higher with every chapter, and I enjoyed this building up of intensity and suspense a lot! The story is definitely action-packed.
I attended Kenneth Oppel’s event at the Decatur Book Festival this year and he talked about how he took his own liberties but also endlessly researched Mary Shelley and the original Frankenstein story. I noticed the similarities between the two novels. I was glad to see so much respect for Mary Shelley/Frankenstein in This Dark Endeavor.
The Frankenstein’s are a wealthy family with influence and power. Victor and Konrad are twins, and along with their cousins Elizabeth and Henry, they are adventurous to no end. I was caught by surprise at how normal Victor seemed as a teenager. A lot of things occur in This Dark Endeavor to change that, however.
Konrad becomes suddenly horribly ill and bedridden. Hope is slowly falling for his recovery. Konrad and Victor have always been extremely close brothers. Victor cannot just stand idly by while his twin withers away and decides to consult alchemy from a hidden library found on the Frankenstein estate. I really admired the love between the brothers and also the forgiveness they gave each other. The alchemy, I knew, would lead to no good place, and likely Victor’s downfall, but I still madly flipped the pages! This Dark Endeavor was dark and mystic, while having romantic themes and lots of action and suspense!
The suspense in This Dark Endeavor is mainly built upon Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry procuring the Elixir of Life to save Konrad’s life. The stakes grew ever higher with every chapter, and I enjoyed this building up of intensity and suspense a lot! The story is definitely action-packed.
I attended Kenneth Oppel’s event at the Decatur Book Festival this year and he talked about how he took his own liberties but also endlessly researched Mary Shelley and the original Frankenstein story. I noticed the similarities between the two novels. I was glad to see so much respect for Mary Shelley/Frankenstein in This Dark Endeavor.
Meeehhhhhhh I was just waiting for it to be over. But I find myself now with a passing interest in what happens next.
Victor Frankenstein is one of the most hatable characters in gothic literature, but how did he become that way?
Kenneth Oppel attempts to explore the archetypical mad scientists' teen years in "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein." It's a colorful, bleakly passionate story full of dark alchemy and seething resentment, written in a style that hearkens back to 19th-century writings. And you're constantly aware that it will get worse.
Victor Frankenstein and his twin brother Konrad are inseparable, along with their beautiful cousin Elizabeth. But one day Konrad becomes horribly ill, and slowly begins to waste away. Desperate to save his brother, Victor takes a forbidden book of alchemy from a hidden library, and sneaks it off to an old alchemist named Polidori, who may be able to help him create the Elixir of Life.
As he and Elizabeth search for ultra-rare ingredients (like coelacanth oil), Victor begins to realize that he's in love with her. But after Konrad makes a miraculous recovery, Victor realizes that Elizabeth loves his brother, not him. As they continue searching for the elixir's ingredients, Victor's love for both of them is slowly twisted with loathing and jealousy. And when Konrad's illness returns, Victor will make a terrible sacrifice... which will not turn out as he expected
To date, "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein" is the darkest book that Kenneth Oppel has penned. You know exactly how Victor's life will unfold later, and that gives a darker tinge even to the happier scenes -- and as Victor begins setting off on his "dark endeavor," it becomes clear that all his scientific ventures will end in tragedy.
Victor himself is a beautifully nuanced character. He has passionate love for both Konrad and Elizabeth, and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. But there's a dark vein of resentment running through his love, because they aren't loving him the way HE wants them too. He's a very dualistic character -- selfish and selfless, kind and cruel.
Konrad is the "light side" to Victor's darkness -- he's a sweet, serene boy who balances out the passionate, fiery Elizabeth perfectly. And it seems to be heavily hinted that he is destined to be his brother's Monster.
Oppel's writing here adopts a more 19th-century style, richer and more formal at times ("Listen to you--he who has never been in love!"), with dark forests, dark caves with ancient creatures, and dusty cellars with dark magical libraries. It's a richly atmospheric whirl, which he flavors with little touches of history, science and occult lore. And Oppel makes some clever nods to classic gothic movies and literature with the sinister Polidori and the mysterious Dr. Murnau.
"This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein" is the beginning of Victor Frankenstein's journey into god-complex mayhem, but it leaves you hanging for the next story.
Kenneth Oppel attempts to explore the archetypical mad scientists' teen years in "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein." It's a colorful, bleakly passionate story full of dark alchemy and seething resentment, written in a style that hearkens back to 19th-century writings. And you're constantly aware that it will get worse.
Victor Frankenstein and his twin brother Konrad are inseparable, along with their beautiful cousin Elizabeth. But one day Konrad becomes horribly ill, and slowly begins to waste away. Desperate to save his brother, Victor takes a forbidden book of alchemy from a hidden library, and sneaks it off to an old alchemist named Polidori, who may be able to help him create the Elixir of Life.
As he and Elizabeth search for ultra-rare ingredients (like coelacanth oil), Victor begins to realize that he's in love with her. But after Konrad makes a miraculous recovery, Victor realizes that Elizabeth loves his brother, not him. As they continue searching for the elixir's ingredients, Victor's love for both of them is slowly twisted with loathing and jealousy. And when Konrad's illness returns, Victor will make a terrible sacrifice... which will not turn out as he expected
To date, "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein" is the darkest book that Kenneth Oppel has penned. You know exactly how Victor's life will unfold later, and that gives a darker tinge even to the happier scenes -- and as Victor begins setting off on his "dark endeavor," it becomes clear that all his scientific ventures will end in tragedy.
Victor himself is a beautifully nuanced character. He has passionate love for both Konrad and Elizabeth, and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. But there's a dark vein of resentment running through his love, because they aren't loving him the way HE wants them too. He's a very dualistic character -- selfish and selfless, kind and cruel.
Konrad is the "light side" to Victor's darkness -- he's a sweet, serene boy who balances out the passionate, fiery Elizabeth perfectly. And it seems to be heavily hinted that he is destined to be his brother's Monster.
Oppel's writing here adopts a more 19th-century style, richer and more formal at times ("Listen to you--he who has never been in love!"), with dark forests, dark caves with ancient creatures, and dusty cellars with dark magical libraries. It's a richly atmospheric whirl, which he flavors with little touches of history, science and occult lore. And Oppel makes some clever nods to classic gothic movies and literature with the sinister Polidori and the mysterious Dr. Murnau.
"This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein" is the beginning of Victor Frankenstein's journey into god-complex mayhem, but it leaves you hanging for the next story.
This is written as a prequel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I loved it. Frankenstein is one of those classics I have thought about reading for years but just haven't. After reading this book I am so intrigued that I am definitely going to read the original.
This book was interesting and fast paced. Loved it.
This book was interesting and fast paced. Loved it.
Adds to the legend, a little slow at first but very exciting at the end.
Young Victor Frankenstein and his twin brother Konrad live in a large mansion in Bellerive with their mother, father, two young brothers, their cousin Elizabeth, and occasionally their best friend Henry Clerval. While their lives are relatively happy, there is tension between the twins: Konrad the bright shining one, and Victor, his darker, more ambitions shadow. When Konrad falls ill, Victor is consumed by the mission to save him, even if it means delving into mysterious and potentially dangerous science.
This book is a very quick read! It is an adventure story, through and through, with intense and gripping action sequences as Victor, Elizabeth and Henry make a deal with a shady former-alchemist and fight to get the ingredients for Konrad's cure (high treetops with vicious vultures, deep and treacherous caves, and a final very personal ordeal).
The most compelling element for me was how Oppel takes the older Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry of the classic story and works backwards to extrapolate how they came to be who they are in Frankenstein. Victor is the most successful of all. He is both protagonist and antagonist. He has good intentions, but his passion, selfishness, vanity, and blind ambition distort his thoughts. He is a villain who doesn't know he is a villain; my favorite kind. And in many ways, he is your typical teenage boy, full of jealousies and too many hormones for his rational mind to handle. It is easy for me how this Victor became the Victor of Mary Shelley's horror story. His need for power and dominance, his obsession with science and of gaining mastery over life and death to save his brother, his disregard for the effect of his actions on others are all classic Victor. He will sacrifice anything, even himself, to get want he wants.
Oppel also allows us some wonderful and gruesome moments of the sublime. The sublime, as defined to me in school when we studied Frankenstein, is something that instills a mix of awe and terror, which often occurs when you see the Monster. Like a gristly car crash from which you cannot look away. They are scattered sparingly through out the book, but when Victor is confronted with one of those gristly images, or participates in a horrific act, you can see the subtle fascination it holds for him. Skin separated from bone, cutting through innards to get to the contents of a stomach; it attracts him as it repulses him.
While there is less existential discussion in this one as there is in Mary Shelly's book, it is perfect for middle school and early high school students wrestling with issues of their own, and a great entry point for the classic Frankenstein.
This book is a very quick read! It is an adventure story, through and through, with intense and gripping action sequences as Victor, Elizabeth and Henry make a deal with a shady former-alchemist and fight to get the ingredients for Konrad's cure (high treetops with vicious vultures, deep and treacherous caves, and a final very personal ordeal).
The most compelling element for me was how Oppel takes the older Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry of the classic story and works backwards to extrapolate how they came to be who they are in Frankenstein. Victor is the most successful of all. He is both protagonist and antagonist. He has good intentions, but his passion, selfishness, vanity, and blind ambition distort his thoughts. He is a villain who doesn't know he is a villain; my favorite kind. And in many ways, he is your typical teenage boy, full of jealousies and too many hormones for his rational mind to handle. It is easy for me how this Victor became the Victor of Mary Shelley's horror story. His need for power and dominance, his obsession with science and of gaining mastery over life and death to save his brother, his disregard for the effect of his actions on others are all classic Victor. He will sacrifice anything, even himself, to get want he wants.
Oppel also allows us some wonderful and gruesome moments of the sublime. The sublime, as defined to me in school when we studied Frankenstein, is something that instills a mix of awe and terror, which often occurs when you see the Monster. Like a gristly car crash from which you cannot look away. They are scattered sparingly through out the book, but when Victor is confronted with one of those gristly images, or participates in a horrific act, you can see the subtle fascination it holds for him. Skin separated from bone, cutting through innards to get to the contents of a stomach; it attracts him as it repulses him.
While there is less existential discussion in this one as there is in Mary Shelly's book, it is perfect for middle school and early high school students wrestling with issues of their own, and a great entry point for the classic Frankenstein.
Just have fun with this book. So fantastic and such a good story to write about.
Victor's jealousy of his twin brother was sickening and removed my sympathies for him as a narrator. So, detriment #1: unsympathetic narrator. I just felt like Victor was sort of a douche.
The references to Mary Shelley outside of the Frankenstein novel (Polidori, Wollstonecraft, etc.) were not used well - missed opportunities even. But, the references to the Frankenstein novel were better used - and honestly I had to refresh my memory on the plot points of the novel because it has been about 18 years since I read it. The looser YA language was fine for me also - there was no reason for Oppel to completely mimic the original.
Ultimately the three quests are too formulaic, and written in an over the top manner where the heroes overcome the impossible but with no true suspense. The quests seemed scripted for the CGI film-to-be.
The references to Mary Shelley outside of the Frankenstein novel (Polidori, Wollstonecraft, etc.) were not used well - missed opportunities even. But, the references to the Frankenstein novel were better used - and honestly I had to refresh my memory on the plot points of the novel because it has been about 18 years since I read it. The looser YA language was fine for me also - there was no reason for Oppel to completely mimic the original.
Ultimately the three quests are too formulaic, and written in an over the top manner where the heroes overcome the impossible but with no true suspense. The quests seemed scripted for the CGI film-to-be.
How did Dr. Frankenstein become the man he was, recklessly and single-mindedly obsessed with overcoming death? What events set him on the path of reanimating dead tissue? In This Dark Endeavor Kenneth Oppel takes us back to the teenage years of Victor Frankenstein, a privileged and impetuous young man with a taste for adventure and mischief. He spends his days with his twin brother and cousin Elizabeth exploring the countryside and planning future expeditions to the west. But when his twin falls deathly ill, the bright but previously undedicated Victor finds a passion for the forbidden science of alchemy in hopes of producing the Elixir of Life to save his brother’s life.
The gothic atmosphere and suspense in the story are well crafted and will please fans of classic horror novels, but the story gets bogged down in areas, leaving the reader’s mind wandering or scanning ahead. However, the exploration of how Victor’s pride, love, ambition, and grief set him on a path devoted to science brings a depth to the novel that make it worth reading. As the story closes, we begin to see the monomaniacal Victor Frankenstein that features so memorably in Mary Shelley’s classic novela. Thematically the book will be more appealing to older teens and others on the brink of adulthood, but there is little in the way of language or content to discourage younger teen readers.
The gothic atmosphere and suspense in the story are well crafted and will please fans of classic horror novels, but the story gets bogged down in areas, leaving the reader’s mind wandering or scanning ahead. However, the exploration of how Victor’s pride, love, ambition, and grief set him on a path devoted to science brings a depth to the novel that make it worth reading. As the story closes, we begin to see the monomaniacal Victor Frankenstein that features so memorably in Mary Shelley’s classic novela. Thematically the book will be more appealing to older teens and others on the brink of adulthood, but there is little in the way of language or content to discourage younger teen readers.
Audio version grows on you. story moves fairly quick. interesting take on how Frankenstein came to be. good for guys