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A review by mohammad_sabir
Frankenstein (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) by Mary Shelley
5.0
I finished Frankenstein (the 1831 edition) on the sixth of September this year, but due to a cold and some work this review was delayed. Well, there is not a single aspect of this book that I did not like.
A vessel on an expedition to the North Pole was once almost completely trapped by ice on all sides. About two o'clock, the Captain of the vessel, Robert Walton, and his crew saw something strange half a mile away: a gigantic humanoid figure on a sledge heading north. The ice that had trapped them prevented any immediate pursuit, and by the time it broke and freed their vessel, the figure was long gone. The next morning, they came upon a man upon a sledge, which was upon a large fragment of ice that had drifted towards their ship during the night. This man's limbs were frozen, and his body sickly thin. He appeared European and knew English, but he spoke it with a foriegn accent. He did not board the vessel until he was assured that it was not going back south strangely enough, and immediately fainted upon entering the cabin. He was able to speak only after two days, and in answering the Lieutenant's query he revealed that he was apperantly seeking the humanoid on the sledge, or the 'demon' as he called it. Upon recovering further he was constantly looking out for it, and Captain Walton quickly found out that he was very intelligent and refined in every sense of the word yet melancholic and fixated madly upon the strange monster. Captain Walton quickly became friends with him, and often discussed in detail with him about his enterprise, and the stranger gave very helpful advice. One day Captain Walton said how he would sacrifice his fortune, his existence and every hope to accomplish his mission, and that one man's death was a small price to pay for the advancement of science. At hearing this the stranger's face darkened, and he broke down into tears, asking Walton that was he as mad as him, and then he asked him to listen to and learn from his marvelous yet tragic tale, so that he may not suffer the same fate as him. So begins the tragedy of Victor Frankenstein: a scientist, a creator, and, in a way, a murderer.
I won't tell you anything more about the plot, but it was most excellent and always kept me on the edge of my seat. I haven't watched Universal's 1931 film adaptation yet, but I know enough about it to tell you that it is VASTLY different from the original novel.
Mary Shelley's characterisation of Frankenstein and his 'monster' was, simply, phenomenonal - and so were their respective arcs. What I also liked is how Mary Shelley made me sympathise with both Victor and the Monster. Their tragedy is truly heart-wrenching.
And the prose! Mary Shelley's prose is the perfect balance between elegance and readability, to me at least. So elegant yet approachable, that is how I would describe her prose.
Of course, I need not say that this is a very thought-provoking book and deals with many complex themes - it's Frankenstein, after all.
As I said earlier, there is not a single aspect of this book that I did not like. 5/5, a truly phenomenonal and thoughtful read that I cannot recommend enough.
A vessel on an expedition to the North Pole was once almost completely trapped by ice on all sides. About two o'clock, the Captain of the vessel, Robert Walton, and his crew saw something strange half a mile away: a gigantic humanoid figure on a sledge heading north. The ice that had trapped them prevented any immediate pursuit, and by the time it broke and freed their vessel, the figure was long gone. The next morning, they came upon a man upon a sledge, which was upon a large fragment of ice that had drifted towards their ship during the night. This man's limbs were frozen, and his body sickly thin. He appeared European and knew English, but he spoke it with a foriegn accent. He did not board the vessel until he was assured that it was not going back south strangely enough, and immediately fainted upon entering the cabin. He was able to speak only after two days, and in answering the Lieutenant's query he revealed that he was apperantly seeking the humanoid on the sledge, or the 'demon' as he called it. Upon recovering further he was constantly looking out for it, and Captain Walton quickly found out that he was very intelligent and refined in every sense of the word yet melancholic and fixated madly upon the strange monster. Captain Walton quickly became friends with him, and often discussed in detail with him about his enterprise, and the stranger gave very helpful advice. One day Captain Walton said how he would sacrifice his fortune, his existence and every hope to accomplish his mission, and that one man's death was a small price to pay for the advancement of science. At hearing this the stranger's face darkened, and he broke down into tears, asking Walton that was he as mad as him, and then he asked him to listen to and learn from his marvelous yet tragic tale, so that he may not suffer the same fate as him. So begins the tragedy of Victor Frankenstein: a scientist, a creator, and, in a way, a murderer.
I won't tell you anything more about the plot, but it was most excellent and always kept me on the edge of my seat. I haven't watched Universal's 1931 film adaptation yet, but I know enough about it to tell you that it is VASTLY different from the original novel.
Mary Shelley's characterisation of Frankenstein and his 'monster' was, simply, phenomenonal - and so were their respective arcs. What I also liked is how Mary Shelley made me sympathise with both Victor and the Monster. Their tragedy is truly heart-wrenching.
And the prose! Mary Shelley's prose is the perfect balance between elegance and readability, to me at least. So elegant yet approachable, that is how I would describe her prose.
Of course, I need not say that this is a very thought-provoking book and deals with many complex themes - it's Frankenstein, after all.
As I said earlier, there is not a single aspect of this book that I did not like. 5/5, a truly phenomenonal and thoughtful read that I cannot recommend enough.