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A review by asriram
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley
4.0
I can see why this book is so highly regarded, and why it helped to invent and reinvent several genres of fiction. This book is a masterpiece, well crafted and well considered in the plot, elegant in the wording with which the story is told, and deep in the themes of the story. Probably one of the longest books I have taken to finish once I started, this book actually wasn’t all that long. I am used to reading modern fiction — the style of writing put me off of it, and made something that had such an interesting narrative feel opaque to me. However, when I started to make the effort to actually continue my reading, the book became incredibly light and easy to read. The descriptions of the scenery felt incredibly life-like, the passions that are aroused within the story told by Frankenstein are easy to feel, and the story itself was quite engaging.
There are also some interesting ideas that are raised here about consequences and responsibility. Frankenstein and his creation both are at fault for the events of the story — however, Frankenstein does, to his credit, take some level of accountability for his actions, while the monster does not. There were moments when I was sympathetic to the creature, but then with its immense capacity for rage taking over and causing it to commit monstrous acts that sympathy was repeatedly lost. The creature does not accept responsibility for its actions, does not seek to adapt to its miserable life, and then commits violence — this is a failure on itself, but also on its creator and the thoughtlessness that led him to create such a being.
There are so many more thoughts I could say about this book, but in short, I really enjoyed it. An almost perfect book, with my discomfort with the way the story was written and told making it slightly less than perfect for me.
There are also some interesting ideas that are raised here about consequences and responsibility. Frankenstein and his creation both are at fault for the events of the story — however, Frankenstein does, to his credit, take some level of accountability for his actions, while the monster does not. There were moments when I was sympathetic to the creature, but then with its immense capacity for rage taking over and causing it to commit monstrous acts that sympathy was repeatedly lost. The creature does not accept responsibility for its actions, does not seek to adapt to its miserable life, and then commits violence — this is a failure on itself, but also on its creator and the thoughtlessness that led him to create such a being.
There are so many more thoughts I could say about this book, but in short, I really enjoyed it. An almost perfect book, with my discomfort with the way the story was written and told making it slightly less than perfect for me.