A review by shafnut
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My first classic! I read this as part of The Late Night Book Club's January pick but to be honest there were many times I wanted to DNF it - kept thinking about the saying that life is too short to read a book you don't like. Although I must say that I'm glad that I didn't DNF it because of the ending. I think I'm just not interested in the stories of het men doing stupid things. I was in love with the start of the book and till after he made the monster but it reached a point where it was just Victor's ramblings and I was like "who cares who cares who cares"

 
I did fall in love with Shelley's writing though, so that makes me think I could enjoy classics like Pride & Prejudice or Jane Eyre, so excited to read more classics this year! 

I think the part that fell flat for me was the cowardice of Frankenstein's character, like I respected his monster more than him for actually doing something about his life and trying to change it but Victor just consistently made terrible decisions. 

Why didnt he go to the magistrate sooner, if he had done that and people were like "yea this dude is crazy" then yes, I would accept that, at least Victor did try, I could have at least respected him then. He didn't help Justine, Elizabeth or Henry (and in some ways his father), people whose death Victor could have easily avoided if he used his brain. Like I wanted him to have a moment of claiming responsibility. Was Victor so self-absorbed that he couldn't think about the fact that obviously, the monster was going to kill Henry first since he was nearby? When the monster mentioned wedding night, it obviously meant he was going to kill Elizabeth. Riddle me this Victor, what is going to be a bigger form of torture for you, your own death? or the death of the love of your life? Only respected him for the fact that he did NOT create a female companion for the demon and actually stood his ground.

All this to say, it's not Shelley's writing that I hate but Victor as a character that I just couldn't get behind. His stupidity and cowardice were just something I couldn't get behind.

Also, mad props to Mary Shelley for writing this out when she was so young and in 1818. Damn sis, respect.

Some highlights:
"It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw every day, and whose very existence appeared a part of our own, can have departed for ever—that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished, and the sound of a voice so familiar, and dear to the ear, can be hushed, never more to be heard."

"how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow."

“are you always to be unhappy? My dear friend, what has happened?”

"You throw a torch into a pile of buildings; and when they are consumed you sit among the ruins, and lament the fall. Hypocritical fiend!"

"It is not pity that you feel; you lament only because the victim of your malignity is withdrawn from your power.”

"I shall die. I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume me,"