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lbjo 's review for:
Frankissstein
by Jeanette Winterson
so disappointing on so many levels...the premise is really interesting! a dual narrative: one follows mary shelley beginning in 1818, one follows a trans doctor (ry shelley) in his relationship with an AI scientist and transhumanist (victor stein). the relationships between transness and frankenstein, between transness and AI, between transness and transhumanism, transhumanism and AI etc. are and have been rich for theoretical and creative exploration and work.
however, it is abundantly clear that winterson has not engaged meaningfully with that work, especially with regard to transness. it is abundantly clear that winterson has barely engaged with transness period, because her perceptions and representations of trans ideation and embodiment are deeply transphobic (obsession with ry's "two inch long clitoris" to which she refers at least twice, constantly undermining ry's manhood by referring to his "biological femaleness" or "female body," extended discussion of how much bodily harm transition does to ry, etc.). she also, i learned, came out against gender affirming care for youth after writing this book, which tracks.
there are also some serious flaws with the form and writing of this book— all of the characters kind of sound the same and they're hard to differentiate because winterson doesn't use quotation marks, the conclusion of the book is sort of abrupt and poorly justified, and
it's grasp on AI feels slippery at times.
all that said, the early chapters of the book which follow mary shelley's writing of frankenstein were interesting, well-contextualized, and well-conceived.
all in all, you'd be better reading mary shelley's frankenstein, reading susan stryker's "my words to victor frankenstein above the village at chamounix," and listening to "dumbest girl alive" to get some sense of how intertwined frankenstein, transness, and cyborg embodiment are.
however, it is abundantly clear that winterson has not engaged meaningfully with that work, especially with regard to transness. it is abundantly clear that winterson has barely engaged with transness period, because her perceptions and representations of trans ideation and embodiment are deeply transphobic (obsession with ry's "two inch long clitoris" to which she refers at least twice, constantly undermining ry's manhood by referring to his "biological femaleness" or "female body," extended discussion of how much bodily harm transition does to ry, etc.). she also, i learned, came out against gender affirming care for youth after writing this book, which tracks.
there are also some serious flaws with the form and writing of this book— all of the characters kind of sound the same and they're hard to differentiate because winterson doesn't use quotation marks, the conclusion of the book is sort of abrupt and poorly justified, and
it's grasp on AI feels slippery at times.
all that said, the early chapters of the book which follow mary shelley's writing of frankenstein were interesting, well-contextualized, and well-conceived.
all in all, you'd be better reading mary shelley's frankenstein, reading susan stryker's "my words to victor frankenstein above the village at chamounix," and listening to "dumbest girl alive" to get some sense of how intertwined frankenstein, transness, and cyborg embodiment are.