Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Signet classics)

by Mary Shelley | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0451523369 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingoppemwing of Hermiston, Oregon USA on 3/28/2011
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingoppemwing from Hermiston, Oregon USA on Monday, March 28, 2011
tbr.

Journal Entry 2 by wingelizardbreathwing at Pendleton, Oregon USA on Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Oppem, the Bookcrosser who previously journalled this book, passed away on June 23, 2012. I had the privilege of meeting her dear family and "catching" her large collection of registered books. I will keep this on Mt. TBR for awhile and see if I can get into it.

Journal Entry 3 by wingelizardbreathwing at Bella Vista, Arkansas USA on Monday, January 26, 2015
When I was in high school, I had a friend who was obsessed with the movie, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Whenever we'd go to his house to hang out, it was pop, snacks, and that movie. Over and over and over again. That's probably why this book has been sitting on my shelf for several years and I've continued to remain uninterested in reading it. However, it's one that I promised myself I'd read this year so I decided to get it over with.

I wish I could say I loved it --- but I didn't. I am glad I read it---but mostly so I can say that I've read it. Ha! Like Orwell's 1984, it's one of those 1001 books I probably could have died without reading.

Book Description: "The story of Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation has held readers spellbound ever since it was published two centuries ago. On the surface, it is a novel of tense and steadily mounting horror; but on a more profound level, it offers searching illumination of the human condition in its portrayal of a scientist who oversteps the bounds of conscience and of a monster brought to life in an alien world, ever more desperately attempting to escape the torture of his solitude. A novel of hallucinatory intensity, Frankenstein represents one of the most striking flowerings of the Romantic imagination."

Nah...not really. No horror. Not really profound. No hallucinatory intensity. If by "flowerings of the...imagination" we mean "great imagination---budding writer", then yeah, I'll give you that one. Mary Shelley was barely nineteen years old when she wrote this and, although it was published within months of Frankenstein, this is exactly the kind of gothic nonsense Jane Austen was parodying in Northanger Abbey.

The idea of a scientist pushing the bounds of human convention to create non-human life is brilliant.
The idea of the "monster" developing human abilities and emotions is brilliant.
The way Shelley made it all happen? Not so brilliant.

I was left with way too many questions on this one. How did the monster learn all he did in just a few months of spying on his neighbors? How does he go from inanimate blob to quoting Plutarch and Milton in such a short amount of time? His knowledge is inconsistent. For instance, he knows about the mythical character of Pandemonium but he doesn't know fire will burn him? Shelley wrote this as part of a dare between herself, Lord Byron, her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and another friend. Throughout the entire book, all I could imagine when the monster was prattling on and on was that Mrs. Shelley was really just wanting to show off all her knowledge to these obnoxious men she was in competition with.

Critics say this is a story of a monster that was more human than his creator. They say Frankenstein drove the monster to his "badness" and that it was all his fault that the monster committed evil acts. That might be the case if Shelley didn't have him rant in endless philosophical orations. She makes the monster appear more intelligent than the scientist. I'm definitely holding the monster accountable for his own actions. He obviously has a conscience.

I bought myself a copy of this for our home library so will be releasing this soon.

Released 9 yrs ago (2/8/2015 UTC) at A Bookcrosser in A BookCrosser, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to heartthumper. Enjoy!

To the finder of this book:

This book is gift, no strings attached, from me to you. You may keep it forever, pass it along to a friend, or release it into the wild to be found by someone else.

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Journal Entry 5 by wingheartthumperwing at Hutchinson, Kansas USA on Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Great Book! Thank you, elizardbreath, for sharing. Will read and release in an upcoming bookbox.

Journal Entry 6 by wingheartthumperwing at Bookbox in -- Bookbox, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Friday, February 20, 2015

Released 9 yrs ago (2/19/2015 UTC) at Bookbox in -- Bookbox, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Added to the Medicine Chest V Book Box. Hope it finds a new reader.

Journal Entry 7 by wingGoryDetailswing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, June 28, 2015
I was touched to find this book from oppem's collection in the box - a nice way to remember her. I'll leave the book in the box for someone else, but wanted to add my comments.

This is one of the great foundation novels of science fiction and of horror (and a great indication of how hard it can be to separate genres sometimes!). It has a brooding, ominous charm, but I haven't found it quite as entertaining on repeated readings - though I have discovered new elements in the story that escaped me entirely when I first read it as a horror-hungry teen. (As elizardbreath notes, there isn't as much of a horror element here as the film adaptations would make one believe - though there are some very chilling scenes.)

Among the elements I didn't remember from my earlier readings: an interesting little digression involving the origin of the family that the Creature encounters in the little cabin. It's a romance straight out of Don Quixote, very colorful and sad - and pretty much unrelated to the rest of the book {wry grin}. That part of the story never makes it into the film versions, and no wonder; it'd make a fair film all by itself!

Speaking of film versions, I have a fondness for the 1931 James Whale version starring Boris Karloff, even though it's not among the more faithful adaptations.

[There's a TV Tropes page for the novel - with links to pages for various adaptations - that's entertaining and informative.]

Journal Entry 8 by quietorchid at Saint Paul, Minnesota USA on Thursday, October 15, 2015
Came back in the Medicine Chest V Bookbox.

Actually a Banned Book:
1955 Banned in South Africa.

For more information about banned books go to the American Library Association page.

Shelley's tale of the modern day Prometheus is still required readings (also how could you get the jokes in the movie Young Frankenstein otherwise?) Chilling tale of where the search for knowledge takes you, if you don't stop and think about purpose beforehand.

Fly far little book!

Journal Entry 9 by quietorchid at Little Free Library #4348 - Summit E in Saint Paul, Minnesota USA on Thursday, October 15, 2015

Released 8 yrs ago (10/15/2015 UTC) at Little Free Library #4348 - Summit E in Saint Paul, Minnesota USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Left on the shelf.
A 2015 Spook-tacular Halloween Challenge release.

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