Hello, Readers! In this BOOKS post, you will be reading about my thoughts and opinions on my latest read, ‘Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus’ by Mary Shelley. Enjoy!
“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”-Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Let me start this article by writing; WOW. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Okay, this book was beyond amazing. I finished it two weeks ago, and yet I’m still freaking out. I don’t know how to describe to you the emotions I feel towards this book. Ughhh. Am I the only one who becomes so attached to a story that it’s extremely hard to move on after reading it?
Before I get into the story, I want to tell you a little about the author.
Mary Shelley was born on August 30th, 1797, in London, England. Her father(William Godwin) was a political writer and a philosopher, and her mother(Mary Wollstonecraft) was a famed feminist. Her mother died giving birth to Mary, leaving the father to look after Mary and her half-sister. A few years later, Mary’s father married Mary Jane Clairmont. It is said that she and her stepmother did not get along too well.
In 1814, Mary Shelley met the poet Percy Shelley-- who was her father’s student at the time. During the same year, they fled England, bringing Mary Shelley’s stepsister along with them. In the summer of 1816, they traveled to Geneva to visit their friend Lord Byron and Byron’s physician, John Polidori. On a dark and stormy night, Byron came up with the idea to have a ghost-story competition between him, Mary, Percy, and John. This is where she came up with the idea of her popular novel, Frankenstein. And this is also where John Polidori created his most famous work-- The Vampyre(which was the first vampire story). It is said that Lord Byron and Percy Shelley did not finish their ghost-stories, and Mary Shelley ended up winning the competition.
Mary Shelley was only nineteen when she began writing Frankenstein, publishing it at the age of twenty-one. I love this book a little more because of that, too. As a teen-writer, it is inspiring to read a well-known novel written by a teenager.
Mary Shelley and her stepsister were the only ones out of the summer trip that lived past fifty. She died in 1851, and her stepsister died in 1879.
*Did you know that Frankenstein was considered the first science fiction novel?
For more information about Mary Shelley and her incredible book, feel free to check out the links below.
Okay, now we’ll get into the story.
Most people think Frankenstein is the hideous monster, but surprisingly, the creature did not have a name. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist who created him.
Victor Frankenstein is a young scientist who is very interested in creating life. While he was in college, he began his dark experiment. He collected human body parts, gradually building a man. Once he succeeded in bringing life into his creation, he was utterly terrified. The ugly monster was unnatural and frightful. It was 8-foot tall, towering over all men that it encountered. Scared, Victor left his creation and let the thing run away.
In my opinion, Victor was the real monster. The so-called monster he created was merely a child. It couldn’t talk, it had no experience or knowledge on how the world worked, and yet Frankenstein abandoned the innocent creature and left him to fend for himself.
I have never felt so much hatred towards a book character as I did towards Victor Frankenstein. His cowardness and selfishness frustrated me beyond words. But I think that’s what makes this book such a good read. I believe that if a book can make you feel a certain way towards a fictional character, it must be good.
After the monster ran off, the story focuses on Victor. It makes you feel scared of the ‘demon’ that was roaming around. It might even make you feel like Victor is an okay guy. But then the story quickly moves onto the monster. I felt so much sadness as I read through the creature’s perspective. It kind of made me want to cry, to be honest. And books do not make me cry, so this was a big deal.
There is one word that describes this dark story perfectly; melancholy. It is deep and tragic and will make you feel pure melancholy.
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.” -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
I don’t want to give too much of the story away, so you’re just going to have to read it! I promise you will not regret it. If you’re too busy to read or find it difficult, please check out the link underneath. The first time reading(consuming?) this story, I listened to this audiobook read by David Dobrik. You will get the same benefits as you would reading it. Dobrik’s voice was perfect and kept me focused on the story the entire time.
Thank you for reading this week’s post! Have you read Frankenstein? If so, what did you think? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below! Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, share this article with your friends, and hit the like button below.
Great bog review... with this rainy day I may get started on listening to Frankenstein. How inspiring that she inspired you so much and her style of writing. It would be fun to put that movie in our list for the spooky movie night. Especially the original.