Frankenstein - Supernormal Reads

Hardcover

English language

Published 2014 by Simon & Schuster.

ISBN:: 978-1-4711-4159-1
OCLC Number:: 892869824

(1 review)

Through letters sent by Robert Walton to his wife, a wandering figure emerges named Victor Frankenstein. Frail and nearing his death, Victor recounts a fantastical story of how he assembled old body parts to create a human-like being, a creature so utterly monstrous and hideous that he regretted being its creator. Frankenstein's rejection of his creation turns the 'creature' into a true monster, resulting in murder and havoc and a treacherous voyage to find and kill it once and for all. Frankenstein is a true classic of modern literature and is often considered to be a pioneering work of science fiction. Through Mary Shelley's extraordinary tale, we see the true reflection of the human condition, which demands wonder, fear and empathy.

185 editions

el dang reviewed Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

An unexpected pleasure

5 stars

I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.

There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to …

I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.

There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to behave as badly as they like in others.

Subjects

Fiction