Frankenstein - Book Review
Originally published May 2018Before I get to the actual review of the Frankenstein novel, let me provide a little backstory to this experience. This week, I was hoping to have a movie review lined up and ready to go. In fact, I was expecting to have a movie review ready for the next five weeks. Having spent 20 hours on a plane in the past week, it would have been the perfect time to catch up on all the movies of the past year I haven't seen. I managed to watch Dunkirk, but there were various stipulations about that viewing experience that prevented me from watching much of anything else.
On the flight over to the UK, I watched Dunkirk on a screen that was so old and faded, I could barely tell who or what was on the screen. It was incredibly dark, for a movie that has many shots in bright daylight. Thus, it didn't make sense to even attempt to watch Black Panther, IT, or anything else that had moments in the dark, because I wouldn't have been able to see.
The screens on the plane on the return trip, however, were much brighter and I was curious to see Darkest Hour, the movie that finally earned Gary Oldman his Oscar, and that fish-beastiality movie that won the Academy Award for "best picture." Alas, there was another roadblock that stood in my way. The headphone jack was blocked by the remnants of a previous user's headphones. The plug that had been inserted must have been ripped out and broken off. There was no hope of me plugging in my own headphones to watch any movies. So, what to do on a 10-hour flight when you can't sleep? Read a classic novel of course!
Image: Universal Studios
"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly
I've been bouncing around different books lately. In between the heavily researched non-fiction books about the nature of sleep or the war in Afghanistan, and contemporary novels about space marines, I've been enjoying some of the literary classics: 1984, The Time Machine, Dracula, Fahrenheit 451, and, at last, Frankenstein. I've always wanted to read the horror classic to see why it was so revered and why there would be so many good and terrible interpretations of the classic novel. Having completed it over the course of a long plane ride, I can say with certainty that it is one of the best books I've read.
Pros
The language, while flowery and romantic in its style, is easy to read and brilliantly works to the book's benefit
Significant tension throughout the story to keep you reading
Frankenstein is a deep and conflicted character
The macabre and grotesque descriptions definitely help to play into the horror
The "Interview with the Vampire" format adds some interesting circumstances
Cons
The monster, though he is likely meant to be a sympathetic character, did not evoke much sympathy from me
Even if you didn't already know the story of Frankenstein, the plot twists come from a million miles away
Plot & Thoughts
With the countless films that have portrayed Shelly's classic novel, it is very unlikely that you do not already know the story of Frankenstein: A mad scientist, who constructs a creature from dead pieces of human bodies and must deal with the consequences of his actions when the monster escapes. The same is true in the book, though, there are some significant differences. The series of events, the age of Frankenstein, the reasons for his actions, and the conclusion of the story in Shelly's novel are all quite different from most of the Frankenstein movies that have been released over the decades.
In Shelly's novel, the story actually starts aboard a vessel up around the North Pole. An adventurous sea-captain and his crew are exploring the ice caps and they see dog-drawn sleds traveling across the ice floes. One of which carries an emaciated and exhausted young man, whom they nurse back to health. This, of course, is Frankenstein, and he's been hunting his creation to the ends of the earth. Once recovered, he then talks to the young captain and relays his story of horror and tragedy in a style reminiscent of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.
Once Frankenstein begins telling his story, we learn that he was just a young 20-something college kid who was naturally adept at science and philosophy when he first started down his path of destruction. We learn a great deal about his childhood leading up to the big moment, as well as his connections to various members of his family, including his future wife and adopted sister, Elisabeth—a little weird, but less so than if this were Edgar Allan Poe. When he does create the creature, he does so in his dorm apartment at the college without an assistant named Igor and without all the lightning we've come to expect from the Frankenstein story. It's just pure chemistry and philosophy that brings the creature to life. Shelly does not dwell on the specifics of how it works, so you're meant to just go along with the miraculous powers of the young scientist.
Unlike the films from the 1930s that were so iconic in their retelling of this story, Victor is abhorred by his own creation immediately. His thrill of success is extremely short-lived and he becomes too horrified to look upon his creation. So, when he leaves his apartment in disgust and returns to find it gone, he's relieved. That is until some very unfortunate and horrific events start occurring around him. After a tragic murder and the realization that the creature on the loose may be the culprit, Frankenstein becomes filled with a variety of emotions. Eventually, creator and creation meet once again and we learn of the creature's experience. We learn how the creature is a whiny punk and how his experiences have shaped him into a real monster with desires that deeply conflict with Frankenstein's agenda.
The novel is less about the mad genius side of the story and more about how creator and creation are natural nemeses. Frankenstein is disgusted by the creature and disgusted by himself for making him. The creature, meanwhile, is desperate for some connection with humanity and looks to his creator as a method of solving his problem: he seeks a companion in his life of solitude and demands that Frankenstein create a mate for him, or else. Frankenstein, meanwhile, is torn about whether the threat from his creation is worth making another monster and if he would be responsible for the destruction of humanity as a result.
A significant portion of the book is dedicated to the thoughts within Frankenstein's head as he considers his transgressions and his responsibility. He's an emotional character filled with regret and rage, seeking to undo his mistakes while still making more mistakes along the way. He is a great protagonist with multiple layers of depth and complexity. He carries the story well partially because of how much the character changes over the course of the story. He starts out as ambitious and curious but is completely destroyed and worn down into a husk of vengeance. His moral and physical dilemmas are exciting and interesting. The moments where you see his motivations take true hold of his character are fantastic.
The monster, however, whines. He's a character who suffers and who strikes out in anger for his suffering. Even to the end, he still justifies all of his crimes as "not his fault" or that he's somehow more validated in his actions because of his suffering. The hypocritical attitude does not make him a bad character, by any means. He's just an unsympathetic one. As far as I'm concerned, he is a monster, whether he'd want to believe it or not. If that was Shelly's multiple-layered intention in writing him that way, it holds up very well more than a century later.
TL;DR (Conclusion)
When I decided to read Frankenstein on the plane ride home, I did not expect to read it to its conclusion in one sitting. However, I could not put it down. It's a classic for a reason. It has great characters with convincing flaws and motives. It has constant undercurrents of tension. It has language that is romantically brilliant, but still easy to read. I would gladly read Frankenstein again.
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