As much as I enjoy classics, I haven’t picked up Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein until around last month. The work spans about 300 pages, making it a fairly short novel. I got through it pretty quickly.
Of course, it was interesting reading Frankenstein as how it was intended to be written. I’ve realized that retellings of this novel only watered down its main aspects. Frankenstein is so much more than mere horror directed towards a character; it’s the relationship between monster and creator, self-identity and desire. Victor’s monster is extremely intelligent and well-spoken, its downfall is its ugliness and loneliness.
Today, Frankenstein is considered one of the first novels to kickstart the science fiction genre. However, it can be argued that there is more of a psychological tone to it rather than one focused on science. For example, the procedure in which the monster was created. While Victor is definitely a brilliant character, the basis of how his monster came to be was, at most, glossed over, in favor of the complex lamentations over his woes. His narratives were almost too flowery.
~ 4 stars
