Frankenstein Review

 For one of my classes in school I read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This book was published in 1818, during the last bit of the Romantic Period. The history of Mary Shelley is very interesting surrounding the book, and I would suggest looking further into it, if you can. One thing I find particularly interesting is that the idea for this story came from a game where Shelley and her friends created stories to scare each other while away at a cabin. 

This book is not what I thought it was. I always thought that the story followed the mad doctor, Frankenstein, and his journey to create the monster, and when the monster came to life, went on a brutal rampage in which Frankenstein has to heroically save the day. That is not what happens. Maybe in a movie. But not here. 

The book is much better than I thought it would be. I liked that this book is complicated, and that the feelings are complicated and unsettling for the reader. You feel sympathetic for the Creature sometimes. He only wants a friend and tries to reach out to regular people for friendship, but they spurn him on account of his looks. This makes you feel bad for the Creature, especially in one part of the story where he says he saves a little girl's life from drowning in a river, and her guardian shoots him with a gun before finding out what actually happened. As the reader, you will feel a twinge of sympathy for him.

Yet, on the other hand, the way the Creature deals with these emotions he is feeling is not okay. He is angry with Frankenstein, and hates that Frankenstein hates him, so he uses his anger to torment Frankenstein. The Creature kills Frankenstein's youngest brother, William, and frames a friend of their family for the murder, resulting in her death, too. He goes on to kill other people in Frankenstein's life (I don't want to spoil too much of the story). The Creature is merciless in his crimes, killing innocent people to torture Frankenstein. This makes it hard to feel sorry for the Creature, because personally, as the reader, I don't want to sympathize with someone who kills the innocent. 

Another thing that makes the feelings towards the Creature complex is that the Creature is far more eloquent and smarter than later media makes him out to be. In modern stories, the Creature, often just named Frankenstein, is made to be a slow moving, grumbling, and dumb monster, but that is not the case in Shelley's narrative. Shelley's Creature learns fast, is very smart, and speaks very well, making him very convincing when he wants to be. This makes him all the more interesting but all the more terrifying.

So, overall I like this story a lot better than the story I thought it was. I like this complex emotional journey we as readers go on through Frankenstein and his Creature. I like that there's no real easy ending in this book. It leaves the reader unsettled and unsatisfied with the end, at least that's how I felt. But I really enjoyed this book. I would love to read it again soon, because I feel that I missed things and I can't wait to see all the more little details that passed me by the first time going through it. 

I very much suggest reading this book. I think, if you can, reading these classic and famous novels is a good experience because it allows you to understand these tropes and adaptations in our modern media. It feels like being in on an inside joke. I like that feeling. You can find this book anywhere you get your books, but Apple Books offers a free edition of both the eBook and the audiobook! Take advantage of that if you can!

Read and Enjoy!!