Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Rating: 4.8 stars

Haunting, beautiful, and a definite must read for any fans of Gothic fiction!

Goodread summary: Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.

I once read a comment someone on YouTube wrote about this book. They said: “KNOWLEDGE is knowing that Frankenstein isn’t the monster. WISDOM is knowing that Frankenstein is the monster.”

I found the comment funny and clever, but did not realize until reading this book how truly apt this description actually is. The language is beautifully poetic and Frankenstein’s monster is an incredibly sympathetic character - much more so than Victor Frankenstein, who is impressively gifted at both procrastination and assigning blame to others (which was equally frustrating and hilarious).

This book is haunting, beautiful, and a definite must read! I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of classic literature or gothic fiction!

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