Frankenstein: or, The modern Prometheus

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Jan 1823 · G. and W.G. Whittaker,.

Ratings and reviews

I was assigned this in high school, and I never read it. I recently picked it up out of curiosity, and I am amazed. All the pop culture associated with Frankenstein has warped the true message of this excellent novel. I recommend this book to everyone. I read a lot these days, and this has been the best book I have read all year.

One of my favourite novels, it uses a compelling storyline and looks into the perspective of many people, giving it somewhat a dramatic feel. It seemed quite interesting how the novel is so different to the adaptations, films etc! It is a lovely story, not a HORROR TALE of a weird monster. There's something deeply compelling and interesting about the novel. All your predisposed ideas of a weird monster will be alleviated when you finish reading the novel!

I found Mary Shelley's Frankenstein startling in the extent to which it differed both from the movies and the popular conceptions of the story. The differences go way beyond what we usually expect from turning a novel into a movie. Tod Browning took a number of liberties with Dracula, but re-reading the original doesn't cause one to feel he is reading a different story. Frankenstein is a morality tale, and the sinner throughout is Frankenstein first and his creation second. It could be called a study of what happens when someone is driven to follow his passion (to create life) and then to reject it as soon as the desire is fulfilled. The creation (I hesitate to say "monster," though the creature self-describes himself that way) is brought into a world not knowing who he is, what he is or, importantly, why he is. He wants to be loved, or at least accepted, and is rejected top to bottom, first of all by his creator. He is intelligent and moral, and asks only another of his kind (his "bride") and he will leave Frankenstein and the human world in peace. Unfortunately Frankenstein has all the complex moral qualms after his creation lives that were completely overlooked beforehand. The creature could almost approach total sympathy if not for his unfortunate habit of murdering completely innocent people because of his anger at Frankenstein. Anyone who has any interest in the horror genre should read this young woman's masterpiece.