Book Deals and Reviews

102 of 111 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars A moving, disturbing, depressing, but also touching tale, December 31, 2004
By Ian Fowler (Denver, CO United States) See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) This review is from: Frankenstein (Penguin Classics) (Paperback) Much like Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a story we all think we know, but really do not. Not many films have consciously attempted to follow the novel too closely (which should not detract from the excellent James Whale/Boris Karloff film, or its masterpiece sequel, “The Bride of Frankenstein). , everything liked culture “knows” about “Frankenstein” doesn’t originate from literature, but from films. This is a shame, in a way, because the novel itself is, if not the progenitor, an early vessel of so many archetypes found science fiction and horror.

The basic plot stayed intact when moved to other media. Swiss medical student Victor Frankenstein discovers the secret of life (which he never reveals, lest someone repeat the mistake). He then puts together a body, generally a man, from different corpses. He then becomes horrified by the creature he’s built, and abandons. The creature, suffering a great deal of neglect and abuse, still manages to get a thorough education, and learns of his lineage. After murdering Victor’s younger brother, and framing the family maid, the creature tells his (admittedly) sad tale to his “father”, , then demands a mate. Victor, in a panic, agrees, then thinks better of it at the last moment, destroying the new bride. In retaliation, the creature murders all of Victor’s loved ones (including his wife), and leads Victor on a merry chase across the world.

Most most likely know that Mary Shelley wrote this book in answer to a challenge issued by Lord Byron, throughout a vacation at Lake Geneva. (Along with this story came John Polidori’s “The Vampyre”, the 1st English vampire novel.) probably also know that Shelley went on to write other works of imaginative gothic fiction. Still, her modern repute rests with this book, understandably.

As stated, many archetypes (themes, plot lines, characters) are present here. The basic fear of what bad technology may bring with the good is a central theme, as is the warning against playing God. So is the implicit admonition to be accountable in all things, be it throughout novelty or being a parent. The creature is, for all intents and reasons, an android everyone from Gort to C 3PO owe their existence to the Frankenstein monster. And the monster that slays all but one protagonist is a staple of horror, be it conventional monster movies, like “Alien”, or more realistic slasher movies like “Halloween”.

But, as I noted at the beginning of this review, certain of these elements have been lost in most interpretations. The creature is really intelligent, and well spoken, quite different from the inarticulate grunts or slow, half sentences of the movies (again, no disrespect to Karloff). More, while the films have made lightening a staple of the creatures creation, Shelley never really explains the procedure (probably knowing that she may get in the way with the plausibility of her work). , one of the staples of the films is the explanation for the creatures “evil” nature. Frequently, the problem lies with the brain used, which nearly invariably is a criminal brain, or is damaged before implantation. In the book, the creature is really a child that is horribly neglected, but with the strength and intelligence to strike back: id without superego, and without restraints.

Thus, “Frankenstein” will be a new experience for readers who have never experienced it. Unlike “Dracula”, there are not any times where a reader may look up and realize how calm it’s in the house, or how black it is gotten outside. In that regard, “Frankenstein” hasn’t aged especially well. During, but, it’s a moving, disturbing, depressing, but also a touching and beautiful tale. Those qualities have withstood the test of time. While it isn’t generally a rollicking adventure, it’s a rewarding read.

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314 of 372 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of five stars don’t purchase THIS EDITION!!!!!!, January 31, 2007
By Penelope Specksynder “Penny” (Nederland) See all my reviews This review is from: Frankenstein (Enriched Classics) (Mass Market Paperback) This “enriched classics” is a bowdlerized variant of Mary Shelley’s original text. It removes passages, changes the diction, abridges the chapters, and changes the complete structure of the novel. Our school bought this edition thinking that the extra notes could be useful to students studying the text, but there was no indication at all on Amazon’s web site that this variant had been considerably altered by the editors. The book is so bowdlerized that our school bought an complete new set of texts for the students at a significant finanacial loss for the school. WHATEVER YOU DO, purchase many OTHER variant OF FRANKENSTEIN. THIS ONE IS A MONSTER produced BY SOMEONE WHO HAS NO RESPECT FOR THE AUTHOR. BANTAM, PUFFIN, OXFORD they’re ALL good. Irene Nicastro, English teacher, The American School of The Hague.

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66 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars More Relevant Today Than When 1st Written, November 18, 2003
By Gary F. Taylor “GFT” (Biloxi, MS USA) See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME) This review is from: Frankenstein (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback) Modern readers must jump through some hoops to take pleasure in this legendary novel. Written between 1816 and 1818, this is much a novel of its era, and both language and ideas about plot are quite different from those of today. That on the side, and unlike such contemporaries as Jane Austen, author Mary Shelly never been largely admired for her literary style, which is frequently uncomfortable. But possibly the biggest hurdle is that of our own expectations: while it surely sent icy chills down the spines of 19th Century readers, FRANKENSTEIN isn’t a horror novel per se.While Mary Shelly may have been stylistically weak, her story wasn’t. Nothing like it had been written before, and the idea of a student endowing life upon a humanoid creature cobbled together from charnel house parts has been unexpectedly shocking to the reading public. But more shocking were the ideas that Shelly brought to the story. Having produced this thing in his own image, what if anything does the creator owe it? And in posing this question, Shelly intentionally raises her novel to an more complex level: this isn’t just the clash of man and his creation, but also a inquiring of God and his responsibility toward his creation.In many respects, the book is written like the famous philosophical "dialogues" of the ancient world: a counterpoint of questions and arguments that do fight for the reader’s acceptance. More than anything else, FRANKENSTEIN is a novel of ethics and of ideas about ideas, with Mary Shelly’s themes arrayed in many layers throughout: God, self, society, science; responsibility to self, to society, to the things we bring to society, to the truth; life, honesty, and death these are the ideas and issues that predominate the book, and any one expecting a horror novel pure and simple is out of luck.Mary Shelly is a rare example of a writer whose ideas obviously outstrip her literary skill but whose ideas are so powerful that they transcend her literary restrictions and continue to resonate today. And indeed, as science continues to advance, it couldn’t be otherwise so. Mary Shelly couldn’t see into the future of DNA research, laboratory grown tissues, test tube babies and the like but between 1816 and 1818 she wrote a book about the ethical dilemmas that swirl around them. And for all its faults, FRANKENSTEIN is possibly more relevant today than it was over a hundred and fifty years ago.GFT, Reviewer

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