Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus

Locations
Call Number: Teen Fiction / Shelley, Mary, Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary, Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Fiction / Shelley, Mary, Teen Fiction / Shelley, Mary
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Shelley, Mary	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft	4-week checkout	Due 04-26-2024
Traverwood Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft	4-week checkout	Due 04-10-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Shelley, Mary	4-week checkout	Due 05-03-2024
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Shelley, Mary	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Malletts Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft	4-week checkout	Due 05-17-2024
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Classic / Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft	4-week checkout	Due 05-20-2024

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Best when you know about the author submitted by LC Smalls on August 26, 2013, 2:59pm This book is great on its own but even better when you know about the author, Mary Shelley. She was the daughter of one of the mothers of feminism and grew up in an environment full of famous intellectuals. This book is peppered with ideas that were revolutionary during her time.

Dense, poetic, ahead of its time. submitted by eknapp on June 29, 2015, 1:34pm Mary Shelley's classic is quite different from the famous James Whale film retelling. Victor Frankenstein is a gifted young achiever with a love of learning, not a wild-eyed mad scientist. The monster is not a lumbering mute who kills unintentionally, there are no neck-bolts, there is no lightning. It is not given a 'criminal brain'; the monster's mind could be any of ours. While initially sympathetic--an innocent, hopeful soul in search of simple camaraderie--he is transformed by rejection into an articulate, super-humanly strong, eight-foot-tall serial killer. (No, the rejection didn't make him strong or eight feet tall. You know what I mean. Smartass.) The novel tells the story of the monster's creation, its descent into rage and bitterness, and its campaign of vengeance against his horrified maker.

I have no idea how to critique such a masterpiece so I'm going to brain dump some thoughts. Things I want to remember.

--It was beautiful but difficult to read. Very poetic. It put me in mind of Tolkien, but then I don't have a lot of classic literature under my belt for comparison.

--People exclaimed an awful lot 200 years ago. Grand declarations of eternal affection and unshakable friendship. Vociferous recriminations and dramatic pronouncements of loathing. No feeling was experienced in moderation.

--At one point the stories were nested four deep. The monster recounts his first two years of life to Frankenstein, who gives his own story to a companion, who chronicles the whole tale in letters to his sister and which finally makes it to me, the reader.

--Much of the book was spent depicting tragic stories of injustice. Obviously there's the monster himself, initially guiltless but repeatedly shunned in horror. A Turkish merchant is arrested in France for the crime of being different. He promises his daughter as wife for the aid of a young French noble but has no intention of following through. A friend of the Frankenstein family is framed and executed for the murder of Frankenstein's brother. Frankenstein himself is arrested for a crime he did not commit.

--Victor Frankenstein to his betrothed: "I have one secret, Elizabeth, a dreadful one; when revealed to you it will chill your frame with horror, and then, far from being surprised at my misery, you will only wonder that I survive what I have endured. I will confide this tale of misery and terror to you the day after our marriage shall take place; for, my sweet cousin, there must be perfect confidence between us." Um. In the interest of "perfect confidence", shouldn't you confide your tale of misery and terror BEFORE she ties her life to yours 'til death do you part? Truly it was a different time.

--Victor Frankenstein has the constitution of a fainting goat. Any shock causes him to tip over "in a fever" and requires weeks or months of bedridden convalescence before he can continue. It happens five or six times.

--It strikes me that to a large extent the tragedies of "Frankenstein" all result from an extremely unlikely conspiracy of events, "Mystic River" style. Had Victor not passed out just as his creation awoke, perhaps he would have been the teacher and companion it craved. Had the old man's children returned an hour later than they did, the monster might have secured his friendship. Had the monster not encountered young William Frankenstein on the road to Geneva, he might well have met Victor without innocent blood on his hands. They could have reconciled. So many things had to go disastrously wrong for the story to unfold as it did.

--"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change." As true today as it was in 1818

Required Reading in High School submitted by tbbrown76 on July 11, 2017, 9:33pm Sorry. I don't think it holds up over time. The language is fantastic, though.
TB

Shelley's Greatest Work submitted by evie2017 on August 25, 2017, 6:59pm An excellent addition to any avid reader's repertoire. Set aside your preconceived notions of this book and get ready to experience Shelley's best work.

Wordy submitted by majean on August 17, 2018, 12:14pm This is dry and wordy. Victor is very unlikable, but I suspect that is the point.

Classic submitted by c_zhang on June 28, 2019, 1:16am It's very hard to read, but I guess that's just how it's written.

A work of great philosophical and psychological significance submitted by sVfGI7Glt2pz7GZgVB90 on August 22, 2019, 11:42am Can our comprehension of science be developed and controlled? That's a question you'll ponder upon when you read this classic. A Swiss scientist and philosopher are stimulated by occult philosophy to create a human-like figure, and give it life. Read it for the graceful prose, surreal metaphors, and bizarre imagination.

A work of great philosophical and psychological significance submitted by sVfGI7Glt2pz7GZgVB90 on August 22, 2019, 11:42am Can our comprehension of science be developed and controlled? That's a question you'll ponder upon when you read this classic. A Swiss scientist and philosopher are stimulated by occult philosophy to create a human-like figure, and give it life. Read it for the graceful prose, surreal metaphors, and bizarre imagination.

Must Read submitted by eschrine on July 22, 2020, 9:26pm A classic that everyone should read at least once. An interesting take on monstrosity, responsibility, and humanity, Mary Shelley's text has a reputation for a reason.

A Good Read submitted by IsaGab2 on June 26, 2023, 5:42pm I wrote a paper for class about why modern kids should read it, and though I’ll admit there are definitely parts i wish were better it’s a solid read everyone can get something out of.

I'm amazed by how well this hold up submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on July 30, 2023, 3:21am This book is wildly unlike what I expected, and also much better. I keep being surprised by how good and easy these older books are to read (cf. also _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ and any of the slave narratives, though I still can’t stand any Jane Austen stuff and their ilk). Anyway, through popular culture, I expected _Frankenstein_ to be a book about a lab, a mad scientist, assembled body parts, and lightning bolts. It’s not (or at least, there’s no scene like that and it’s hardly the thread of the ongoing storyline). It’s about choices, morality, humanity, guilt, and consequences. And there’s a reason it’s a classic. If you’ve never read it, I suggest putting it on your list.

I listened to the Dan Stevens’ (Downton Abbey) audiobook, and his narration is fantastic.