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Mario the lone bookwolf's Reviews > Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
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really liked it
bookshelves: classics

Let´s sew some bodyparts together

Creating life has never been so disgusting
And it started an avalanche of fantasy, horror, and sci fi ideas on how to best pimp one's corpse, zombie, alien parasite, etc. Before Frankenstein, there has always been the idea of resurrecting the dead, something comparable to the concept of creating life out of a modular system with different parts lego style. That´s the

Underlying ethical, philosophical part
Besides faith, there is an open question about identity, soul, consciousness, and especially death. Something so deeply build into our fragile flesh systems that it freaks us out each time we are confronted with it. Thinking about the implications is what Frankenstein is about, mixed with

Borderline science and the question of who is really evil
Mad scientists are certainly as old as time, although I can´t choose if a crazy priest vivisecting human sacrifices is cooler than a Star Wars/Trek antagonist letting robots and AI do all the dirty work. However, it often seems as if the creature, monster, or übermensch created was the truly terrible thing and not the people sponsoring this stuff. By contrasting this with the (view spoiler) monster Shelley gives a

Crash course in morality
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That´s something ignored and misunderstood in many interpretations and new variations, because it has much to do with one's ideology. A reason for that might be that it´s much easier to create a stereotypical work without much depth than to show the complex inner lives of all protagonists and antagonists.
Integrating this element opens up many ethical implications regarding who the real monster is, leading to

Too many open questions that can´t be answered easily
So instead of being an action filled or thrilling horror fantasy novel, Frankenstein is much deeper than one would expect. Because, honestly, didn´t many people reading it expect something like a typical horror novel and were surprised by the density of wtf moments letting one stop reading to question humanities and life itself?

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
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Reading Progress

Finished Reading
March 7, 2018 – Shelved

Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)

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Claude's Bookzone Great review, Mario. I literally bought a cool edition of this from a second hand bookshop today. I also have a t-shirt with my favourite quote from this novel. ❤️📚


Mario the lone bookwolf Claude's wrote: "Great review, Mario. I literally bought a cool edition of this from a second hand bookshop today. I also have a t-shirt with my favourite quote from this novel. ❤️📚"

Thanks!
Second hand books rule!


message 3: by Cecily (new)

Cecily I know the story, of course, but have never read it, so I enjoyed your review - especially as I just read (and have yet to review) Winterson's very disappointing Frankissstein: A Love Story.


Mario the lone bookwolf Cecily wrote: "I know the story, of course, but have never read it, so I enjoyed your review - especially as I just read (and have yet to review) Winterson's very disappointing [book:Frankissstein: A Love Story|4..."

Thanks!
I´ve just read the description of the bad book, it´s double sad because it at least tried to deal with some important topics.


Hanneke Great review, Mario. I actually loved that novel once I finally read it. Mary Shelley wrote a great story! So much better than one expected. As as I now see Cecily’s remark about Winterson’s Frankissstein, I totally agree with her. That surely was a disappointing novel!


Azet I read this classic for a swedish course and i LOVED IT SO MUCH! Its dark gripping feel gave me goosebumps and such a epic feel to it. I couldn`t help but feel so sorry for the monster. Just so darn sad. The writing is superb as well. One of the best books ever in my opinion!

Another awesome review Mario!


Mario the lone bookwolf Hanneke wrote: "Great review, Mario. I actually loved that novel once I finally read it. Mary Shelley wrote a great story! So much better than one expected. As as I now see Cecily’s remark about Winterson’s Franki..."

Thank you! I also didn´t expect it to be going in that deep and sophisticated direction, more the way of of an average horror story


Mario the lone bookwolf Azet wrote: "I read this classic for a swedish course and i LOVED IT SO MUCH! Its dark gripping feel gave me goosebumps and such a epic feel to it. I couldn`t help but feel so sorry for the monster. Just so dar..."

Thanks!
The creatures' suffering is truly immense, just as the implications of why it has to live such an existence of just darkness and agony


message 9: by Raffaella (new)

Raffaella Great review! I remember one of the most powerful quote ever written: beware, because I’m fearless, therefore powerful. How much truth in one sentence. And the book goes on like that. You’re so right. Beside the horror, there’s so much more.


Mario the lone bookwolf Raffaella wrote: "Great review! I remember one of the most powerful quote ever written: beware, because I’m fearless, therefore powerful. How much truth in one sentence. And the book goes on like that. You’re so rig..."

Thank you!
As you say, the really good classics are just the tip of the iceberg of deeper meaning and big history fascination.


Jonathan K (Max Outlier) Watched the Kenneth Branaugh, Robert DeNiro version the other night and its one of the few adaptations that resembles the book.


message 12: by India M. (new)

India M. Clamp How best to pimp one's corpse? Frankenstein is a "horror" novel---as when this kind of resurrection happened the occupant was not the same. Nice review.


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