Halloween Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Wollstone Craft Shelley
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
First Published in 1818
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Frankenstein might be one of the most analyzed and reviewed books of all time. Whole books have been written about this book and its author Mary Shelley. I’m not a literary scholar so my review is going to be short and sweet. You can dig as deeply as you want to on your own time!
My book club likes to read at least one classic per year and this year’s was Frankenstein. It was our October pick because it seemed the perfect month to review a book about a monster. Interestingly, there are two editions of Frankenstein. It was originally published in 1818. When it came out, people were aghast that an eighteen year old girl could conceive of such horrors and write about them – ladies being delicate flowers and all that. In 1831 a new edition was published that Shelley had revised from the 1818 version to make the book less shocking. Almost all of my book club buddies and I read the 1818 version published by Penguin Classics. Penguin included a short overview of Shelley’s life. She had quite an eventful one and several biographies about her have been written.
Frankenstein was a lot different than I thought it would be. The monster wasn’t an inarticulate beast afraid of fire and being chased by villagers with torches. He was actually quite intelligent. Also, a fair amount of the story was about Dr. Frankenstein’s life independent of the monster.
There was much to discuss about this book. We talked about Mary Shelley’s life and how it influenced Frankenstein. There were also many ethical issues to talk about, the first being is it okay for man to create life by means other than normal reproduction. Most everyone liked the book and our discussion went well over our one hour meeting time which hasn’t happened in the time that I’ve been a member.
As far as classic literature goes, Frankenstein is accessible and easy to understand. I recommend it for anytime of the year but especially if you’re looking for a good Halloween read.
