Frankenstein - Mary Shelley - 1818

 

Ok so I definitely thought going in this book was going to be so so. However, the classics are starting to grow on me. One flew over the cuckoo’s nest encapsulates my personality perfectly (fight the power). And Last of the Mohicans is one of my favorite stories ever (I think that one is considered a classic but I could be wrong). 

The author of this book was a genius. Mary Shelley wrote this at age 19 in the year 1818. How the hell did she come up with this story??? I will have to read about her. 

I just spent the last 2.5 hours straight reading so I could finish and write this review. If I am reading the book a lot, that means it is good. This one is worth reading. 

The story touches on a lot of themes that are still relevant. The protagonist is very intelligent but this knowledge eventually destroys him: is too much knowledge bad?? Victor creates a life but his creation goes awry: should humans be able to create things as a God would??? Frankenstein is huge and ugly and therefore horribly lonely: looks matter. I think you can argue that if Victor had made Frankenstein a beautiful creature the rest of the story never would have happened. And finally what exactly is the debt owed to someone by their creator? Frankenstein longed for more from Victor but never really got it. And also how miserable is it to be eternally lonely (and more on this part next). 

Frankenstein’s principal problem (in my view) is not that he is inherently evil but that he is terribly lonely. When I was reading the section of the book when Frankenstein eloquently described this (Frankenstein is apparently super eloquent, he is also invulnerable basically so think like a giant ugly version of captain America, yes the Frankenstein we know now is not like the one in the book, and I truly think this book would make a great movie although I am sure there must be one out already but a modern one would be really good and really scary I think anyways) I thought I was reading about myself. No I am not ugly (I am average looking), but I often find myself searching for human connection that isn’t there or that doesn’t really materialize. In a much less drastic way, I am lonely like Frankenstein. 

Mary Shelley does a really good job making you wonder whether Victor is the bad guy or whether Frankenstein is the bad guy. In my view Victor messed up when he abandoned him at the beginning. He could have been his bridge to humanity and given him the company he craved so much. I think Frankenstein always wanted to be good but he was just too lonely and therefore turned evil (and I’m not condoning his actions I’m just saying if Victor helps him from the jump this is a much happier story). 

The tie between creator and being is also pretty cool. On the one hand Frankenstein is more powerful than Victor. On the other hand Frankenstein asked Victor for help so he would not be so lonely. On the one hand Frankenstein destroyed Victor’s life. On the other hand Frankenstein became the sole purpose of Victor’s life and Victor became the sole purpose of Frankenstein’s life. On the one hand Victor was hunting down Frankenstein. On the other hand Frankenstein has nothing left to do at the very end (I won’t give it away lol). Good does not exist without evil and vice versa (and who is good and who is evil in this story is up to you because it is a bit hard to tell at times). 

So maybe cast Chamalet as Victor and get a good makeup artist for Frankenstein. As for Elizabeth pick any hot female maybe this Nader lady from bay watch although idk if she looks Swiss. And yes, maybe you are wondering exactly how scary this book is, so reading it in daylight maybe it’s a 5 but I think if you put it on the big screen it could easily be rated R and jump to a 7 just because some parts are kind of violent. It would depend on if the director went for more of a psychological thriller or a chain saw thriller feel but really based on the book it probably would come out best as a combination of psychological fear and guts which would probably generate a lot revenue. I feel like a lot of horror films (and I haven’t watched one since my baby mama and I split lol) are either super violent or super psychological and not in between. But this story definitely has the potential to do both at once. 

Anyways read this and be better for it. I say top 20 all time for sure probably number 19. Peace idk what I am reading next. BTW this book is written in old English as you might expect (it’s from 1818 after all) which is at times annoying but mostly super funny. And it is not that long.