The annotated Frankenstein

English language

Published May 3, 2012 by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

ISBN:
978-0-674-05552-0
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4 stars (4 reviews)

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821.

125 editions

An unexpected pleasure

5 stars

I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.

There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to …

Wonderfully tense atmosphere

4 stars

I read a good biography of Mary Shelley back in April, but had never actually gotten around to reading her famous novel, Frankenstein, until now. I spotted it on a campsite book exchange and thought it really was about time! Frankenstein is such a cultural icon that I assumed I already knew the basic storyline, but it turned out that much of what I thought I knew isn't actually in the novel at all! And much of the novel is far deeper in ideas and tone than many of its recreations would have us believe.

Beginning with letters back home from an arctic explorer, Walton, we learn of his scientific intentions and of his bizarre meeting with a lone man stranded on an ice floe. That lone man is Victor Frankenstein, an obsessive Swiss scientist who had created and animated a monstrous man, but terrified by his creation, had immediately …

Diferente a lo esperado

4 stars

Hay cosas que me han gustado mucho y cosas que no tanto. 3'5 estrellas para mí. Me ha sorprendido que la historia sea tan diferente a la historia popular que el cine ha metido en nuestras cabezas. Me ha decepcionado algunas cosas de la narración, como el propio momento "nacimiento" del monstruo. Creo que se le notan los años más de lo que esperaba. Me ha parecido curioso el nivel de anidamiento de narraciones (cartas donde se cuentan historias de otros, que cuentan cartas e historias de otros). Me ha gustado el desarrollo quijotesco de los personajes.

Aprendiendo a construir hábitos

4 stars

Me gusta leer este tipo de libros de vez en cuando, aunque lo haga con mirada crítica, siempre aprendo algo. Es verdad que fomentan ese tipo de sociedad hiperproductiva que odio, así que lo dicho, ojo con caer en la autoexplotación que promueve el sistema, y la mirada del éxito desde el "hacer mucho". De cualquier modo, si intentas generar nuevos hábitos, hay buenos y útiles consejos. Lo recomiendo

Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Frankenstein's monster (Fictitious character)
  • Victor Frankenstein (Fictitious character)
  • Scientists