Customer Reviews

The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein

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2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you read "The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein" expecting to find a horror story similar to Mary Shelley's classic, then you will be extremely disappointed. But Theodore Roszak's novel is an excuse to make an argument, albeit in narrative form, concerning what Dr. Frankenstein wrought up in his laboratory. After all, Roszak is not only a novelist ("Flicker") but also a historian ("The Making of a Counter Culture"). The novel "Frankenstein" represents an important paradigm shift in human history, where science became God, replacing religion. In that regard you can say that the myth of Frankenstein replaced that of Faustus. Essentially "Frankenstein" argues that "there are some things man was not meant to tamper with," a tale that you can trace back to the Tower of Babel or see behind the story of the Titanic for that matter. Roszak makes a similar and no less compelling case for a different kind of shift. For Roszak the science of Dr. Frankenstein represents the "masculine," which replaces the older "feminine" wisdom represented by Elizabeth.

As an infant, Elizabeth Lavenza is given to a wandering gypsy. She is illegitimate, without a mother and rejected by her father. Nine years later she is adopted by the strange wife of Baron Alphonse Frankenstein. Elizabeth discovers that Lady Caroline Frankenstein belongs to a secret witches' coven. She has adopted Elizabeth to create an intellectual companion for her son Victor. Lady Caroline has the two children tutored by an old crone, Seraphina, who teaches the "women's mysteries," which includes a series of erotic devotions that serve to reveal the ancient secrets of life. However, Victor would rather dissect animals and study electrical storms. Rejecting magic, instinct and sensuality for the power of aggressive intellect, Victor destroys his friendship with Elizabeth in a brutal act. This sets up Roszak's one ironic twist on the original novel, for when the creature finally emerges in the final chapters of the novel, he befriends Elizabeth; of course, this is before he strangles her on her wedding night. Ultimately, Roszak has written an allegory that despite its willingness to wallow in arcane sexual rites argues for the privileged position of supposedly "feminist" ideals. For Roszak, Dr. Frankenstein is more Pandora than "The Modern Prometheus." If you have read Shelley's novel (not to be confused with the various film versions) and have an appreciation for how the dawn of the Age of Science changed things, then you will find "The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein" to be a provocative story.

This is a novel that works in amny levels. Of course, it is indeed, a masterful gothic. A bouquet to Mary Shelley and a very modern horror story, but beyond these layers it is also a study of the secrets of the women at a time when they were best thought of "in the dark"... and this is a dark story all right.

For those of use who longed for more about the enigmathic and tragic Elizabeth Lavenza-Frankenstein here is a book that won't be easily read, but neither will it be easily forgotten.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. And it certainly isn't a book for fans of most so-called "gothic horror" currently padding the bookshelves. This isn't a "isn't it cool to be undead" power fantasy ride and it isn't a "gasp what's behind that corner" thriller. It is instead a masterful work of fiction blended with fact, as Roszak weaves a tapestry that has as its subject matter not just Elizabeth Frankenstein, but the pre-Victorian age she lived in, the dark Romanticism of the age, and the (all too forgotten) revelation of pre-Twentieth Century feminism, and the pain that came with it.

The sensuality surrounding Elizabeth and Victor's relationship, consumed by Victor's dark passions, feels natural and powerful. Sexuality is a form of strength within this text. A kind of power that one keeps to one's self. This is reflected both in the couple's experimentation with sexual alchemy and in the shattering of their bond through rape-as-marriage. It further is highlighted by the "editor's remarks" that annotate the work, which are a paragon of Victorian priggishness while forced to begrudgingly admire Elizabeth's "perversities."

Accurately rendered and excellently written, this book should appeal to serious students of Romanticism and light fiction lovers alike.

But don't come in expecting easy to digest screams

I think that although this book is marketed as a prequel or retelling of "Frankenstein" and the author said that this is the book Mary Shelley would have written today, I would disagree. It's not written in a similar manner -- it shifts between her diary and a commentary or interpretation based on the view of her contemporaries. Although the horror aspect is still contained in "Memoirs" it is a horror that focuses on the technological worship of impersonal science. The horror also may be the sexual, psychological, political, physical, and spiritual oppression of women, all of which are explored in some manner in this book. Elizabeth's sexual explorations and themes of "witchcraft" may put some readers off of this book. My personal favorite part of this book was the ecofeminist idea that oppression of nature can be linked to oppression of women -- in other words, that science objectifies and dehumanizes both the natural world and women. These themes might seem a little "out there" to some readers, but may be fascinating to fans of women's studies or liberal minded folk. Certainly well-written.

Theodore Roszak wrote _The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein_ to further explore the character that Mary Shelley based on herself in _Frankenstein_: the foster sister and wife of the scientist main character. Roszak is eerily accurate in his portrayal of some of the most difficult female emotional situations (menstruation, childbirth, and rape), and I loved his invocation of the Reason versus Nature and God versus Science conflicts.

However, Roszak took some risks by choosing the same narrator as Shelley did. By allowing Robert Walton to re-tell the story (upon finding Elizabeth's journals), the deletion of important characters seems even more glaring. Victor's youngest brother, William, was completely left out, and as a result so was the character Justine, who had come to stay with the family. Also never mentioned was Victor Frankenstein's best friend Clavel. Both William and Clavel were victims of his creation before Elizabeth, but were left out by Roszak which marred my enjoyment of the novel somewhat.

For the most part however, I found _The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein_ to be a fascinating read and a wonderful study of a classic work of literature. The most amazing statement lies at the very heart of the novel: the desired result of the alchemic union Victor's mother was planning between Victor and Elizabeth was to stop the masculinization of science. I think Mary Shelley would have understood that.

I read this book just after it came out and have been searching for it ever since. I never found a book that was more intriguing that is based on another story. Most retellings that I have read are wishy- washy stories that have nithing to do with the original story. The way that they focused on the mythology in the Frankenstien family, interwoven with the beliefs of the time is what made it so interesting. a telling old a historical tale that gives woman a since of sexualilty. I would and will read this book over and over again.

The reviewer before me states that this book is mostly just silly, and yes that sums this book up for me too. The premise is good as is the first 100 pages or so before a downhill spiral into overstated feminism that is trumpeted rather than suggested and what is pretty much nonesense. The book becomes trashy to say the least, and full of inconsistancies obvious to anyone who has read the original.

Lets have an example. The book it says in the 'about the author' section was written by a Frankenstein scholar who has taught courses on the novel. If this is so how is it that he conveniently forgot the existance of Elizabeth's little foster brother William, murdered by the monster, or Justine the nursemaid wrongfully accused of his murder? These characters are simply missing.

It says on the cover "The shocking tale Mary Shelley dared not write', I didn't find it shocking, shockingly bad perhaps and Mary would never dare write such a bad novel. It strikes me as a book the author was writing anyway before he decided to change the names of the characters and stick the monster in the final 20 pages so he could cash in on the name. I would suggest reading 'Frankenstein Unbound' by Brian Aldyss, a far more erudite and entertaining retelling of the story :)

After the fabulous Flicker (the sort of book that won't let you put it down) I couldn't wait for this one. Whilst the writing certainly leaves an indelible impression poor old Mary Shelley would I think be writhing in her grave. Unfortunately I found that his premise of writing the feminist Frankenstein laughable to say the least. A lot of nonsense about the feminine mysteries of childbirth and sexuality made me squirm, which seems to me a hippy's version of how the world really was man. Ultimately, it seems to deal less with womens truth, and more of what a male author more than a little obsessed with the tantra (remember bhoga from Flicker?), would prefer to be the truth.

A feminist retelling of what I had always considered to be a feminist novel. This book is "literary horror"...the type of book that gets reviewed by the NY Times, contains pretentious notes about the typeface ("Centaur"), and whose author gets nominated for the National Book Award.

Roszak has done his homework--he knows Shelley's novel inside out. His prose is sufficiently 19th century but still accessible. The book offers some gruesome scenes and decent scares (I particularly like how the fiendish Victor creates the Creature's brain). The pacing is brisk. Problems include an anticlimactic ending which fails to surprise anyone who has read the original novel.

This retelling seems to equate feminism with lesbianism, evidenced in a fairly graphic lovemaking scene between Elizabeth and her adopted mother, Caroline. I found this scene unintentionally hilarious and for time this book comes perilously close to becoming "Masterporn Theater". This scene is important, however, if only because it proves that even National Book Award nominees fantasize about hot older women teaching hot younger women how to make out.

This lurid, gothic, bodice-ripper is fun trash...and I mean that as a compliment.

I had high hopes for this book. Although I haven't yet read Mary Shelley's classic, (it's in my huge "to read" pile at home), I am familiar enough with the story to have been intrigued by the premise of hearing it from Elizabeth's point of view. Unfortunately, THE MEMOIRS OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN ultimately falls far short of my high hopes.

I enjoyed Elizabeth's early years, and her last few, leading up to her discovery of what her lover, Victor was really up to at school, and her eventual ill-fated encounter with "Adam". It was the stuff in between that disappointed me most. Elizabeth's adoptive mother initiates her into a bizarre secret society of women, who participate in a number of odd lesbian rituals and secret midnight meetings in the woods, where women are celebrated and men are reviled. These scenes weren't offensive or enlightening, just silly.

I'm not sure what Roszak was trying to accomplish here. Elizabeth's voice did not come across as a strong, female one; but rather a confused, manipulated girl, severely influenced by her delusional mother.

The writing is decent enough, and parts of the story are commendable, but overall, this book misses the mark.