Readers will be surprised to read this nineteenth century "horror story," because the English woman Mary W. Shelley (1797-1851) did not write this book as it is shown in the many motion pictures that were made of it. She published this gothic tale, which many scholars see as the earliest version of a science fiction novel when she was only 21. Scholars think that she wrote it as an attack against the emerging industrial revolution, but perhaps, as we will see, it is more than that. The story is written in the delightful style of its time, like the mystery tale of the Englishman Wilke Collins, which was serialized in 1859-1860 and published in 1860, The Woman in White, which some scholars say is the first detective story, while others give the honor to Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).
Mary Shelley became the wife of the famous poet Percy Shelley after writing her novel. She subtitled it The Modern Prometheus. According to some but not all Greek myths, Prometheus was a giant who created people and latter brought them fire. It appears that the Prometheus in the tale is the creator Frankenstein, who was not a giant in height, but in intellect. Most people consider Prometheus a hero, but not Shelley. She thought of fire as being bad because it caused people to kill and eat animals and gave people more implements with which to wage war and murder people. Frankenstein tells the story to a man who saved him while he is pursuing the man he created. He warns the man not to pursue scientific goals that will harm humanity.
The Shelley story is about an educated man of science who was born in Switzerland and educated in a German university, who is interested in helping people. Everyone who meets him likes him. He comes from an educated amicable family who love him, and he loves them. He searches for an answer to what is life. He wonders if he can create life, and succeeds in doing so. He creates an eight-foot man, who is never named in the novel. He is repulsed by the man he creates and thinks of him as a monster as soon as the man is alive. All people who later see his creation are also repulsed and this causes the man to hide and live alone and it accounts for the profound loneliness that the man feels. His creator becomes depressed at what he has done, rushes away from his lab, and is sick in bed for four months. He is Frankenstein. The unnamed man he created leaves.
Frankenstein returns home from Germany and discovers that someone killed his younger brother. He is convinced that the man he created did it, and pursues him to kill him. He meets his creation and is unable to harm him because the man is larger and stronger than he. His creation tells Frankenstein that he killed his brother by mistake. The boy saw him, was disgusted at seeing him, and started shouting. All he did was place his hand over the boy's mouth. He tells how he has been traveling about for more than a year, found that every human despises him, and has become very lonely. He begs Frankenstein to make him a female companion because he, like the biblical Adam, can't live alone. Frankenstein agrees.
However, when he finishes making the female he becomes frightened that two monsters, as he thinks of them, could harm mankind. So he destroys the female. The man he created is enraged and vows vengeance against Frankenstein for destroying his life.
What happens to Frankenstein and the man he created, I will leave for readers to read and enjoy. Will the creation carry out his threat? If yes, how? Which of the two will outlive the other? What will the survivor do? Is it right to call Frankenstein's creation a monster because of the way he looks? Readers may also want to ask themselves: is Mary Shelly's pessimistic approach to scientific advances justified?
Perhaps there is another interpretation of the story. It may be an examination with comments upon the creation of man. The first biblical creation Adam is unnamed, like Frankenstein's creation. Although most people think his name is Adam, the Hebrew word adam actually means "human." There is an ancient Jewish legend that when God decided to create this adam, the angels objected that people were not sufficiently good. This parallels the rejection of Frankenstein's creation by society. Like Frankenstein's creation, the adam was also lonely and wants a companion. Today, many people, like Frankenstein's creation feel alienated and lonely, and live a life without meaning. This is something to think about.
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Reviews with images
A small-sized, expensive edition ($29.95) with lackluster reproduction of Wrightson's artwork.
There have been four different editions of FRANKENSTEIN with Wrightson art, and unfortunately this is the smallest-sized (6x9 inches) and most expensive ($29.95) edition with lackluster printing of the artwork (see photo). Obviously, if you just want the book for its text, there are dozens of other choices, and far cheaper. But the publisher, in its sales copy, is careful to make the distinction that this edition has the Wrightson art, which is its main selling point. Therefore, wouldn't you think they'd give us a proper showcase, with coated matte paper, like the IDW edition (the best of the four), instead of printing this on inexpensive, highly absorbent, standard book stock (55-pound or 70-pound, at most)?The result is a book that simply isn't a good value for the money. If you want an edition of FRANKENSTEIN with the art gorgeously reproduced, in a large format, on coated semi-matte paper and exquisite reproduction, you'll have to buy one on the secondary market, because that edition, from Dark Horse, is long out of print. Go seek it out. Oh, my lord, it's such a beautiful book in every way, right down to its satin ribbon.As a former book marketing director, while I applaud S&S for getting the book back in print, they are best advised to sell out the remaining inventory and go back to the drawing board, just as the late Bernie Wrightson did when he realized it was high time for the art to match the book with classic art. Bernie poured his heart and soul into illustrating what is unquestionably his masterpiece.Perhaps the second time around the publisher will get a copy of the IDW edition and say: "How can we improve on this?" (Well, for starters, reprint Joyce Carol Oates' essay on the book, and add an appreciation of Wrightson himself, and add an additional gallery of the unused Wrightson artwork that appeared in a separate book, from a small press, titled THE LOST FRANKENSTEIN PAGES.) Then they'll have a book for the ages, which will make money for them for many years to come, which is what Bernie Wrightson's art richly deserves, and his wife Elizabeth also deserves, and what we, as readers, will buy.Note: I have posted two photos of the Dark Horse edition, which I highly recommend.
Top reviews from other countries
Claudio Albarrán
Excelente relación calidad-precio
Reviewed in Mexico on July 19, 2023
Bernard Fletcher
Better than any film!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2023
