Frankenstein
By Mary Shelley
Reviewed By Oren Raynes
Book 15 of 2026
The Writing
Wow. Just wow. The writing is amazing but also tiresome. This book felt like it was written by someone who had a dictionary right beside them. It felt like one long monologue from either Victor or the Monster. When in Victor's point of view, the extensive and varied vocabulary did make sense as he is supposed to be this scientist and very intelligent. I wouldn't have expected the same out of the Monster, though.
I found that the writing left a lot to the reader's imagination. For instance, there was almost nothing mentioned about the gravedigging (I suspect the subject of graverobbing body parts was a little too delicate a subject back then). But on the flip side, it was nice to see a novel written for people of intellect instead of how most books are written nowadays.
The Story
The story itself was really good. Of all the Frankenstein movies I have seen, the newest one prolly comes closest to the book.
The story follows Victor as he creates a lifeform out of dead body parts, after which he abandons the Monster in fear and disgust. The book really just glosses over the creation, whereas most movies focus more on that. Then it delves into the human aftermath of the creation. We watch Victor slowly descend into hell after creating the Monster. The Monster kills his family and friends. Then the Monster kills Victor's wife Elizabeth on their wedding night because Victor wouldn't create a bride for the Monster.
This book really made me consider the ramifications of our actions toward people that don't look "normal". During the Monster's point of view we really see a beautiful person of great intellect and emotion who just wanted to find someone like himself so that he didn't have to be lonely anymore. We see this in the captain of the ship as well at the beginning of the book; Captain Walton talks a lot about finding a friend for himself.
The Takeaway
I would recommend this book as a must read. It's a classic for a reason. Bring a dictionary with you though.
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