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 Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 10:20 am
So once we are all done the book, this is the thread in which we discuss it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 5:40 pm
I just finished the book. Anyone else done yet?
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FindingJackie Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:55 pm
Tommy Dionysus I just finished the book. Anyone else done yet? I just finished it. Literally a minute ago. I must say I have really mixed feelings about this novel, most likely due to me reading it in two ways at once: as an entertaining work of horror fiction and as a thought-provoking classic. As entertainment, the novel disappointed me. There was something enticing about her writing, but I didn't find the fear and tension I was expecting, even without thinking of the various movies that have very little to do with the book. Also Victor seriously got on my nerves with his self-righteous whining. XD I somehow most enjoyed the part during which the monster was talking about the time he spent observing the family in the cottage and wishing to join them. I might have been a little difficult to affect because I was thinking so much, though. I like how neither Victor nor his creature are blameless. I kept trying to assess how much blame should befall each character and how trustworthy they were. In fact, for a while at first, I was reading it the way you read French fantastic literature: wondering if any of the weird stuff is even real at all. Until the first speech of the monster, I thought maybe Victor had imagined everything and was going mad. I think it was overall an interesting reflection on ethics in science, the value of companions in creating a person's values and moral compass etc. I was also really confused when my research director mentioned a few days ago that it's been interpreted as a novel about the French revolution. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Ok, now that I've given a (lenghty?) idea of my opinion on the book, here are some questions I'd like to discuss with you guys, apart from just your general opinion (if you want to, of course): -What was your favorite part of the novel? -What did you think of Victor and his monster? Which is most to blame? How good or bad are they actually? -While reading it, what did you think this novel was about?
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 7:55 pm
In all honesty, I was also a little bit dissappointed in the book, and it wasn't the self pitying whining that got to me, rather it was the way he just abandoned his creation. The writing, for the time, was very good. And with it being one of the most widely known horror stories, in the context of the time when it came out I can see why it was so shocking. It was also interesting to see how much they embellished the story over the years, There is no assistant, no need for a lightning storm, the creature grows intelligence over the years, and no mention of the Dr to whom Victor tells his tale.
All in all, it was an enjoyable read at parts, and a book that made me want to scream at others. The ending was interesting in that Victor just dies, and the creature decides that he can't go on. I found myself sympathising with the creature far more than I did Victor. It almost seemed childish how Victor seemed to decide that he would not help the creature by creating another. Whilst his arguments were sound, they seemed almost adolescent. He didn't Want to do it, so he wouldn't do it, like a toddler refusing just because he's stubborn.
My favourite part, to answer FindingJackie's questions, was when the creature was spying on the family, it seemed like such a human thing to do and really endeared me to the creature.
I thought Victor was the most to blame, as he seemed to have had no thought beyond his own selfish goals and interests. Had he not abandoned the creature, I am sure things would have worked out far different.
My thoughts on what the novel was about was, in many ways, a womans fear of stillbirth. At the beginning of my edition of the book was a foreword by a noted historian, who mentioned that Mary had had a stillborn child, so my thoughts where that this was a way for a woman to create life through the male dominated world of writing. She was surrounded by men who encouraged her, and seemed an unconventional sort herself, but she was still a woman in days when that was thought to be the biggest weakness of all. And she had failed at the one thing a woman had to do that men couldn't. I saw the chapters of how the creature learned to be human in very much the same light of a child learning from it's parents.
But those are just my thoughts, I'm interested in hearing others.
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FindingJackie Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 9:47 pm
Eva Carline In all honesty, I was also a little bit dissappointed in the book, and it wasn't the self pitying whining that got to me, rather it was the way he just abandoned his creation. The writing, for the time, was very good. And with it being one of the most widely known horror stories, in the context of the time when it came out I can see why it was so shocking. It was also interesting to see how much they embellished the story over the years, There is no assistant, no need for a lightning storm, the creature grows intelligence over the years, and no mention of the Dr to whom Victor tells his tale. All in all, it was an enjoyable read at parts, and a book that made me want to scream at others. The ending was interesting in that Victor just dies, and the creature decides that he can't go on. I found myself sympathising with the creature far more than I did Victor. It almost seemed childish how Victor seemed to decide that he would not help the creature by creating another. Whilst his arguments were sound, they seemed almost adolescent. He didn't Want to do it, so he wouldn't do it, like a toddler refusing just because he's stubborn. My favourite part, to answer FindingJackie's questions, was when the creature was spying on the family, it seemed like such a human thing to do and really endeared me to the creature. I thought Victor was the most to blame, as he seemed to have had no thought beyond his own selfish goals and interests. Had he not abandoned the creature, I am sure things would have worked out far different. My thoughts on what the novel was about was, in many ways, a womans fear of stillbirth. At the beginning of my edition of the book was a foreword by a noted historian, who mentioned that Mary had had a stillborn child, so my thoughts where that this was a way for a woman to create life through the male dominated world of writing. She was surrounded by men who encouraged her, and seemed an unconventional sort herself, but she was still a woman in days when that was thought to be the biggest weakness of all. And she had failed at the one thing a woman had to do that men couldn't. I saw the chapters of how the creature learned to be human in very much the same light of a child learning from it's parents. But those are just my thoughts, I'm interested in hearing others. So we have the same favourite chapter! It's a very nicely written part, right? The monster's discourse was the most touching part of the whole novel, I think. About the stillbirth, that's a very interesting interpretation. I hadn't thought about this. I'd noticed how a lot of it was reminiscent of a child's development and upbringing, but I didn't think quite as far. It sure puts the novel in a different perspective. I agree with you about Victor being wrong in abandoning his creation. I didn't make it part of my critique of the novel itself because I thought of it mostly as part of the idea behind the book: the guilt of a man who didn't take proper responsibility when he made experiments, then lost control and reacted in a way that could only make things worse. He's constantly trying to say he is right, or that his only mistake was creating the monster in the first place, but never seems to acknowledge the fact that, indeed, if he had stayed with the creature, things could have turned out completely different. All in all, I also found myself sympathizing more with the monster, but it was still disturbing. While I was reading, I saw someone online saying "Remember, the only evil person in Frankenstein is the doctor" or something along those lines, and I couldn't help but notice that the murders seemed completely lost on that person, as if they didn't notice he killed people who wouldn't give him the affection he sought...
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:41 am
To be quite honest, I fell in love with Victor by the end of the story. Yes, he was very much in the wrong, and yes, if he had stayed with the Monster I am 100% sure the Monster could have developed much differently over the same amount of time. But the way Victor spoke about those whom he claimed to love, and the way he threw himself into his work with fiery passion when he was making the creature, and the desperate sincerity of his character endeared him to me in a way I didn't expect.
I am inclined to agree with you both on the Monsters spying on the family with the blind father. That endeared the Monster to me as well. I saw things from his perspective and I changed my ideas on what I wanted to happen. But then Victor was looking at everything from the wrong angle, and I am sure that had he completed his Monsters Bride - had he spent the time to educate and care for her unlike what he did for his first creation - I am sure he could have created a being capable of tempering the Monsters anger, and true to his word, the Monster and his Bride would have stayed alone together.
I fell in love with both Creator and Creation in this story.
The idea that this was her way of creating a life after failing at it the conventional way, I like that. It makes a lot of sense. I also see this story as being representative of how humanity as a whole acts when someone is too different, disfigured or even just not pretty enough. Even now, this same reaction toward the Monsters outer visage would be par for the course. Humans, despite technological advancements, are essentially the same vain, shallow creatures we always were. It made a nice social commentary on how we treat our fellow man if he is different from us visibly.
Victor holds the most responsibility, to be sure. But the Monster is not entirely blameless in making the decision to start murdering. I can understand why he did, and I can understand the situations that corralled him to that point, but if he were truly benign he would not have made the decision to murder at all. That is on the Monster just as much as it is on Victor. But if Victor hadn't run away repulsed by his own creation - if Victor had taken the responsibility of Creator far, far more seriously and stuck by his Monster, taught and looked after his Monster - I have no doubt the Monster would have turned out completely different, having had a parental figure to guide and shape him.
I don't necessarily think either Creator or Creation are evil. Victor made mistakes in the throes of scientific passion and youthful folly. The Monster had no real parental figure, he raised and guided himself, and therefore couldn't have really developed a proper moral compass. Neither are completely blameless, and neither are completely to blame.
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