August 2020 Book Club: Frankenstein

Halloween came early to our house. We read Frankenstein with our book club in August, and of course the possibilities for themed refreshments were practically endless.

These are ours:

 

Dr. Frankenstein's Lab

 

 

The cake decorated by my daughter.

 And these are from our friends. They came up with some brilliant ideas. They always amaze me:

 

Mini Frankensteins, pieced together from different foods. 

 

Bread shaped into bones.

 

And now for my review:

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Content: Pretty clean, even the killings aren't described much. 


Obsessed with the secret of creation, Swiss scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein cobbles together a body he’s determined to bring to life. And one fateful night, he does. When the creature opens his eyes, the doctor is repulsed: his vision of perfection is, in fact, a hideous monster. Dr. Frankenstein abandons his creation, but the monster won’t be ignored, setting in motion a chain of violence and terror that shadows Victor to his death.

 

This picture looks a lot closer to the way Frankenstein's monster is described in the book.

To quote my friend Alejandro's review.

"The original premise is astonishing, the following impact in popular culture is priceless and certainly the story "behind-of-the-scenes" of the creation of the novel is fascinating.

However, The actual writing of the book is tedious, the narration style is odd and the rhythm of the story is too slow."

He pretty much said everything I was thinking.

In the beginning this was incredibly slow, and the way it started with the letters that didn't seem to be relevant to anything, was frustrating. There is a lot of repetition in the book and I just wanted Mary Shelley to get to the point already. That being said I can appreciate the overall message of the book and it's contribution to literature.

The reason I was able to give it 3 stars instead of 2 is because I very much appreciated the fact that it made me think about responsibility, unconditional love, and consequences. Victor Frankenstein created a monster, not just because of the way he cobbled it together and played god, but because he couldn't love it and show affection and kindness to it. Just as Victor Frankenstein had a responsibility to his creation, I have a responsibility to my children and those around me. Sometimes all it takes is love to show someone they are worth something, and to keep a monster at bay. I don't regret reading it.


“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”