Girl in Story

Oh, this is almost physically painful. A section just for classics, but there isn't a single topic about Frankstein. That hurts.

I love Frankenstein so much. The story of how it was written is almost as cool as the actual novel, but the book itself is so incredible. It's philisophical, scientific, horrific, romantic, religious, a social commentary, and just plain fun to read.

Anyone else addicted or am I alone here?

Modern Prometheus

The way this book has been butchered through the years is unforgivable. I shall Defile James Whale's grave!

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"It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open" -Frankenstein

Girl in Story

I know, that movie is disgusting. The coolest thing about the creature was that he wasn't a monster until people made him that way, but the '31 film made him mute and animalistic, and I bet you that the film version of the monster never read Paradise Lost.

Modern Prometheus

There's one thing that always bugged me about the ending of the book. The Wretch vows to travel to the north pole where he will make a funeral pire to burn himself alive... where would he get the fuel?
EDIT: Oh wait, the book was published before anyone reached the pole. That explains it.

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"It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open" -Frankenstein

Girl in Story

Yeah, that's kind of vague, but you've got to give any author a little room to breathe. Especially since Shelley was like, eighteen.

The Hack

Great book. I agree that the story of how Shelley wrote the book is even more interesting than the book itself (especially considering her age).

Modern Prometheus, I had seen your name and couldn't place where I had heard it before. It wasn't until I saw this thread that I read your signature and remembered that it was the subtitle to Frankenstein (which I also find cool, as I love Greek mythology).

Girl in Story

Yeah, one thing I thought was kind of cool, was how when Mary and Percy Shelley were hanging out at Lord Byron's Villa Diodati, (I know I'm a nerd) Byron's phsyician wrote The Vampyre, which everyone (including Mary Shelley) thought sucked, but it basically paved the way for novels like Dracula. So in a way, two classic horror stories were made possible that summer.

lilacstarflower

I found it pretty dry to start with. The building of 'the wretch' was mostly skipped over and the climaxe of bringing it to life was passive. To me this could have been really great, considering the rest of the book is filled with great prose.

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lin

A classic????? Hmmm

One funny thing I notice. Almost nobody knows the name of the monster. But he had a name. And it WASN'T "Frankenstein"

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lilacstarflower

Frankenstein was the name of his creator - the narrator of most of the story.

Frankenstein often referred to the monster as 'the wretch' - it's really annoying when people think they know the story

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lin

Well, those who DO know the story tend to know that the creation was named "Adam"

Are you annoyed now?

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lilacstarflower

I'm always annoyed...

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lin

My kind of girl

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Mike C

You disagree? It's also generally credited as being the first SF novel.

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Dawnstorm

I wonder whether you know Brian Aldiss' novel Frankenstein Unbound, which is a fun tribute that includes both Mary Shelley & Co and Frankenstein & Co as characters. (There's a film, too, which was surprisingly close to the book.)

Have you seen the Ken Russel film Gothic? I think it's about the night when the novel was conceived, but it's long ago I've seen that one.

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Well, I do know the story, but this detail escapes me. Searching the document at Project Gutenberg reveals three mentions of "Adam" always referring to the biblical character in Paradise Lost. Different edition?