Review "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
Your thoughts and views on this classic novel....
I read this novel at a young age, and I still love it. The philosophical quandary about whether it's ethical or moral to create life from living tissue is a fascinating one. Even if one forgoes the outdated thought of a newly born being not having a soul, it brings up many questions that were only starting to be explored at the time, but are closer to being reality in our own time. Also, it takes an interesting look at the ideas behind nature vs. nurture, when the creature tries to figure out what exactly he is, and what makes him what he is. Over all, it's one of the best books I have ever read.
Has it ever been faithfully adapted?
Branagh's version may be the closest. The film gets a lot of crap, but I can't help but like it. It's over ambitious, over acted, and overly melodramatic, but I still enjoy watching it. Probably because of Branagh's magnetism.
 

duzit

Member: Rank 6
The "monster" has been so terribly portrayed in film, that the true story has been lost. The heartache

and "soul searching" that the monster tries to comprehend is the true story.

I read somewhere that the reason Shelly wrote the story was because she was with friends for the

weekend and it was raining, spoiling the outdoor fun they had scheduled. She was bored and wrote

this classic over the weekend, during their indoor internment.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
The "monster" has been so terribly portrayed in film, that the true story has been lost. The heartache

and "soul searching" that the monster tries to comprehend is the true story.

I read somewhere that the reason Shelly wrote the story was because she was with friends for the

weekend and it was raining, spoiling the outdoor fun they had scheduled. She was bored and wrote

this classic over the weekend, during their indoor internment.
Very true. In fact, Lord Byron proposed that they all attempt to write a scary story, and they would read them to each other and judge them. She created it out of a nightmare she had had that weekend. Very interesting story.
and a whole movie devoted to it in Ken Russell's, frankly bonkers, "Gothic" (1986) :emoji_confused:
A really strange movie, but one that isn't entirely unenjoyable. Just...yeah, bonkers.
 

Carol

Member: Rank 5
and a whole movie devoted to it in Ken Russell's, frankly bonkers, "Gothic" (1986) :emoji_confused:
Frankly bonkers - the film AND the lost weekend had by those Romantics - Howard Brenton's slightly earlier play Bloody Poetry works a bit better for me as an account of those events and more of their lives...(never filmed as far as I know). There is also a spectacularly fun and uber-bonkers episode of Highlander where we learn Byron is an immortal, with suitable outrageous consequences.

Most often overlooked is that Mary wrote the thing when she was only 17 - good on her!
 

Sunflower007

Member: Rank 3
I read this novel at a young age, and I still love it. The philosophical quandary about whether it's ethical or moral to create life from living tissue is a fascinating one. Even if one forgoes the outdated thought of a newly born being not having a soul, it brings up many questions that were only starting to be explored at the time, but are closer to being reality in our own time. Also, it takes an interesting look at the ideas behind nature vs. nurture, when the creature tries to figure out what exactly he is, and what makes him what he is. Over all, it's one of the best books I have ever read.

Branagh's version may be the closest. The film gets a lot of crap, but I can't help but like it. It's over ambitious, over acted, and overly melodramatic, but I still enjoy watching it. Probably because of Branagh's magnetism.

:emoji_blush:~ Branagh's performance was excellent but the movie was alright. A little closer to the novel but still had plenty of changes. The novel is a true timeless classic goth.:emoji_clap:


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