Discussion of Frankenstein

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How do you rate Frankenstein?

1 star - poor, recommend against reading it
1
2%
2 stars - fair, okay
5
9%
3 stars - good, recommend it
25
46%
4 stars - excellent, amazing
23
43%
 
Total votes: 54

starla1781
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Re: Discussion of Frankenstein

Post by starla1781 »

It has been several years once I read Frankenstein but what I remember most is the humanity of the "monster". I remember feeling an immense sympathy for him and the pain and loneliness he went through.
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shadedragon
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Post by shadedragon »

I enjoyed this book a lot.
We read it last year, for English class, and it was among my favorites we read for the year.
What fascinated me was how it evolved from her short stories she had written with friends, out of a competition they were having :) after she had been through so much though :(
In the book I connected with the monster more than with Frankenstein, like Schaps and woodshedder were saying. The disregard and abandonment by Frankenstein bugged me quite a bit as well, but I can understand it better when knowing Shelley's background.
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tiajanay
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Post by tiajanay »

howardsadvocate wrote:It's about the time old question, nature vs nurture, does evil exist, does good exist, or are they just human inventions?

"I was born benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend."

Are we merely just the sum of our surroundings & experiences? Can it be as simple as that?
Frankenstein's monster is the creation of genius.

Mary Shelley, I would have loved to have had a beer with you.

-- 05 Oct 2012, 21:46 --

The pure innocence of chapter 11 contrasts so sharply with the rest of the book, he is like a child, experiencing all for the first time, it created a lot of empathy for him for me when I read it, and its memory inclined me to pity him later.

[I'm not allowed to post links yet, aha, I have not earned my url rights, you'll have to find it yourselves]

""Here then I retreated, and lay down happy to have found a shelter, however miserable, from the inclemency of the season, and still more from the barbarity of man."


The whole book just makes you see all the cruelty and the sadness in humanity. It certainly made me think.

"They were not entirely happy. The young man and his companion often went apart, and appeared to weep. I saw no cause for their unhappiness; but I was deeply affected by it. If such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being, should be wretched."

You've obviously read this more than once. For me i had to read this book three times before i got the larger picture and the themes. Nurture Vs. Nature and the perception of good and evil. because i mean in the end was Victor the Bad guy or was it his monster.
htrahan08
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Post by htrahan08 »

I love the book. I recently checked it out at the library after reading the historian. I ended up buying frankenstein for my kindle.
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kasper24
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Post by kasper24 »

period pieces like this one should not be read like and adventure novel because they are not written for the purpose of the adventure, but rather the emotional conflict of the time. I personally love the old English play on words. Like a true poet, Mary Shelley's words peel away at the human condition and bare the inner most core of every character in this tale that strangely enough seems to mirror her own fate.
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AliceRose
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Post by AliceRose »

Frankenstein is one of my favourite books. I was surprised at how much emotion and sympathy I felt for the monster, more so than Victor. I can't imagine what it must be like to be shunned and abandoned, to live in so much loneliness - I think anyone would be driven mad. Was he really evil at heart? I don't think so.
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aero monkey
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Post by aero monkey »

It was an interesting plot. I didn't enjoy it that much. rate 3/5

-- 29 Jul 2013, 17:22 --

It was an interesting plot. I didn't enjoy it that much. rate 3/5
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bkmay
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Post by bkmay »

Book is much better than the film.
jcheiser
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Post by jcheiser »

I happened to read this book at the same time that I was taking a psychology class, and I found myself analyzing Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster. I know many people dislike it, but I, personally, think that it has a lot of depth and I really enjoyed it.
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Craigable
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Post by Craigable »

It's been many moons since I read the novel, so I don't now recall my reaction to reading it. One thing has stuck with me over the years, though. It's the fact that the two great old-timey classic works of horror, Frankenstein and Dracula, are both epistolary novels--meaning they're novels written in the form of letters. I recall precious little about Stoker's novel, but I remember writing a paper in college discussing the fact that Shelley nests letters within letters.

Craig
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booklover510
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Post by booklover510 »

Read it for college. Traumatic story of the monster and how society treats those who are labeled as the monstrous "Other."
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librarynerd
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Post by librarynerd »

This book was way ahead of its time! Today, we think nothing of horror stories with mutilated body parts and murder. That is, on the surface, what Frankenstein is about; but, unlike today's "horror" genre, there is a more important story line / character line - that of the monster's struggle. It really is the struggle of all of us...we all experience an internal struggle of good vs. bad. We want to do good things, but each one of us has something inside to contend with that prevents us from being good all of the time. And the debate goes on in psychology and other fields of nature vs. nurture; this still hasn't been resolved.
srittyx3
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Post by srittyx3 »

The book was evitably advanced. But the classical book never really interested me. It just seemed very absurd and a slow read for me.
tracydinh96
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Post by tracydinh96 »

After reading, I have come to realize who is the real frankenstein. It is the doctor, not the actual monster. This book really depicts how cruel and horrible the world is.
scriptbunny
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Post by scriptbunny »

starla1781 wrote:It has been several years once I read Frankenstein but what I remember most is the humanity of the "monster". I remember feeling an immense sympathy for him and the pain and loneliness he went through.
You know what struck me about Frankenstein's monster? How much his image has morphed in popular culture! Shelley's monster was remarkably intelligent, a cogent speaker with complex thoughts and emotions, whereas our contemporary zombie-like henchman equivalents are not nearly as tragic, inevitably lacking in the ability to convey to us the humanity (or rather, inhumanity) of its being.
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