Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
It has been a really long time since I’ve read Frankenstein, so it was really refreshing to pick it up again now that I’m older.
It’s crazy how many of the themes Shelley addressed in this book remain relevant today in our current society. The most obvious is the idea of creation—creating life by playing God. Victor Frankenstein is the creator of the monster everyone fears, yet it came with terrible consequences that came back to haunt him. We’re currently seeing this with the development of AI by mankind, and how most sci-fi, apocalyptic, thriller, and action movies and books have shown the potential AI has in overthrowing our governments and taking over the world. The fact that we are actively inducing life into it with data, algorithms, formulas, and lots of testing is actually really scary. AI is getting better day by day (my Instagram feed has reels of videos generated by AI, and you wouldn’t be able to tell until someone pointed it out in the comments), and Frakenstein has made me more terrified of it than ever before. It also doesn’t help that I watched the newest Tron movie recently, and the entire plot basically addresses this. Then you have themes on prejudice, isolation, and neglect, which shed light on discrimination, racism, and xenophobia—lots of themes that parallel the ugly world we live in.
What I also love about Frankenstein is Shelley's decision to write in the first point of view, and how it’s technically narrated by three people. It isn’t explicitly specified, but the story begins with Captain Walton writing letters to his sister about his discovery of Victor Frankenstein in the Arctic, before the perspective switches to Frankenstein’s and his retelling of the story. Throughout the latter half of the narrative, the point of view switches again, but this time to the creature itself, who narrates his experiences of life, society, and how everyone is afraid of him. This is such an interesting and beautiful take, especially since the term ‘Frankstein’ encompasses both the man and the monster, the creator and the creation. I could honestly write a whole essay on this (which I honestly might do in the future!), but this is a book review, so I should really keep to it.
I won’t lie and say that the initial writing style through me off. I’ve been so used to reading books written in our modern, contemporary style that I had to take a day or so to adjust to Shelley’s authorial voice. I eventually got used to it and was able to fly through the book afterwards, but the initial few chapters took some effort. I truly do love the way Shelley writes; it’s very poetic, beautiful and precise.
Overall, Frankenstein is a 5-star read and a reason why it’s considered one of the best classics out there. I know there’s another movie adaptation of it that’s currently out and I can’t wait to watch it!
