Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Book Review

Frankenstein is not the name of the monster, but the name of the mad scientist. In this book, we have the story of Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s incredible transformation from his early days of living in Geneva to his entering the university of Ingolstadt. Here he begins to study medicine, with his goal being to unlock the secret of life and mortality.

When Victor thinks he’s discovered the secret, he becomes a lunatic trying to recreate a human being. However, when he finally stitches together and gives life to his creation, he is repulsed by it.

The monster runs away, and for much of the book, we hear about the monster’s struggle to find its own identity in a world where it’s a hideous freak – and all the while Victor Frankenstein wishes to destroy his own creation.

After Victor creates a wife for the dreaded monster and destroys it, the book becomes a dangerous game of revenge and redemption. The ending is dreadfully sad.

This book is a classic, and one of the best. Mary Shelley not only tells the tale of a mad scientist and his botched experiment, but she tells a much deeper story about what it means to be a human in the world. You can feel Mary’s own experiences and self-doubts in the pages.

It is a captivating lesson on what it means to be human, as we follow Frankenstein’s monster from one sad scene to another. Some of the lines evoke a deep sense of compassion.

The story moves on into even deeper tones of jealousy and vengeful hatred, until eventually, it concludes in a sad and finite way that makes you want to reread it to see every little thing you missed. It is one of the best classics out there.