I was actually
excited to go online and read reviews and responses from a number of people who
have read the novel Frankenstein by
Mary Shelley. I was curious to see what other people thought and how it
compared to my own ideas and also the ideas that we have discussed in class. I
read a number of reviews from all three of the suggested websites: Barnes and
Noble, Goodreads, and Amazon. The very first review I read was on Goodreads and
I actually laughed while reading it. The lady absolutely hated the book and
when describing the type of fun she had reading it she said, “Kinda like sticking bamboo shoots between my fingernails type of fun. Watching paint dry fun. Going to an Air Supply concert fun" (Hannah). She obviously did not like the book at all and while there was not an overwhelming amount of negative reviews, there was still a handful and to be honest, those were the most fun to read. The majority of reviews and opinions on the book were good. On Goodreads 58% of people gave the book a 4 or 5 star rating and overall it received an average rating of 3.65 stars. On Barnes and Noble 76% of people gave the book a 4 or 5 star rating, with over 50% of that being 5 stars. Amazon's rating were similar as well with the majority of reviews being good or great.
The majority of the negative reviews focused on the ideas that the book was boring and lacked action, was built up only to be a let down, was just a sob story about a failed parent figure, and contained way too much whining while lacking an overall meaning. One review summarized it simply as this: "Pgs 1-30: Background and random stuff, 1 page of action, 30 pages of him being in "utter agony with the bitterest remorse" and being a pansy and getting sick, 1 page of action, 10 pages of conclusion" (Sarah). This summarizes most of the complaints I read. There was too much talking and deciding what to do next and then whining about the situation anyways and there was never a point of closure or happiness. People expected an acclaimed literary success that has survived for 200 years to deliver more than it does. Victor dedicates years of his life to his work just to run from it once he finally succeeds. This is where the complaints about Victor being a terrible complaint come in. I came across comments that talked about what Victor should have done - showed the creature some love, maybe given it a name, taught it something - and he would not have been in the terrible situation his life turned into. It is ultimately his poor parenting that results in the misfortunes of his life and the lives of those close to him. It is these reviewers that also see no real meaning behind the novel. In my opinion, they are reading it too much of a literal level and are missing the deeper meaning.
The majority of reviews I read - aka the positive opinions - were from people that obviously read into the deeper meaning of the story. The main ideas that were recurring included the story sharing messages about life that can relate to everyone, ethical and moral questions relating to today's society, the book being a must read that cannot be put down once started, Shelley's amazing writing ability, and that to fully appreciate the novel readers should know at least a brief history into Shelley's life. "It relates to various sides of our lives, it is philosophical and exciting to read. It should be a must read for humanity because it teaches important lessons for life” (Anonymous). To some readers this idea might be a stretch but to many it couldn’t be truer. We can relate the events of Frankenstein to events in our lives and society such as our own morals and ethics, the consequences of our actions, and on a more society level we can compare it to reproductive technologies and parenting. These are all things that we discussed more in depth in class and over Twitter but basically it’s the question of Victor’s morals in deciding to make the creature and then his decision to leave it, the ethics behind stealing body parts in order to create this monster and the responsibility that was his to take when his creation began killing and causing harm. These ideas cause readers to think about things in their everyday lives differently and shine a new light on some of these topics. Those of them that also know Mary Shelley’s history feel even more strongly about the events in the book because they understand why she wrote it the way that she did. They understood her past as a mother who lost many of her children and who lived in fear of her next pregnancy resulting in deformities, death for her or the child, and the ultimate worry that she would not come to love her child. This aspect probably hits readers that are parents the most. They saw their children and their family lives in a new way once reading this novel. New perspectives were gained by a number of readers on many things in life after reading this book and many have read the book more than once and continue to read it from time to time. A complete 180 degree difference from many of the very negative reviewers who stated they would never read the book again and many who even said they would rather inflict pain on themselves instead of reading Frankenstein, these positive reviewers cannot get enough of the story.
Above I have mostly described the two extremes in opinion about the story but of course there is an intermediate stand-point that has opinions from both points of view. This is where I would fit in. I found the book to be overall great and meaningful but also boring to read at times with little action. It was my second time reading the novel and I found that I had much better understanding of it this time around. The first time I read it I probably fit in more with the negative opinions because I really did not understand what was happening and what the point of the story was. It did seem like a disappointment the first time because I went in expecting what many others probably do – a horror, monster story with excitement and action. So I can see where the negative reviewers are coming from in their opinions when I think back to my first time reading this novel. Some of them are a little extreme though in their bashing on the novel. Reading a few of the reviews made me wonder if the person really read the book for any meaning at all or if they just flew through it hoping it would ‘get better’. While everyone is entitled to their opinion there were a few that I think took it too far in completely bashing Shelley’s work and stating how they do not know how this novel could have possibly survived for 200 years.
Sources:
Anonymous. "Frankenstein (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)." BARNES & NOBLE. N.p., 8 Mar. 2000. Web. 09 Dec. 2012
Hannah. "Frankenstein." Goodreads. N.p., 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2012
Sarah. "Frankenstein." Goodreads. N.p., 8 Jan. 2010. Web. 09 Dec. 2012
The majority of the negative reviews focused on the ideas that the book was boring and lacked action, was built up only to be a let down, was just a sob story about a failed parent figure, and contained way too much whining while lacking an overall meaning. One review summarized it simply as this: "Pgs 1-30: Background and random stuff, 1 page of action, 30 pages of him being in "utter agony with the bitterest remorse" and being a pansy and getting sick, 1 page of action, 10 pages of conclusion" (Sarah). This summarizes most of the complaints I read. There was too much talking and deciding what to do next and then whining about the situation anyways and there was never a point of closure or happiness. People expected an acclaimed literary success that has survived for 200 years to deliver more than it does. Victor dedicates years of his life to his work just to run from it once he finally succeeds. This is where the complaints about Victor being a terrible complaint come in. I came across comments that talked about what Victor should have done - showed the creature some love, maybe given it a name, taught it something - and he would not have been in the terrible situation his life turned into. It is ultimately his poor parenting that results in the misfortunes of his life and the lives of those close to him. It is these reviewers that also see no real meaning behind the novel. In my opinion, they are reading it too much of a literal level and are missing the deeper meaning.
The majority of reviews I read - aka the positive opinions - were from people that obviously read into the deeper meaning of the story. The main ideas that were recurring included the story sharing messages about life that can relate to everyone, ethical and moral questions relating to today's society, the book being a must read that cannot be put down once started, Shelley's amazing writing ability, and that to fully appreciate the novel readers should know at least a brief history into Shelley's life. "It relates to various sides of our lives, it is philosophical and exciting to read. It should be a must read for humanity because it teaches important lessons for life” (Anonymous). To some readers this idea might be a stretch but to many it couldn’t be truer. We can relate the events of Frankenstein to events in our lives and society such as our own morals and ethics, the consequences of our actions, and on a more society level we can compare it to reproductive technologies and parenting. These are all things that we discussed more in depth in class and over Twitter but basically it’s the question of Victor’s morals in deciding to make the creature and then his decision to leave it, the ethics behind stealing body parts in order to create this monster and the responsibility that was his to take when his creation began killing and causing harm. These ideas cause readers to think about things in their everyday lives differently and shine a new light on some of these topics. Those of them that also know Mary Shelley’s history feel even more strongly about the events in the book because they understand why she wrote it the way that she did. They understood her past as a mother who lost many of her children and who lived in fear of her next pregnancy resulting in deformities, death for her or the child, and the ultimate worry that she would not come to love her child. This aspect probably hits readers that are parents the most. They saw their children and their family lives in a new way once reading this novel. New perspectives were gained by a number of readers on many things in life after reading this book and many have read the book more than once and continue to read it from time to time. A complete 180 degree difference from many of the very negative reviewers who stated they would never read the book again and many who even said they would rather inflict pain on themselves instead of reading Frankenstein, these positive reviewers cannot get enough of the story.
Above I have mostly described the two extremes in opinion about the story but of course there is an intermediate stand-point that has opinions from both points of view. This is where I would fit in. I found the book to be overall great and meaningful but also boring to read at times with little action. It was my second time reading the novel and I found that I had much better understanding of it this time around. The first time I read it I probably fit in more with the negative opinions because I really did not understand what was happening and what the point of the story was. It did seem like a disappointment the first time because I went in expecting what many others probably do – a horror, monster story with excitement and action. So I can see where the negative reviewers are coming from in their opinions when I think back to my first time reading this novel. Some of them are a little extreme though in their bashing on the novel. Reading a few of the reviews made me wonder if the person really read the book for any meaning at all or if they just flew through it hoping it would ‘get better’. While everyone is entitled to their opinion there were a few that I think took it too far in completely bashing Shelley’s work and stating how they do not know how this novel could have possibly survived for 200 years.
Sources:
Anonymous. "Frankenstein (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)." BARNES & NOBLE. N.p., 8 Mar. 2000. Web. 09 Dec. 2012
Hannah. "Frankenstein." Goodreads. N.p., 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2012
Sarah. "Frankenstein." Goodreads. N.p., 8 Jan. 2010. Web. 09 Dec. 2012
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