Hola! My recent read happens to be Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This is a classic. So, I wanted to see how this one would make me feel. Frankenstein is my fourth read this year. You will know what my review is in a bit but before that let me give you a quick recap of what I read previously this year: Tell me three things by Julie Buxbaum, Norwegian wood by Murakami, Bedu: Bedouin boy, Poet king by David W. Sutherland and Paul McKellips. And now, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Totally out of context but I’m super proud that my Goodreads challenge has been progressing smoothly. So, here’s a yay for that and let’s proceed to discuss the book.

A little bit about the book & the author:

Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only nineteen years old. This is the first novel penned by Mary Shelley. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science. Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature’s hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Frankenstein was an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres. It not only tells a terrifying story but also raises profound and disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have for each other? How far can we go in tampering with nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation, genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.

Review:

Frankly, I did not feel this book so engaging. As a reader, I felt a little bored at some points while reading it but as an author myself, I learned quite some lessons.

One, the narrative structure is a bit complex which rendered it almost impossible to get my head in the book. I could hardly read more than ten, fifteen pages at a stretch. I needed intervals for every fifteen pages on average. The language is medieval hence the complexity. There’s also too much superfluous narration that it took forever to get to the real story. Too many emotional monologues that felt tiring. But if you are someone who likes reading every minute detail and feeling, then you might like this.

Two, the story is fine. It was a bit depressing but those who might enjoy thrillers, this will be a good pick for you. There seems to be lag at some points as the story progresses.

Three, based on the before points, this book is a very slow read. I usually finish a book in two or three days (if it’s extremely engaging) but for Frankenstein, it took me nearly fifteen days to finish. Imagine how slow. Although, it is a nice change to read something completely different. For a lot of books, we can’t really find the narrative style. Most of them seem to be alike. But this narrative style is totally new, so I guess I enjoyed that. More than as a reader, I enjoyed it as an author, I must say.

Rating:

3 out of 5

Neither disappointed nor happy that I read this. Neutral. It would be beneficial to those people who aspire to be writers. For such people, I would definitely recommend reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. As an author, I would definitely leaf through these pages once again as this has some interesting insights to learn as a writer.

But more importantly, I did not enjoy this book as much as I expected. For me, in no way it’s entertaining. But if you enjoy reading classics, by all means, you should go for it.

So, this is what I felt about this classic, Frankenstein. How many of you have read this? And how many of you are planning to read this? Let me know in the comments. As always, I’d love to hear from you.

Lots of LOVE,

Nikki.

(Penname: Sarvani)

*Say HI to me on Instagram*