Review: Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I decided to re-read Frankenstein after reading Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein. I was amazed to discover how much I had forgotten - I've forgotten so much that I'm actually wondering if I did ever read it (it was more than 20 years ago to be fair).

Now that I'm older and (technically) wiser, I've found the book much more flawed than I remembered. So much so that I gave up on it three quarters in. Surprisingly for a book by a female author, all of the female characters are one dimensional and fit into the saintly woman trope. Plus, Victor Frankenstein is - at times - a self-pitying bore. It's a shame so little time is dedicated to the creature's story. The idea that nurture (or lack thereof) rather than nature makes the creature into a "monster" is still an important message today.

Whatever the flaws of Frankenstein, that Shelley wrote this when she was only 19 is astonishing. She did have an unusually good education for a woman at that time and was surrounded by literary figures such as Bryon. But, still impressive all the same.

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