Mary Shelley - Frankenstein IV

"This is truly one of those books that the films do justice to."


"It's been almost 30 years since I've detested a book this much. I didn't think anything could be worse then Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis'. Seems I'm never too old to be wrong."


"By the last half of the book, I was so fed up with her lack of vocabulary that I just could not stand to read it anymore."


"I thought it would be cool to finally know how the monster really came to life, but I didn't even get that much out of the book. It doesn't say how it was created, or even what happened to him after he left.

If you've ever read the book you know that long 50 page story of when the monster was stocking those people in the cottage. Instead of that how about this. After scaring a man out of his home, the monster finds a hole in the wall, looks through it and sees people. He watches them 24 7 while he learns more words, gets more food, and evidently, learns how to read. After so long he decides to meet and actually talk to them, but does it the wrong way so they beat him up and throw him out. Then he runs away ashamed of himself. Wow, that was so hard.

The book would be great with a little work. Okay, lots of work. But, you can't save them all."


"I have to add this to the top of the list of books that I have had to read but HATED! Let's see it was up there with Call of the Wild, The Odyssey, Farenheit 451, The King Must Die, True Grit, When the Legends Die, etc...I think you get my point. It is as if the teachers and district pick the worst possible books."


"In essence, Frankenstein is certainly credible for its depth, but anyone can be a philosopher. Unfortuantely, literature is an art, and, therefore it takes a talented author to create a reabable and enjoyable vehicle for such insight. If you can't read a book, it's not good."


"The big monster with bolts sticking out of his neck, little vocabulary, frightening everybody in his path. He is brought to life in a spooky laboratory with lightning flashing and the mad scientist hovering over him with the joy of accomplishment. This is what we think of when we hear the name Frankenstein. I would like to tell you the book was this exiting, but I can't ... I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 40. It's pace is way too slow for the modern worlds fast pace and it leaves you wondering, 'Why didn't I just watch the movie'."


"Great god! This novel is written so poorly, ssslllooowww, plodding, dry, dragging, flowery chapters. For those of you who are searching for a novel rich in literary content, bristling with metaphor and imagery, and full of gripping suspense, you've come to the WRONG place. This novel possesses none of these. Take it from me, a seasoned man of literature."


"I was once subjected to hearing a giggling women wax lyrical about this book"


"In short, Mary Shelley is a silly girl. I had to read this novel for class. If I didn't I wouldn't have been bothered to pick it back up after throwing it across the room innumerable times."


"Great premise, appallingly written. Shelley has an 18 year old girl's romantic perception of the world - which puts an 18 year old (19th Century) girl's words into the mouths of mature males. It just does not work."


"This is the most boring book i have ever read. I never actually finished it because there are are so many long words that by time you've stopped to look each one up in the dictionary you've forgotten what hapened at the beginning of the sentence.To sum this up in one word: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"


"Mary W. Shelley can go suck Frankenstein's dick!!!"

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein III

"it was SO not a romance."


"It's obvious that Victor Frankenstein was gay and created the monster to be his gay lover."


"The reason it has a 1 star rating because for one I just thought the book suckes some serous A** ... beside I never really read all of it but I had a friend on here tell what happened after I stopped reading it and it sounded stupid any ways so I'm glade I didn't waste my time reading the rest of it."


"I had to read this book for English and I must ask, WHY ON EARTH ARE ENGLISH TEACHERS STILL MAKING US READ FICTION FROM LIKE THE 1780's????????????????????????????????? GAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


"UMMM CAN WE SAY 'SUCKY' ?"


"The style of writing is interesting and I could see it would have created a stir in its time, but times have moved on."


"I wanted to read about the ongoing conflict between master-and-creation, to understand how one could turn against its own creation. Surprisingly, the author doesn't dig into that."


"When i bought it i tought i was buying a 'fully sized' book, but when it arrived i ordered a 'pocket edition', the book seems to be good, but this special book its for ladies(with the due respect)."


"The description stated it was illustrated and the only illustration is on the cover of the book. I'm reading this book with my senior English students and was hoping I could show them some interesting illustrations."


"Yeah, if you throw enough brickbats at a person, eventually they might retaliate. Big surprise. So, in Shelly's distorted world view, one's throwing the brickbats at creatures whose only sin is ugliness, isn't depraved, but if the receiver of the undeserved brickbats retaliates in any way, then that retaliation confirms depravity? Clearly, Shelly had a very undeveloped mind."


"Perhaps back in 18-something it may have been scary but by modern literary standards I'm afraid to say that Frankenstein is gibberish."


"There is no horror to this story at all...It is about a living creature, shunned by society who eventually goes on the rampage. Gee, like that hasn't happened before. The story was generic, even for it's time. I think Mary was desperate, considering that the book wasn't even liked in the first place by the original romanticists authors of that time."


"I don't want to insult or offend Mary Shelley but she could've had 'brainstormed' a bit more...."


"the creature starts out knowing no english. all the sudden he knows big words that english scholars can't even understand. this book puts the 'BAD' in 'horrible'."


"one second, Frankenstein (the creator of the monster) is studying chemistry at a university, the next thing we know, he has the ability to "bestow life on an inatimate object!" Where did that come from? Can we be any more random?"


"This book was a torture for me. I mean adults might like it but as a highschooler, NOOOO!! I mean it's not just me a lot of my friends thought that it was a horrible book. Though you can't blame us. We're 21st century teens. 19th century is a bit old and boring for us."

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein II

"If 'Frankenstein' was a fanfic, it would be flamed into oblivion."


"You may think that I am crazy for giving a classic 1 star. I mean, it's a classic for a reason right? That, my friend, is where you are extremely wrong. I am crazy, but not for that reason. My reasoning is very logical and if you are a teen who has read this you will understand why."


"It gets too melodramatic, like worse than the lives of the populars at my school"


"All of Shelley's sentences were TOO complex."


"All in the oldest persons words. Silly!"


"The problem of the book feels like it was written in a different time and place. When's the last time you wrote more than a few pages to a friend? When have you waxed philosophically about... anything?"


"Perhaps it's because the author is a woman. I will admit to enjoying a male voice more than a female voice, especially for science fiction."


"Do not read the book. Do NOT read the book. The moment you crack it open, the pages will violently diarrhea all over your face."


"It was a work of silly science fiction and little more. It wasn't very scientific, and by that I mean at all, and it marginally explored the ideas of creation of life. If it had relentlessly and interestingly pursued life and death and creation and all of those great big themes, I probably would have liked it, but it was a bit more interested in chasing the ideas of lords and ladies and having a monster who for some reason spoke in rather eloquent and almost Shakespearean verse"


"So what is there not to like? The contradictory narrative for one thing; one moment the monster is misunderstood and something to be pitied, the next he is a violent vindictive murderer. Then there is the fact that the monster uses words longer than the name of his creator, even though he has learned to speak from an eight year old."


"My biggest complaint is that this 300-some page story could have been told in about ten."


"I read this in one of my English classes in college. I was an English major for 3 years until I read this book and I hated it. I switched majors and schools because of this book."


"Complicated. I think it went off based off of what you thought about different things. You could probably think differently about it if you were the opposite sex."


"To be frank about Frankenstein, it is truly awful.
The monster cannot get a girlfriend so he kills his creators family.
There is more to life than finding a partner and considering that Shelley's mother was a feminist she would maybe realise this, or then again, seeing as the woman was a husband snatcher, perhaps not."


"My disapproval of the way Ms. Shelley conducted her life may have colored my willingness to give her a break in they way she wrote her novel."


"This book sucked because I didn't understand any word of it. Like seriously Mary Shelly, no need to be rude, but make it more understanding!!! TEAM PEETA AND TEAM GALE AND TEAM FINNICK!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

"Legendary science-fiction and science fact author Dr. Isaac Asimov often wrote that Mary Wollenstonecraft Shelley's 'Frankenstein' (1818) was one of the most influential books of science fiction written. The equally legendary horror and fantasy author Stephen King also urges his readers to read 'Frankenstein' in order to get a good grounding for how to write.

Why? I have no idea. If any writer today turned in a manuscript like this, they'd gather enough rejection slips to paper the walls with.

But if you are looking to read a science fiction book, horror book or even a good book, then pass it by. This is one book that breaks the usual rule of being better than the movie adaptation. Skip this book and watch Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein' (1974) instead. Granted, 'Frankenstein' was groundbreaking in its day ... However, modern readers will be sorely disappointed with 'Frankenstein.' This reviewer couldn't tolerate reading the whole thing (my life is too short to be spent reading bad books) and skimmed the last fourth of the novel. Not that I didn't know what was going to happen, anyway."


"After the upteenth tremble/jerk/gasp/faint/start from our mad scientist Victor Frankenstein, I could only sign in relief that he wasn't a Rabbi about to perform a bris circumcism - oy vey!"


"Warning!: Buttload of sarcasm incoming!!!

Oh yes, that's just brilliant...Let's tell the story in a second-hand past tense. That'll get us right into the action! And I love how this second-hand story-teller is able to relate in very fine detail dialogue exchanges between the monster and people he met years ago via a third person account from the dying Dr. Frankenstein. I mean honestly, what were you thinking Mary?!"


"he only description of the monster you ever get is that it is so ugly that words cannot describe it. WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF DESCRIPTION IS THAT?????"


"In most cases the book is more enjoyable than the movie. However, in this case I much rather preferred the many movie versions versus the book. This book had so many big words and confusing sentence structure that I couldn't enjoy it."


"Shelley is not only a terrible author, she is also an ignorant and prejudiced one. Her novel, hailed as a classic for two centuries, is infantile dross and lacks any imagination or creativity. Mary Shelley was the Stephanie Meyer of her generation, and her novel should be shelved with the chic-lit vampire romances and other such fare read avidly by teenage girls."


"The whole concept Mary Shelley was talking about also, that too much science is bad, was completely stupid. I found, through this book, that my opinion of the romantic era has been reduced to almost zilch. It appears to me that the romantics were a bunch of hippies who believed in strolling around breathing [not that I don't enjoy that] and letting themselves die because they wouldn't take medicine, believing that the science that discovered it was unnatural and unhealthy."


"This book added absolutely zero to my intelletual inner landscape."


"This is a story that we ALL know by heart. We've seen it time and time again in movie after movie. Yet, if you read the book all those details that make Frankenstein, well, Frankenstein, are not there. No dark castle on the top of a hill. Dr. Frankenstein is not a crazed old man, but a university student (whaaaaat?!?!). The coolest part where Dr. Frankenstein goes around to grave sites and morgues collecting pieces for the monster...not even mentioned!!!"


"I thought that Frankenstein was a mad scientist who lived in a castle. A man who loved his monster and shouted out "It's alive" when it opened it's eyes. Where was Egor? And I thought it was the villagers that wanted the monster dead and broke into the castle with fire and pitchforks to try and kill him.
None of this happened ... It's worth avoiding this and just sticking to what you thought the story of Frankenstein was..."