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joelkarpowitz's review
3.0
The historical background to Shelley's life and inspiration were really interesting, as were some of the explorations of how the monster transformed from a threat to something comfortable and back to horrible, but too much of the book was just describing different movies or political cartoons. I missed the deeper analysis that I was looking for; it was brushed on, but not explored. Overall, it gave me some good fodder for background and discussion, but it wasn't stellar.
amberhayward's review
3.0
Mary Shelley was an unwed teenage mother when she wrote FRANKENSTEIN. Or, she was going to be. She was pregnant and she had run away to Italy with Percy Shelley and his tubercular friends. One of many fun facts that awaits you in the cultural history of a favorite monster that I fear will grow obscure in the recent rash of vampire fanaticism.
emilygaynier's review
4.0
This is super interesting! Highly recommend if you love Frankenstein or Halloween!
Also if you don't want spoilers for any of the following movies and books, watch/read them first and then read this book. Also watching/reading them first gives context but if you don't care, don't worry. I've only seen the beginning of Young Frankenstein
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Any movie with Frankenstein in the title (specifically featuring Boris Karloff and Young Frankenstein)
Rocky Horror Picture Show
An episode or two of the Munsters and the Addams Family
Also if you don't want spoilers for any of the following movies and books, watch/read them first and then read this book. Also watching/reading them first gives context but if you don't care, don't worry. I've only seen the beginning of Young Frankenstein
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Any movie with Frankenstein in the title (specifically featuring Boris Karloff and Young Frankenstein)
Rocky Horror Picture Show
An episode or two of the Munsters and the Addams Family
upsidedown10's review
informative
medium-paced
3.75
I had a really fun time with this one. I love Frankenstein so it was fun to look at how quickly it became Something Else to the Public. There is just something so interesting about how this story grabbed the mind of the public and still hasn't let go to this day. Frankenstein was adapted to other mediums almost immediately and continues to be adapted and re-adapted again and again. Each take is different from the last and some are barely connected but still contain the essence of the original novel. I thought this was a really fun book and I had a great time going through the decades.
seethinglloron's review
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
This was informative and historical, with sources thoroughly cited, but I found the language the author uses about marginalized folks not only problematic but under-analyzed. This author uses the "r slur" about a character that is not quoted, just used to be used, and the author skims over racial histories in relation to Frankenstein that I found severely lacking. There's a lot of good work here, but I did find myself rolling my eyes in places.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Ableism and Sexual violence
stuff4bd's review
4.0
A very interesting overview of the progression of the monster from the book versus the character we know today. Plus she mentions Frankenberry and Count Chocula ;-)
hzamora81's review
3.0
Interesting topic, but I couldn't get past the author's seemingly self-indulgent prose; I only got through about half of the book.
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