That Freaky Frankenstein!

 

Frankenstein

Whether you’ve read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein before or not, you undoubtedly know about Frankenstein. Your mind is probably right now conjuring images of a giant man with pale skin stitched together like pieces of material and walking zombie-like with his arms outstretched and his legs not bending. You’re probably thinking of this:

Of course, while this hideous beast is called Frankenstein in all the cartoon, he’s actually Frankenstein’s monster not Frankenstein himself.

 

Frankenstein is the rather frightening tale of one Victor Frankenstein, who tells the story of his mission to create human life. As Frankenstein succeeds we begin to see the dreadful consequences of his actions. Will Frankenstein be able to stop the monster before it’s too late to save his family and friends?

 

In My Humble Opinion:

The story created a lot of mixed feelings for me. Look, I’ve never been afraid of ghost stories. I have to admit that I don’t believe in ghosts or creatures that rise from beyond the grave. Frankenstein’s monster (who SPOILER ALERT is never given a name) isn’t a ghost or creature from beyond the grave, not technically since he doesn’t actually have the spirit of any former human being – he’s a new creation. All the same, Frankenstein’s monster didn’t frighten me. I didn’t lie awake for weeks after reading the book or turn all the lights on before I walked into a room. At the same time though, I didn’t like the monster. 

I think that in a novel I have to have a character I can root for. Usually it’s the underdog I want to succeed and in Frankenstein it seems that  the monster is the underdog. Yet still he wasn’t a likable character for me. Don’t get me wrong, I realise that the monster was badly treated and what he does was a a response to that bad treatment. I just don’t think his treatment justifies his actions.

Frankenstein himself was also not a very likable character with one major character flaw for me (read the book if you’d like to see what it is 😉 ).  This left me with no one to root for since these two are the two main characters of the book.

 

Movie Magic:

So, while I believe there are a few movies out there based on Frankenstein, I haven’t seen any of them. I believe I, Frankenstein is crucially based on the book though I can’t really provide any opinion.

I think that if  someone’s looking to created a movie version of Frankenstein, they would have to make it a period film. No modern setting is going to work for the primal ideas and the crucial action of the book. The setting can’t be a vibey  modern location with loads of people. The setting has to be dark, sinister and brooding just so the plot works. In my humble opinion, I think the best person write and direct an epic Frankenstein movie would be the dark and brooding Tim Burton.

 

All in all, I think Frankenstein  could be a great book to read for two reasons. The first is that it would be great for those who are into the macrabre, the creepy and the dark. I kind of am which is why I didn’t totally and completely hate Frankenstein. Secondly, Frankenstein could be a great book for those who are crazy into science (which I am not) because it might provide a few useful life lessons about science, biology and family. And as for the zombified guy in the image above, well he really doesn’t do justice to the novel at all (insert zombie groan here).

Happy Reading!