October/Horror Reading: Frankenstein

[Raoul Shade]

The world had many Frankensteins: Francois Villon, Milton`s Satan, William Blake, Nietzsche, Van Gogh, King Kong, Kafka's Gregor Samsa, to name a few.

[papayahed]

He is in a deep state of denial, when it vanishes and he doesn't actively think on it again. He shuts out his thoughts of the being; I would think doing so out of pure survival instinct. Of course this is not logical but it's the way a human might act when acting in a state of denial.

It's not the creation of the monster that annoys me, the problem is Victor's behavior afterward. His unwillingness to deal with the problem. Especially since I've reached the point where Justine is executed. Victor knowingly let Justine die just to keep his secret safe, he's pretty mealy.

[Gladys]

Victor knowingly let Justine die just to keep his secret safe, he's pretty mealy.

Rather, Victor realised that Justine would die anyway because no one would be believe his secret and all would think him mad. All the same, he is pretty mealy.

[Jozanny]

Just a note: Shelley's classic is free on the mighty k, so I downloaded it. If I get to it in the not too far future I will review this discussion and add a few comments.

I should not keep editorializing myself on this network, but when has that stopped me? However, I am just a freelancing bum, and all the sudden I don't have enough hours in the day! I did not feel like going to library for a title I had read a few years ago, but since it is available at no cost, well.

I hate to add this, but whatever their drawbacks, I think e-readers are worth the trouble. I don't even have mine yet, browsed for less than an hour and spent all of three dollars. [repressed squealing of excitement to be heard]

[Inka]

But in the end he became aware of his mistakes and his only desire was to kill this monster, moreover, I believe he seek death for himself.
Yes, he was mealy, I would even say weakling, but we can't put aside that he confessed everything and it was he who created the monster. Are you sure he was that mealy?
I believe he wanted to forget about this creature and continue to life without those memories, so wouldn't it make him an egoist?

[Tallgren]

As far as I remember, I wasn't exactly thrilled when I read it about a year ago, but many of the comments here have reminded me of some strong parts.

This book surely works on a number of levels, and one can easily see Victor as a father or even a divine creator. Another reading, and an interpretation that kept coming back at me while reading, was that Victor's creating of the monster was an allegory for a writer's creating of a character, or, rather, a story. The obsession of creation works well in the context of an author or artist in general. Interestingly, it is not the continous 'creating' but Victors refusal to face his first creation that creates all the tragedy.

[Inka]

well, of course, it's like with all of us: usually we're just running from our mistakes and try our hardest to forget about it. It's very difficult to confess yourself in your mistakes, moreover face them, especially if because of this everything goes wrong and becomes even worse than you can ever imagine.