Frankenstein

Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus (1818 Text)
Mary Shelley
Oxford World's Classics, 2008

First impression:
School again. Have not gotten that far yet, but indeed very different in structure than I have perceived from the old black-and-white film. I am clearly also unused to the elaborate language, but I expect I will overcome that soon, speaking with some experience of Austen and Lovecraft.

Review:
Written in the time that it is, Frankenstein promises little actual suspense for a horror novel and reminds in many ways of Bram Stoker's Dracula in its very elaborate language and long-lasting laments of various miseries that the modern man would barely even frown at. As a reader, one gains the impression that the characters are all one and the same, which makes the work slightly hollow, but it cannot be denied that the old, scientific style is dear almost by definition, because of the sheer effort that the author has put into it. Bearing in mind that novels were a completely different affair in those days, and that it is a classic, I will recommend it to the patient reader, with no promises of being spooked.

Rating: Good