‘Frankenstein’ — where it all began
This book ‘speaks to anyone who has ever been an outsider’
A young scientist suffering a great loss decides to challenge natural law and bring back the dead. But his experiments backfire. Now he fears for his life, and those of the people he loves.
Sounds like the same old story we have been reading, watching, creating for ages, right? But, this story is the origin of all of those fantasies. ‘Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus’ written by 19-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the precursor to the fantasy and science-fiction novels of today. And it was written on a dare...
Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the idea of recreating life, but the life he creates is a ‘miserable monster’. Our nameless antagonist is privy to the dark side of humanity from the very get-go. Abandoned by his creator, he is shunned by society, the creature who was once a monster in appearance only, becomes a monster to be feared.
I read this book a few years ago and it stayed with me much longer than I expected. The story is as old as time, but what struck me was how relevant and topical the notions of the book were. In a world where superficial beauty is celebrated at every turn, a book that brings to the fore the horrors society will inflict when someone doesn’t conform to the usual standards felt so apt.
2016 marks 200 years since the inception of literature’s greatest monster. For me, it’s a book that speaks to anyone who has ever been an outsider.
— The reader is an author based in Dubai.
