Author Topic: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online PREDISCUSSION  (Read 24677 times)

BooksAdmin

  • TopicManager
  • Posts: 215

Frankenstein
 by Mary Shelley


Frankenstein is a story many of us think we know but actually don't. Very few films have followed the novel very closely. The monster of the book is intelligent and soft-spoken. The themes are timeless and full of conflict. Join us as we read this fantastic story, created by 19-year old Mary Shelley, and share your thoughts about its characters and meanings.

 Post here to let us know you'll be joining us starting July 1.


"Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed."

Discussion Leaders: PatH and marcie
 


marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2010, 12:42:38 PM »
Post here to let us know you'll be joining us in July to talk about this classic tale that is much more than a horror story. If you've only seen film versions, you'll find the tone of the story quite different.

All are welcome! This should be a perfect summer read!

JoanP

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10394
  • Arlington, VA
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2010, 01:11:49 PM »
Yes, yes, I'll be here.  Really ignorant about the real story, and the author, Mary Shelley...and what brought an 18 year old girl to this subject.  Count me in!

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2010, 01:17:24 PM »
Great! I'm so glad you'll be joining the group, JoanP.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 9951
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2010, 01:46:10 PM »
I'll be here.

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2010, 03:13:56 PM »
Its been so long since I first read this it will be new to me now.  Count me in.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2010, 03:33:58 PM »
Welcome, JoanP, Frybabe, and Jackie.  We're off to a good start.

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2010, 08:52:41 PM »
I'm glad you'll be joining us, Frybabe and mrssherlock.

kidsal

  • Posts: 2620
  • Howdy from Rock Springs, WY
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2010, 02:27:07 AM »
Ordered book today.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 9951
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2010, 07:46:47 AM »
One of my cable stations is showing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein this morning. To bad I don't like watching TV in the morning except for news and weather. I'd probably turn it off after a half hour. I need to do a little yard work this morning before it gets too hot.

JoanP

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10394
  • Arlington, VA
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2010, 08:18:19 AM »
I don't see it, Fry, but wonder if it's really Mary Shelley's Frank...

Frybabe

  • Posts: 9951
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2010, 08:25:45 AM »
Yep, that was the name. I think it started at 8am. I don't remember what station. Gotta run. Need to do some yard clean up before the rain (and heat). 

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2010, 12:28:05 PM »
Wikipedia's entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein only tantalizes me more.  Mention of a new edition, with the original text and Percy Bysse Shelley's additions is available: 
Quote
On 1 October 2008, the Bodleian published a new edition of Frankenstein which contains comparisons of Mary Shelley's original text with Percy Shelley's additions and interventions alongside. The new edition is edited by Charles E. Robinson: The Original Frankenstein
see at Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/originalfrankenstein
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2010, 03:13:02 PM »
The 1994 movie, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, was titled "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein".  It's a lot closer to the book than most, and at times seems to have the spirit of the original, but it's also so incredibly, unnecessarily, viciously bloody and gruesome that I would hesitate to recommend it.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 9951
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2010, 03:43:55 PM »
As a rule, I don't care for horror films. Especially the newer ones. I do like the really old ones like Bela Lagosi's Dracula. They weren't into showing blood and gore back then. I've seen most of Vincent Price's films. The comedies are good, like "Young Frankenstein" with Gene Wilder, et.al. and "Dead and Loving It" (I think) with Leslie Neilson.

I like SciFi but not so much the SciFi/Horror blends.

serenesheila

  • Posts: 494
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2010, 04:52:21 PM »
Please count me in for this discussion.  I watched a program about Mary Shelley on either the History Channel, or the International History Channel.  It was quite interesting.  I learned that she wrote several books after "Frankenstein".  However, they didn't sell well, until her name was removed from them.  Instead of her name, the author was shown as "by the author of "Frankenstein".  Seems that women were not concidered worth reading.  So, I am looking forward to our discussion.

Sheila

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2010, 04:59:54 PM »
Great, Sheila, it's good to have you.

JoanP

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10394
  • Arlington, VA
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #17 on: June 12, 2010, 05:04:14 PM »
Mary Shelley was quite a gal, from what I've read about her.  I was a bit put off to read of her husband, the great poet,  Percy Shelley's  additions to his wife's work, Jackie.  I know he wrote the Preface to at least one of the editions, trying to sound like her - which she was not happy about.  I'm hoping that's all the doctoring that he did to her work.

Has anyone read any of Mary's other novels?  I imagine they are out of print.  Did you know that "Frankenstein"  has never been out of print since that first addition?  Amazing, isn't it?

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #18 on: June 12, 2010, 05:35:08 PM »
We are forming a great group. Kidsal and sheila, it's wonderful that you'll be joining us.  We'll probably want to talk about the various film versions that everyone might have seen at the end of the discussion.

Sheila, that's interesting that Mary Shelly's subsequent books didn't sell as well with just her name but needed "author of Frankenstein." Hopefully, it wasn't primarily a negative reaction to a woman writer but more lack of name recognition.

JoanP, that is amazing that Frankenstein has never been out of print. I wonder how many other books have also continued in print? Is that true for most "classics"? I tried to look it up but didn't find any info.

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2010, 10:11:34 PM »
Has anyone read any of Mary's other novels?  I imagine they are out of print.
They're not ALL out of print.  Her post-apocalyptic fantasy of the end of civilization "The Last Man" has been in a TBR pile on my coffee table for a year.  (JoanP, it was in that pile you were staring at when you visited me.)

Mippy

  • Posts: 3100
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2010, 09:02:03 AM »
What a great group is gathering here!  Will we be terrified or amused?  
I'm going to read the book before I comment for sure, but I'll try to join in.  Several days of volunteering and travel may cut into my time in July,  but I'll try to fit this in.
                                                                                                
Do have a great read, everyone!
quot libros, quam breve tempus

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2010, 10:52:24 AM »
Welcome, Mippy, it's good to have you with us.

And Kidsal, I somehow missed welcoming you.

What a good group we're getting.

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2010, 02:57:44 PM »
Great, Mippy. I'm glad you'll be with us.

elainetm

  • Posts: 2
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #23 on: June 15, 2010, 02:22:29 AM »
I am brand new to the group and will lurk if not actually post during the Frankenstein discussion.  I just ordered it (free) from Amazon for my Kindle.

Elaine (Alexandria VA)

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #24 on: June 15, 2010, 05:43:23 AM »
That's great, Elaine, but please comment whenever you feel like it.  It's good to have you here.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 9951
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #25 on: June 15, 2010, 08:01:04 AM »
Hi Elaine.  We have a great bunch of people here and great discussions.  So, Welcome!

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #26 on: June 15, 2010, 11:08:24 AM »
Elaine, welcome to SeniorLearn and to our discussion of Frankenstein. I hope  you'll post your thoughts when we start the actual discussion of the book in July.

elainetm

  • Posts: 2
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #27 on: June 15, 2010, 11:41:03 PM »
Thank you for welcoming me.  I will comment.  I am in the beginning of the book now.  I have been reading more current literature  recently and the difference in writing is immediately apparent.  I had noticed that before when I moved from Agatha Christie to current cozies, and from Somerset Maugham to current fiction.  There is something grand and eloquent about the older books that is also sometimes difficult to wade through.  It is not available in most of the newer books even though you often hear comments about the prose.  I think Shelley will teach us it definitely was another time for authors.

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #28 on: June 16, 2010, 12:07:28 AM »
Thanks, Elaine, for sharing your experience reading from different periods. It will make us aware of a different perspective as we each delve into this book.


kidsal

  • Posts: 2620
  • Howdy from Rock Springs, WY
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #29 on: June 16, 2010, 06:23:16 AM »
I received a copy of Frankenstein that I order a couple of weeks ago and it was the children's version so I have ordered the following:

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text (Oxford World's Classics) by Mary Shelley and Marilyn Butler (Paperback - May 1, 2009)

According to the reveiwers there is quite a difference between the 1818 and the 1831 version.

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #30 on: June 16, 2010, 08:23:40 AM »
There is something grand and eloquent about the older books that is also sometimes difficult to wade through.

Your remark reminds me of something I was going to say:

Warning for everyone: In my edition at least (1831) the book starts out in a rather awkward, clunky style.  Don't be discouraged; this only lasts a few pages, through the first few letters, and then she settles down to a smoother style, which, as you point out, Elaine, is grand but demanding of the reader.

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #31 on: June 16, 2010, 08:28:03 AM »
According to the reveiwers there is quite a difference between the 1818 and the 1831 version.
I'm glad you pointed that out, Kidsal, we'll have to watch for differences.  I have the 1831 edition.

Which version does everyone have?

straudetwo

  • Posts: 1597
  • Massachusetts
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #32 on: June 16, 2010, 01:40:06 PM »
PatH,   my library copy should be here any day now.  As soon as it comes, I'll answer the question.

Frybabe

  • Posts: 9951
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #33 on: June 16, 2010, 02:10:31 PM »
I have no clue which edition I have. The book is a QPB 1991 Book Club edition. It has the a preface dated "Marlowe, September,1817", and a preface that says "Preface to the last London edition" which appears to have been written by Mary Shelley. So we shall see.

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #34 on: June 16, 2010, 02:21:54 PM »
I have the Bantam Classic edition, 1991. I believe it's based on the 1818 text.

HaroldArnold

  • Posts: 715
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #35 on: June 16, 2010, 03:30:31 PM »
Yesterday I downloaded the $2..98 digital edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offered by B&N.  I plan to read it on my desktop Dell for participation in your July discussion.  This will be my first participation in a book discussion without a hard copy.  We'll see how it works?

marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #36 on: June 16, 2010, 03:37:49 PM »
Harold, that sounds like a great experiment. How wonderful that you'll be joining us.

JoanP

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10394
  • Arlington, VA
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #37 on: June 16, 2010, 05:13:46 PM »
Harold, I'll be interested to hear whether your Kindle version has a Preface.  My library copy is the the Modern Library copy.  In the beginning it says the text is that of the third edition, revised and corrected by the author in London, 1831.  That would be Mary Shelley.

The reason I'm so interested in this - is that the great author and poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary's husband,  wrote the Preface to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in September 1817.  The Preface he wrote in 1817 is included in the copy I have, following the Introduction  by Mary written in 1831.

The first edition is not attributed to Mary Shelley, but the Preface written by her husband is made to sound like the author of the book.
The second edition that was published in 1823 is credited to Mary.  In 1831 the revised edition came out.  In the Introduction to this edition, Mary writes that she has made several changes to this version - added a longer Introduction, and she says her alterations are principally those of style.  She has "mended the language of the first volume."

I wonder how much influence Percy Shelley had on his young wife.

Here is the frontispiece that appeared in  the 1831 edition -


marcie

  • Administrator
  • Posts: 7802
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #38 on: June 16, 2010, 06:36:00 PM »
Based on what Joan just wrote, I checked my book and the "Author's Introduction" is dated 1836 so it looks like I have that edited version of the novel. Thanks for the interesting information, Joan. None of the covers are lovely :-(

PatH

  • BooksDL
  • Posts: 10921
Re: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ~ July Book Club Online
« Reply #39 on: June 16, 2010, 07:46:17 PM »
Indeed, I think Marcie chose the least obnoxious one for the heading.  Mine is even worse.