#ReadingDiary - Frankenstein

April 02, 2017 0 Comments A+ a-



Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is a provocative, sensitive, tragic and emotive novel that explores themes as the nature and the purpose of life, the use, abuse, and responsibilities of science, the origins of evil and the feelings of the human condition.


Beautifully written, the play introduce us in the life of Victor Frankenstein an intellectual chemist, who after months of isolation and very advanced research, discovers the way to create life from lifeless matter, and gives birth to a creature, a demon who will mark his life forever.


Despite having been written in the XIX century, Frankenstein is a novel that captures the imagination of the readers and encourages them to ask themselves questions as: Who is the real monster in this story?  What are the responsibilities of scientists (and engineers, of course) in relation to their creations and discoveries? Are living species evil by nature or is evil a reaction to other circumstances of life? Is evil justifiable?


I must say that I really loved this play and highly recommend it, not only will you be enchanted by the narration style, but  also by the characters; understanding who they are, how they feel, how they are judged and what they think is an evolving process full of discoveries all over the reading .


If you want to get a sense of what kind of reading Frankenstein has, take a look at the following passages, they are some of my favorites of the book:

“Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life”


“Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live?”

“I swear,” he cried, “by the sun and by the blue sky of heaven and by the fire of  love that burns my heart … “

“Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable,  but I can make you so wretched that light of day will be hateful to you …”

“ … I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own demands … “

Hope you be interested in reading it, and if you are,  I would suggest to have a copy of the Frankenstein edition, published by MIT Press [1], it looks pretty interesting as is commented and have a few essays that deep in the topic, I’m getting a copy for myself too!  


And finally, if you already read the book,  take a look at this articles that compare Frankenstein story and lessons with various topics of computer science, like AI! [2][3][4]


That's all for now, if you already read the book, tell me what do you think about it. Have a nice week!





[4] http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/01/what_artificial_intelligence_researchers_can_learn_from_frankenstein.html

Update: Just found this short article about the origin of the novel. In Spanish :D http://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/historia/grandes-reportajes/frankenstein-1816-ano-que-nacio-monstruo_11248