Student Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Trade paperback, 273 pages
Published 2003 (originally 1818)
Previously read January 2011

Acquired December 2013

Reread February 2014

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
by Mary Shelley

I think like two-thirds of my class had read Frankenstein before, many of them in high school, many others in the introductory class to the English major (professors in our department usually focus on one text that allows them to demonstrate a wide variety of critical approaches, and one often teaches Frankenstein). By focusing on it as a work of early science fiction, though, I think I hit a new angle for most of them:

• "[...] I also enjoyed Frankenstein."
• "I think you should teach Adam Bede, Arthur & George and Frankenstein (which I had already read in high school but didn't get that much out of at the time) again definitely"
• "I thoroughly enjoyed 'Frankenstein,' 'War of the Worlds,' and 'V for Vendetta.'"
• "I really liked Frankenstein, The Thing in the Forest, Sherlock Holmes, and Arthur and George."
• "teach frankenstein (interesting approach)" 

I did realize that I should teach the 1818 text next time, not the 1831 one; the book was less interesting than I remember, and I think that's why.