I wouldn't read it alone at night, but I did finish it...
10. The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd
This novel is cleverly written as a retelling of the story of Frankenstein in an alternative history universe. Some of the characters include Percy and Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Dr. Polidori, and many, many more historical figures. Ackroyd alternated history to make Shelley's downfalls a bit easier to swallow, but made his life even more tragically brief. There are allusions to the words of the original novel; my favorite, a quote, "There are incidents in life which would be deemed improbable or even impossible by the ordinary observer." Frankenstein says this to Lord Byron in Ackroyd's novel, and it is very close to my favorite quote from Shelley's novel which graces the subscript of my LJ: "Prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed marvellous." Ackroyd seems determined to make the reader understand this is not the Shelley's story, though; Elizabeth and Frankenstein's father die very early in the book through causes totally unrelated to Frankenstein's experiments and passion to raise the dead. And the ending twist (that I had figured out) allows the reader to forgive the hokey science.
This entry was originally posted at http://lilia-blackbear.dreamwidth.org/401184.html.
This novel is cleverly written as a retelling of the story of Frankenstein in an alternative history universe. Some of the characters include Percy and Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Dr. Polidori, and many, many more historical figures. Ackroyd alternated history to make Shelley's downfalls a bit easier to swallow, but made his life even more tragically brief. There are allusions to the words of the original novel; my favorite, a quote, "There are incidents in life which would be deemed improbable or even impossible by the ordinary observer." Frankenstein says this to Lord Byron in Ackroyd's novel, and it is very close to my favorite quote from Shelley's novel which graces the subscript of my LJ: "Prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed marvellous." Ackroyd seems determined to make the reader understand this is not the Shelley's story, though; Elizabeth and Frankenstein's father die very early in the book through causes totally unrelated to Frankenstein's experiments and passion to raise the dead. And the ending twist (that I had figured out) allows the reader to forgive the hokey science.
This entry was originally posted at http://lilia-blackbear.dreamwidth.org/401184.html.