What's so great about Frankenstein?

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Frankenstein is, for my money, the greatest single work ever penned by a human hand. It's that good. No other book has ever moved me as greatly. No other book has ever captured (in less than 300 pages) such a wide breadth of human experience on paper. The writing is breathtaking. The characters are incredibly complex. The pacing is perfect. Literally everything about it is stunning. It was *far* ahead of its time. And it's also one of the rare classic books that you can read and not really be offput; it's sensibilities are deeply humane and it's aged quite well as a result. And it also gave me one of my favorite quotes: "Knowledge is knowing that Frankenstein wasn't the monster; wisdom is realizing he was."

[@WillowTalksBooks]

You honestly put it better than I did and I agree with every word!

[@rachele1351]

I'm a literature major, and ever since I've been out of class your videos are my go to when I need my fix of in depth, well articulated, mesmerising literary commentary. Academia kind of dampened my love for literature for a number of reasons, one being that it burned me out to the point I read more about books than I read the actual books; but your channel, your love for what you do and read, it lit that fire back up again for me. And for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Looking forward to seeing and reading more of you! Lots of love for you and your partner from Italy.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Wow, this is the kindest comment I've ever received. Thank you so, so much. My partner also burned out from literature for a while after her MA. I think it's normal, sadly. Teaching literature in front of a class never got me anywhere but comments like yours make me feel like blogging and KZbin are where I should be. I'm sorry you've been burned out by academia and I hope my videos are helping! Thank you again, you don't know what a comment like this means to me!

[@larrythoren9683]

I'm seventy years old and just read Frankenstein this past year...and then learned the backstory of how it came to be written and a cursory biography of Mary Shelley....and am still stunned and blown away. I've since read a few of her short stories and am seeking a good biography. Thanks for your review.

[@Vespercold]

This book is one that resonated with me on so many levels that I remeber crying whilst reading it. As a child from a fatherless home due to abandonment, it cut deeply. Why even create a being if you are going to abandon it? It is assigning that being to agony. As I read the monsters' re-telling of his life I felt so many similarities. Blooming late, feeling outcast and dejected. Feeling like others understand something more and are so far advanced that you are not worthy of their company. The monster had so much potential, not only that, but victor had so much potential. The science he pioneered with the creation could have been used to save countless lives, I remeber thinking "If only you had pursued your goals more, you would be able to revive them" as Victor lamented at the loss of each of his friends. Even now, as a creator, as an artist, It resonates with me in that when I create something, I hold responsibility for it no mater how ugly or misshapen the first draft is. I am its progenitor and therefore I hold responsibility with it to see its growth into something more refined. And with that I give more value to my art than my father had given to me Thank you for making this video and providing an outlet, I know so few who have read this book and I feel like so few can sympathize and understand my own musings on it. Its amazing: Mary Shelly had created an Existential Horror bar non in the process of writing the first Science Fiction. Brilliant mind

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Wow it's really enlightening and humbling to see a reading of this novel that is so personal. This is a layer to Frankenstein that I haven't accessed so thank you so so much for sharing!

[@hardikksharmaaa]

I wait for your videos every week after I took up my long lost hobby of reading again, and somehow end up putting every single one in my To-Read list! Great underrated videos!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you so, so much! You've made my day.

[@elenabrutau]

I just adore watching your videos. I don't have a lot of people in my life that love to read, and when I watch your videos I feel like I am talking to a friend that understand what it feels to love everything about books: the process of reading, analyzing it over and over again, and the nostalgia of talking about the story once it's over.

[@melaniemirnaya8259]

"I don't get bored of thinking about frankenstein" this statement absolutely describes my feelings towards the novel. ever since i read it for school two years ago, i just haven't stop thinking about it.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Right? It gets into your bones

[@kdelka81]

I absolutely fell in love with this book in college for an English class. I read it over a perfect stormy weekend.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

What a perfect setting for a book like this!

[@maicey_t.]

I recently reread Frankenstein for the first time in like, five years, and I was floored by just how GOOD it was. It's now in my top five, if not my top three. It's such a fantastic novel. You hit everything right on the head with this review. I subbed. Can't wait to binge your videos!

[@mollyroberts8593]

I’m so glad I found this review. I first read Frankenstein at school and couldn’t appreciate it at the time. I re-read it later and realised how genius it was. It also makes it extra special because Mary Shelley is just one of my favourite people from history. She really was a genius and completely “out there”. I got a tattoo of her portrait as well as ones Bram Stoker, Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe, but of all of them Mary is my favourite tattoo.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

That is very cool dedication and I agree, she was an incredible woman! I just read and reviewed (for another publication) the novel Love and Fury, which is a novelisation of her mother's life. Highly recommend!

[@manuelahrasky8472]

I just found your channel and was bold over by your thoughts on Frankenstein. I totally agree with you about the brilliance of this novel. I am a psychiatrist and for me, the novel is full of major psychological insights and the dire outcome of an individual feeling outcast, abandoned, and unloved. I am retiring in seven weeks, and one of the special books I bought for myself to mark this auspicious occasion is a beautiful Folio Society edition of Frankenstein. You have a new subscriber.

[@uptightfreespirit4496]

Perfect timing! I just started Frankenstein yesterday because I knew it was your favorite book!!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

That's so lovely! I really, really hope it doesn't disappoint!

[@uptightfreespirit4496]

@@WillowTalksBooks So far I've loved everything you've recommended (and 100% agreed with your review of The Midnight Library), so I think I'm in good hands! 😊

[@Frank13662]

Frankenstein the novel is my favorite book ever. Victor Frankenstein, should have said something anything at Justine Mortitz’s trial. He was, ironically the true monster and villains of the novel.

[@arrynstroud]

i absolutely cannot belive you got to go to that exhibit i would KILL to have seen that😭😭😭 frankenstein is my favourite novel of all time, and continues to be nonatter howmany books i read, it’s so lovely to see another person who loves his book as much as me and for the same reasons as me too !!! also you’ve inspired me to learn more about mary shelley and who she was as a person, thank u for this video!!!! :))

[@RickMacDonnell]

I have been waiting like a year for you to make this video 🤩 Lived up to the hyyyyyype

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Your approval tastes like sausage rolls

[@alexhindes3861]

I found myself quite blown away by Anne K. Mellor’s lecture on Frankenstein after reading it - excavating Mary Shelley’s personal life experience that manifested itself in the novel (fear of child birth/the loss of 2 of her children, feminism, the positive/negative influence of her parents, Mother Nature, science of the time, etc.) Would recommend it. Great video as well! Enjoyed your insight.

[@raymondtillotson6985]

Couple of hot takes here. 1) I have no problem with the monster being called Frankenstein. That was his creator, his father's name, and abandoned or not the Creature still has legitimate right to it. 2) Considering the lack of actual science in the story, I've never thought of this as sci-fi. How the monster is brought to life is completely passed over, science may have been involved, but try replicating it. Just watch the silent Edison film version to see how little science was given the reader.

[@sylviakanel9766]

Wow! I've been out of college for ages but still tend to DO TO MYSELF what academia did to me. Life is not a series of term papers, not a masters thesis, not a dissertation, but I find myself slipping back into those constraints so easily and so unhappily. I realize I've done this with Frankenstein and that I need now to just let it rest in me a while. Thank you, Willow.💜🧟‍♀️💜➡️💜🧚‍♀️💜

[@maeiscompletelyfine]

This is also my favorite classic novel!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yay another Franken-stan! Welcome to the club!

[@shaunwild2227]

Brilliant review. I can recommend ‘Mary Shelley’ by Miranda Seymour. A wonderful biography.

[@TheRootsMan]

I finished reading the book today. The eloquence of the writing style is unforgettable. You're right about how all-consuming the descriptions of nature are - (as I'd taken note of that when I was reading) - The backstory of the monster is as beautiful as it is heartbreaking; and more than anything else, this was an extremely sad book. It definitely touched my heart like no other book could. Deeply thought-provoking, the notion that science cannot explain everything in the human experience is made clear.

[@mrconservey]

I am about 4/5's of the way through Frankenstein right now. Thank you for posting this review; convinced to pick it up.

[@botanicalbabies1926]

You just helped me choose my birthday read 📖💗

[@michaelhurley3171]

No movie has done it justice so far. Maybe a good director like Christopher Nolan or Denis Villanueve. The key is it's not a horror, but a deep philosophical and drama. Hope someday!

[@Zer0.th0ughts]

I read frankenstein in january and i loved it! So many THEMES!! I read it in 2 days which i wasn't expecting since the 1st chapter was kinda rough to get into

[@martinfinnpiano]

Hey, great video. Very personal and very illuminating. I didn’t know how to feel about the ridiculousness of some of the content of Frankenstein because I too love it so much. Now I can file it under “camp”. Thanks :)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Certainly by modern standards, camp is the word I'd use :)

[@reigentalks3837]

Hey just wanna let you know that i finished Frankenstein and it was incredible. Thanks for the recommendation 👍

[@ALC111222333]

I've been waiting for this video for SO long! Can't wait to watch. Knew it was coming eventually 😁

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Haha thank you so much. I can't believe this was a video people were waiting for!

[@ALC111222333]

@@WillowTalksBooks I just think that a lot of your friends and supporters know how much the book means to you. I know your videos are always upbeat and lovely but to hear you talk about something we KNOW you're that passionate about is 👌👌👌

[@1book1review]

The first time I read it it took me forever and I really didn't get much (joy) out of it. Rereading it in Gris Grimley's version gave me another acces to the text that made the story come to life for me more and now I really enjoy the story.

[@gracebrown3733]

Great video. I love Frankenstein.

[@danab172]

Just received my copy in the mail... Thanks for this great video review.

[@purpIeorchids]

Have u read picture of Dorian Gray? Will u do a video about it?? I love your thoughts about these gothic/darker novels

[@TheLightletters]

You know, I just commented on your twitter post but I've now actually finished watching your video and yes, all of this! I think, the thing that most fascinates me - and really why I want to reread the novel soon - are the landscapes (because there is such a huge overlap with art, especially landscape painting) and the way the novel incorporates scientific developments (magnetism! mesmerism! electricity!), but really it's just all of it? The book is so incredibly good!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yeah the relationship between the writer, science, and nature is so intense in this novel. It's such a pleasure!

[@SandrineDamfino]

Ok so my favorite classics of all time are Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 🖤 you can tell I love a good Byronic narcissistic toxic (anti-) hero haha ! And a good old haunting gothic atmosphere ! I am so happy that I found your review! you sound so passionate about this classic and rightfully so ! And we seem to share the same taste for the Hammer Horror aesthetic too ! I just subbed !

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Wuthering Heights is my other favourite! Love me some nasty, bleak gothic deliciousness. I could honestly do another video on Frankenstein and cover a whole other list of things I love.

[@SandrineDamfino]

@@WillowTalksBooks definitely I would love to see another Frankenstein video on your channel ! I can never get tired of hearing about this masterpiece !

[@ariannelg]

One of my favorites!!! 🧟‍♂️ I just read Romantic Outlaws, it’s about Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft life alternating chapters between them. Absolutely recommend!!!

[@ariannelg]

I also had the chance to visit the Alps region described in the book about 2 years ago (when we were allowed to travel...) which made it even more special!!!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

That sounds like a great read! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@indegrrees]

Every time I watch your video I feel the urge to drop whatever I was doing and grab a book.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It makes me so happy to know I have that effect 💜

[@russelsheartinacage]

I finished the book a couple of weeks ago. I typically read sci-fi and recently geen getting into fantasy (via Discworld) and Stephen King. I have always been intimidated by reading Classics as they have always seemed unapproachable. I wolfed down this book - it was so rich yet so moreish and I couldn't get enough of it. Whilst I did need to google many words, it was so compelling that I found it hard to put down. I will read the 1818 edition soon, both out of curiosity to see if it feels that different but also because I want to read the book again!

[@yuripetrovic7606]

I adored this book. I'm not a literature nerd or any kind of history buff. And usually when it comes to books I'm not a particular fan in general of the medium. But this was such a cleverly written story. I'm a little amused that the history was to write a "spooky story" but this book reads more like a tragic story.

[@Gagging4Lit]

Re-read this after Christmas and loved it as much as ever. One of my fave novels too. First read it when I was 18.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

18 is such a perfect age to first read a book like Frankenstein. I was jealous of my students (especially the ones who really loved it) for reading such a camp and powerful book as a teenager.

[@Gagging4Lit]

@@WillowTalksBooks yes it was great! Reread it many times since then 😁😁😁😁

[@Gagging4Lit]

@@WillowTalksBooks And your parents live near Tintern Abbey? Mine live about 20 minutes' drive away! Near Magor Services if you know where that is lol.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

@@Gagging4Lit Oh they live near Monmouth? Mine are a little further away, just outside of Ross. Crazy world!

[@Gagging4Lit]

@@WillowTalksBooks about 40 minutes drive from Monmouth, towards Newport.

[@eddiejc1]

My cousin's problem with "Frankenstein" is the same problem a lot of people---especially Americans have with Shelley's novel. For him, "Frankenstein" is a classic FILM directed by James Whaley and starring Boris Karloff, and his mind allows NOTHING to supplant it, including the original novel.

[@eddiejc1]

I don't know the artist or the title of the painting that appears at 5:01 , but that image has been used as a cover to "Frankenstein."

[@moodreaderwoes]

i was excited yesterday for having found your channel as someone who's also passionate about books in translation, but to think i'd wake up to a video about one of my favorite books the very next day! i loved it!! have you read carmilla? those were the two books that made me fall in love with classics and while i don't think it's objectively as good as frankenstein it still holds a very special place in my heart :)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Well thank you very much! I'm glad my channel doesn't disappoint! I haven't read Carmilla but I would absolutely love to. I'll try and read it soon and do a video on gothic classics.

[@moodreaderwoes]

@@WillowTalksBooks not in the slightest! and please do, i'd love to hear your thoughts not just on carmilla but gothic literature as a whole.

[@brittanypickens6279]

Frankenstein is my favorite novel of all time, as well! I’d love to hear your thoughts on Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson, if ever you got around to reading it! Thanks for such articulate and enthusiastic videos about books!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh awesome! Actually yeah I read Frankissstein when it came out and I really enjoyed its odd shifts in tone and pacing. I found it an enthralling and beautiful novel in many ways. Winterson is a bit problematic from where I'm standing but she wrote a novel I ended up enjoying a lot!

[@meowmiao36]

For anyone who likes Frankenstein I would recommend Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis. Very similar themes and story

[@swairaarshad665]

I just finished this and finding your video on it was such a delight 🥹

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh yay, I’m thrilled!

[@oatmilktea90]

I just finished the 1818 edition of Frankenstein and I loved it! Devoured it within 5 days and I'm usually a slow reader (that and English is my second language so I had to look up quite a few words, mostly those which had a different meaning then). All I knew about Frankenstein was the 1994 film (which, apparently, doesn't deviate much from the book) some popculture imagery (the screws-in-the-neck creature and suchlike) and a Mary Shelley biopic from some years ago I watched last autumn. So, naturally, after finishing the book I had to go on the internet and find other people who loved it, and I'm glad I stumbled across your channel this way! :) I also looked up differences between the 1818 and the 1831 ed. What do you think, should I read the 1831 ed too? Do you have a favourite ed? I'd love to hear your thoughts. (I got the 1818 one because I had heard that it's truer to Mary Shelley's original intentions.)

[@tayouta]

That's a great review!!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you!

[@deacaeli4255]

Recently discovered your channel and love it! A periodic bookie here. You inspired me to read Frankenstein. Just wondering, would you recommend the first 1818 uncensored edition or the later one and why? Keep sharing your thoughts, love your way of expression. Greets from the Netherlands! ❤

[@WillowTalksBooks]

In two days, I’m posting a video all about the 1818 edition and my experience reading it! So that should give you your answer :) Love to the Netherlands, one of my favourite countries 💜

[@deacaeli4255]

I just saw it and blew my mind! Also just finished the book (1818). Who knew that there are so many profound changes dictated by the fate of the author... Wow. I need some time to digest it.

[@SanchoStranska]

The “monster” as they referred to him, was corrupted by the stereotypes of men..such a sad story 😢.

[@j.lietka9406]

Have you read the book "Looking Backward" (or Backwards)? Is the M. Shelley's Frankenstein movie (a few years ago) based on an earlier (?) Version of her famous story? The part that just about disappointed me was when in the movie Viktor takes his dead spouses head and attaches it to the other lady's body. Fill me in!

[@youtuber5305]

According to the 2022 article "Frankenstein: how Mary Shelly's sci-fi classic warns us of the dangers of playing God": - ...Like much great art, [the novel's] strength lies in its ambivalence and complexity.

[@MissMalikaA]

I really want to buy a Frankenstein book, I've been wathcing all the movies I can find and youtube reviews 😂, its a proper classic but i recently read Dracula which i was so excited for and I'm half way half way through and not much has happened with Dracula yet and it's putting me off buying the Frankenstein book.

[@LluviadeOrugas]

Dracula was such a disappointment to me, I only liked the first third of the book. Frankenstein, on the other hand, was great all the way.

[@Ravenclaw_69]

I honestly relate to Frankenstein

[@WillowTalksBooks]

ok

[@LluviadeOrugas]

I think a lot of people unfortunately do too 😔

[@briano8444]

I will definitely buy this book and read it. Kindly, I would like to know your thoughts on The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa if you have read it. Thank you.

[@wlammy4ever]

Looked up this video because I’m hating every second of the book (sorry) in hopes of being corrected, but all the things you loved, I can’t bare 😂😂 selfish assholes and a million pages about the mountains lolol (oh ugh and the thousand pages of the sailor writing letters to his sister omg 💀💀) You worded everything so well and educational and I thank you ❤️ Oh and I REALLY wanted to like it!!!!!!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Omg it’s so great 😭

[@wlammy4ever]

@@WillowTalksBooks I will finish it but only because you’re the nicest person on the internet

[@WillowTalksBooks]

@@wlammy4ever oh my gosh no, you don’t have to do that! Don’t waste your time on a book you’re hating, please!

[@l.lara2326]

Im 14 and im not an English native speaker but i really wanna read it , is it easy ? And do you recommend it for me , and i really like your video

[@ImpartiallySpeaking]

One of her best friends, Ed Trelawny later revealed that Frankenstein was ‘the creation of her husbands brain’. Shock horror! 😳

[@absyy99]

Hi willow! I just finished reading frankenstein and I think it is the best book ive ever read. BUT what do you think about Ernest? I just felt like he was forgotten, given that he was the only frankenstein that survived

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I've read this book maybe four times and I can't remember who Ernest is so I think that answers your question lol

[@whiteflowercrown]

so im easily scared, its nighttime as im watching this n soneones car/truck/whatever outside made a noise suddenly n i jumped outta my fuckin skin😅🤣

[@willlexie]

“It’s a kink being choked by the text of Frankenstein.” The Modern Kinkiness

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I don't know what that means but I don't hate it.

[@amandar3467]

Have you heard of Our Hideous Progeny? It's an upcoming book described as "a queer, feminist masterpiece inspired by Frankenstein"

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I’m getting a review copy :)

[@youtuber5305]

Does this quote apply to Frankenstein?: - We decided to play God, create life. When that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it really wasn't our fault, not really. You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you've created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore. "Battlestar Galactica" (Commander Adama)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

My favourite TV show :)

[@post-itnote2357]

English is not my native language and Frankenstein was so difficult to read for me 😓 never got past the first 20 pages

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I'm sorry about that. It is a very old and wordy book. Definitely not an easy read.

[@post-itnote2357]

It’s ok! I will one day hahaha also the plushie next to u is very very cute 😂

[@MustafaAli-lb8dq]

I don't see Frankenstein as a science fiction novel. I see it more like a philosophical social horror novel. It is the first monster novel but as a science fiction, not really. The first science fiction novel was Jekyll and Hyde which is another masterpiece.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh okay, guess everyone got it wrong. We’re sorry

[@LluviadeOrugas]

I’m with you on that, I don’t see Frankenstein as a science fiction novel either

[@deanwirth3627]

Mary was not your ordinary young girl, when she wrote frankenstein she had given birth to a stillborn child, her mother and father were grand politiacal revolutinaries in terms of womens rights and other issues. Percy her rock star husband (think Mick Jagger) proofed the book and wrote some passages. I don't like using the word absurd to describe this book it makes me mad. My favorite book of all time I wrote several stories with this book at its core (Lovecraftiana published doznes of them.) Never another book like it.

[@mrconservey]

I was the 665th person to like this video, lolololol.

[@Ozgipsy]

Yes, bad teachers I reckon.

[@estarr86]

Is this a boy girl? I call them changelings.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

The hell?

[@aadipawar5487]

that is where you are wrong sir, possibly one of the most shittiest books i am reading right now, forcefully implemented by our evil english department

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I'm not a sir.

[@aadipawar5487]

@@WillowTalksBooks sorry Mr Books and Bao, will do better next time

[@aadipawar5487]

Just to confirm, this was a Joke, its a great especially where im on right now - where the Frankenstein comes to life - chapter 5