3/2010 Winner: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley

GWC Community Book Club Winning Nominees and Polls
#1

Maybe not actually scifi when using a stricter definition of the term, but certainly some kind of ur-scifi or proto-fantasy and an utterly important influence on many many works that came after.

Plus, I have a special affinity for this book because, well, because of this sentence here:

When I had attained the age of seventeen my parents resolved that I should become a student at the university of Ingolstadt.

As it happens, Ingolstadt, at the banks of the Danube, is my home town, where I was born and went to high school. The city of Frankenstein. We even give tourists a Frankenstein Mystery Tour during the summer months. The city also has a strong connection to the Order of Illuminati … and a minor league baseball team.

Anyway, I think Frankenstein is an important book and it’s not too long, so don’t be afraid to pick it up.

#2

Often called the first Science Fiction novel. So yeah, it counts!

#3

Man creates life. Man rejects creation. Creation murders family and friends of creator and eventually creator. Very similiar to our favorite TV show.

It’s also got my vote for scifi.

#4

“The Monster was created by a man…”

#5

mine too…

#6

Well, I have to say that pop culture turned the Frankenstein myth into something it originally wasn’t. Like, all the horror movies involving Frankenstein’s monster mostly focus on the gloomy act of his creation and the monster killing people, whereas the book actually is an exploration of what it means to be human, of the question whether an artificial being can also be called human, what it is that defines humanity, it’s pretty much like the TNG episode “Measure of a Man”

#7

So true, GR. The Branagh / De Niro version actually tackled that. It wasn’t well-received or liked but it follows the book pretty well. It cast Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth. Branagh plays the doctor and De Niro the monster.

#8

Great book and I would love to revisit it. I don’t think any of the movies have captured the story’s deep pain very well. Except, of course, Young Frankenstein.

#9

For exactly those reasons—that it’s about an "exploration of what it means to be human—that “Measure of a Man” is probably my favorite Star Trek episode ever (of all the Star Treks). It was an episode with no space battles, no aliens, and no action scenes—but it was totally a great episode.

#10

I couldn’t agree more.

#11

Maybe the secret of the opera house is that, once the final Cylon model is revealed, all 12 break into a singing-and-dancing showstopping rendition of “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” :slight_smile:

#12

You just made my day. Bravo.

I absolutely support Frankenstein as a book selection. One of my all time favorites.

#13

“Frankenstein” gets my vote as well.

The edition I have is subtitled “The Modern Prometheus.” There was an X-Files episode entitled “The Post-Modern Prometheus.” It’s the Season 5 episode shot in black & white; in which a small town has a “monster” lurking. It’s my favorite X-Files episode, primarily because of my affinity for Shelley’s book.

#14

I think that is the official subtitle?

#15

Yeah. All editions are pretty much the same.

#16

But Promotheus sounds cool. Sounds kinda Greek. I bet Mary ripped it off the USS Promotheus.

#17

I think this book has great significance right now in the BSG world. We’re going to be discovering the origins of man and cylon, the creator and the created (I’m no longer sure who is who anymore), so I think the issues of isolation and wanting to be part of the living world are central to what the cylons are beginning to feel. They are living, they are beginning to become individuals with free will. Yep, we’ve got a strong case for this title.

#18

Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is a great book. I took course in Science Fiction in college and that was one of the books we read—so I learned a lot about the background of the author—the relationship of Byron, Shelly and Mary Shelly and so on. Mary Shelly had a pretty crazy life. Wasn’t there a movie about the whole Byron and Shelly thing?

#19

Gothic?

#20

Yes, that’s probably it. Now I can’t even remember if I’ve seen it. The Science Fiction class I took in college was really cool because we occassionlly watched movies in class. And watched some Mary Shelly background movie, but I can’t remember if it was Gothic, or something more documentary-ish.

Well, good news is that my wife has the hots for Gabriel Byrne. So she’ll have NO problem with watching it with me.