Bergsonian Critique

“Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus: by Mary Shelley is considered by many to be the first science fiction novel ever written. That makes it the perfect title for our first Literary Design Challenge BoRT. Many attempts to translate Frankenstein to other formats have fixated on the science of bringing the monster to life, but the book itself doesn’t focus on this aspect at all. Instead, it examines what it means to produce life and the impact that has on those who comes are directly and indirectly involved with the process.”

Two years ago, when I took Major British Writers class in college, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus was included in the syllabus as a required reading. On the first day we began discussing the book, my professor began the lecture on lamenting those who referred to the Gothic novel only by its first name. He stressed that referencing the book without its subtitle didn’t foretell anything imperative about its premise, particularly since Frankenstein and his monstrous creation were indecently profuse in their pop culture manipulations.

Read the rest of this entry »