Frankenstein

I have received the new Dover edition of Frankenstein: with Illustrations by Nino Carbe written by Mary Shelley. It is being released as a hardcover with the un-Dover like price tag of $40. What is gained in this edition from free PDF versions is the proper formatting and book that is worth keeping on your shelf. Also, what makes this a worthwhile edition is the inclusion of the original drawings by Antonio Carbe from the 1932 edition of this book. The monster is drawn as more a deformed man with human emotions than a stitched-together creature. Carbe's daughter provides the foreword for this edition with a brief biography of her father.

I can't recall how many times I watched the 1931 Frankenstein movie and Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein meets the Wolfman. The actual creation of the "monster" is the highpoint of the movie -- The doctor and Igor in the electrical storm. The ending where we see the now stereotypical torch and pitchfork mob wanting vengeance. In the book, there is none of that. The monster's creation is told as an after the fact story and aside from Felix and the ship's captain Victor Frankenstein is the only living person to see the monster. No "It's alive !!!" and no angry mobs. There have been many retellings of the story from Hollywood. Some loyal to the book others not. Even the writing of this book was made into a movie, 1986 Gothic starring Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley.

A friend hearing I was reading this book a few years ago asked me to think about something while reading. What if the monster is not real and is really a demented Victor Frankenstein? The monster does move about with perfect stealth and reads Paradise Lost (which becomes an important theme), Goethe, and Plutarch, quite an accomplishment for a non-speaking, at the time, illiterate monster. Victor is also ill and his illness follows the deaths of his family and friends. Perhaps man is the ultimate monster, but there is so much literary history behind the commonly held beliefs of the story.

Maybe it's time to pick up a new, old book and look at the story from a different angle. Discover something new. Relive a bit of your childhood and see how the movie versions of your favorite Universal Studios' monster holds up to the original text. Yes, it is a monster book, but it is also a classic. It is the best of both worlds.

My point of putting this review out there is not to write about the novel – if you've not seen a copy to read by now, google and download it. No, I came here to peruse the illustrations, which is a pertinent thing to do from the brief biography we get of his career, which seems to have singled the artist Nino Carbe out as an artiste extraordinaire – a concert violinist but for his art, he practically invented Fantasia's Sugar-Plum Fairy segment, and turned his hand to sculpture and woodworking for his house as well as book and theatre design. Here what we get are mostly chapter-ending cameos, and illuminated letters, but also several full-page pieces of art, which have a woodcut feel but apparently were pen-and-ink. More startling still are a handful of full-colour pieces, done much later in life when revisiting the text for a Danish publishers, which really do put their own unique stamp (not to say palette) on proceedings. The text is presented superbly, if you like the typeset with its stretched letters, and all round this is a volume to look out for. My flippancy about downloading the book belies my thoughts about copious reprintings of public domain texts, but if you must, then resurrecting a lost book artist in such a manner is the way to go about it.

When I saw a new version of this book was going to be released with artwork I knew I had to see it. I have read this novel numerous times and never grow tired of it. The language and writing are beautiful . The story is heart breaking. The art in this book is haunting and beautiful. I already love this novel to infinity but the added element of the gorgeous art makes it a treasure.

I had seen the movie multiple times, as a child, typically with my older brother and his best friend sitting in a fort made of sofa cushions. I have heard, a few times, that the movie bears little resemblance to the book, and so when I saw this newly illustrated version, I decided to move Frankenstein from my “to-read” shelf to at least “currently reading.” After closing this book, I can say that I’m not exactly sure what Hollywood got out of this book, since it bears little resemblance to this novel.

First published in 1818, Mary Shelley’s first novel is a classic gothic horror / science-fiction novel. This newly illustrated version, published 20 April 2016, contains the text and illustrations from the original publication in 1932, the Illustrated Library Edition. Included in this are five color illustrations by Nino Carbé have been added to this edition. Nino Carbé was an artist prior to being hired by Walt Disney. He was moved up to the storyboard and layout department for the movie Fantasia, when Walt saw a drawing of Nino’s – a sketch of a fairy coming out of a dandelion. That little sketch became the “Sugar Plum Fairy” sequence in Fantasia. But that was just the beginning – his list of project he’s associated with is long, including Jungle Book, Woody Woodpecker, Spiderman, The Pink Panther, and the first animated feature of The Lord of the Rings.

The prose is lovely, the story is less than believable, which no one should find shocking – the creature of Dr. Frankenstein’s creation also bears little resemblance, physically or verbally, to the idea I’d grown up with. His vision is idealistic and childlike, with no thought to any repercussions that might follow his potential success.

“The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember.”

After his creation is walking about, Dr. Frankenstein has an awakening, and a change of heart toward his creation. He spends a lot of his time internally conflicted; hating himself for his creation, and the havoc it has created.

Frankenstein’s creation wants only to find a haven where he can be accepted, where he can find comfort with at least one other being. As time has passed, he has listened, become somewhat educated, and hopes for the companionship of one person who is like him. In many ways, though, he is an 8 ft. tall, extremely strong toddler, no is not an acceptable answer. He wants what Dr. Frankenstein has, a family, love.

Publication Date: 12 July 2016 Many thanks to Dover Publications – Calla Editions, and NetGalley, for providing me with an advance copy to read.

I loved this new addition! The illustrations are great. I read this on my kindle and it was a good reading experience.