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We just finished reading this in AP English. I enjoyed it, and ended up liking the creature a little more than Dr. Frankenstein. Anybody here read it? And what did u think?

I read it about a million years ago, but I always thought it was a bit obvious about the philosophical themes. Good writing, though. I prefer Stoker's Dracula, but many people seem to find it tedious to get through the some of the Dickensian narrative bits.

I read Dracula in 7th grade. It took a bit to get through but I enjoyed it.

I am fond of classic fiction, even if the only exposure i've had to it was Jane Eyre, which i am reading at the moment. It's beautifully written, and has a good Women's rights message, even if it is a little blatant.

Mikey wrote:I read it about a million years ago, but I always thought it was a bit obvious about the philosophical themes. Good writing, though. I prefer Stoker's Dracula, but many people seem to find it tedious to get through the some of the Dickensian narrative bits.

I've never read Frankenstein, but I agree that Dracula is excellent, particularly the way Stoker managed to maintain a coherent plot while hopping around between half a dozen different narratives.

Exactly. The bits I like - using different styles of narrative to express different POV's - is the bit the same people think of as too much work to get through.

I can understand where they're coming from - it can be tricky to keep track of who's narrating what, and in the hands of a less skillfull author the technique can reduce an fundamentally interesting plot to an incomprehensible mess. David Feintuch tried it in "Voices of Hope", and as a result it's the by far the weakest of his novels IMHO.

I'm not familiar with Feintuch, but most of the complaints against Stoker which I've heard can plausibly be attributed to lazy readership. Reading Dracula is hardly instant gratification.

Reliant121 wrote:I am fond of classic fiction, even if the only exposure i've had to it was Jane Eyre, which i am reading at the moment. It's beautifully written, and has a good Women's rights message, even if it is a little blatant.

We read that over the summer for AP English. I didn't hate it nearly as much as I hated Dinner at the Homesick Resteraunt...a "modern" classic.
I like Kiss & Tell (a book about writing biographies) and A Tale of Two Cities.

I can't bear Dickens. His credo: "Never say in five words what you can say in 82."

Mikey wrote:I can't bear Dickens. His credo: "Never say in five words what you can say in 82."

That was the only brain melting part.

I know that I grew to feel more for Adam (the Monster) than Dr. Frankenstien. He just seemed like a victim, who quite simply lost it.

I'ma biting the bullet, and reading War and Piece volume 1 at the moment.....i like it so far.

Mark wrote:I know that I grew to feel more for Adam (the Monster) than Dr. Frankenstien. He just seemed like a victim, who quite simply lost it.

Indeed.

Dude, don't steal my pointless one word answers.

I can't bear Dickens. His credo: "Never say in five words what you can say in 82."

Utterly agreed.