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Frankenstein's Monster: A Novel (2010)

by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0307717321 (ISBN13: 9780307717320)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Broadway Books

review 1: Human beings are not meant to be alone. But what about "monsters"? This book makes that case that EVERYONE wants someone special in their lives, even beings who are stitched together, piece by piece. Much of the book centers on the monster, who eventually calls himself "Victor" (after his father), and his intense loneliness. The other part of the novel focuses on Victor's pursuer (I never read the original Frankenstein, but apparently a mad sea captain vowed to hunt down and kill the monster after it killed Frankenstein) and his relentless hunt to kill Victor.The old "I want to be human" plot has been done to death (my personal favorite being Data from ST:TNG), but it seemed fresh here. Victor's loneliness and longing for companionship is palpable throughout the book an... mored kept me hooked. His sense of justice was also interesting. He rescued a woman from people she had been sold (!!) to and later savagely beats a wife beater. (I should mention that there is a lot of violence and violent thoughts in this book, but they don't seem gratuitous.)I am a champion of the underdog and so I found myself feeling for Victor...his life was truly pathetic and he was terribly lonely. I am one of those people who always wants to get people out and about and making friends!On a side note, I loved Lily's views about children!
review 2: “The surest plan to make a Man is: Think him so.” James R. LowellSusan Heyboer O’Keefe uses rich and vivid language to paint pages of opposites as Frankenstein’s monster races through various European cities. He rushes towards and away from his intense emotions as well as a literal pursuer, but he himself is in constant pursuit of someone who will “Think him so”.I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that this is a monster who longs to be a man, or is he a man who’s been ‘thought’ to be a monster? Either way, it is his humanity that drew me to him and caused me to sit up far into the dark hours of the night reading his story, which he conveys with a tormented voice via the entries of a diary.I won’t use the central character’s name, it would be a slight spoiler, but I will tell you that the protagonist’s hunter is a man. This man, this obsessed stalker, is more of a monster than the protagonist himself. Lust and rage rule the protagonist, but he is also possessed of tenderness and yearning. These characteristics are at odds within him like the mismatched body parts stitched together without. Despite the flaws his personality is composed of, I found myself rooting for the protagonist to escape from his pursuer, and even destroy him.As I read Frankenstein’s Monster, I learned that the monster is not only a lover of poetry, but also a poet evidenced by the journal he keeps which tells his side of the story. Does that say something about poets? About writers? If you’ve read other books by Susan Heyboer O’Keefe, you know she has a keen wit, so maybe, it says something about all of us. This reader is, like the ‘monster’ in this book, made up of a patchwork of parts: mother, spouse, sister, writer, musician and yes, when pushed, monster. I think we all have a bit of monster in us.And the monster of the book’s title is pushed, and pulled, in many directions as he seeks to understand and embrace what he is. One of the things he is, at least by the timeline in the book, is an adolescent, and he is ruled by his newly awakened feelings of desire and by his anger. Like any adolescent he is very aware of what others ‘think’ of him, which throughout the book ‘makes him so’. He also struggles to come to terms with his parents, in this case his father, or fathers.There are two fathers for Frankenstein’s monster; symbolic of the choices he faces when at this point in his life he realizes he must ‘create’ himself. Then there are the questions about The Father, and to The Father. Ms. O’Keefe shows traces of brilliance in her writing when the monster of her creation ponders theology.As there are two fathers in his life, there are two faces to our protagonist, man and monster, opposites. He considers tenuous love and burning hatred, the light of hope and the darkness of despair.Frankenstein’s Monster is perfect reading not just for the month of October when spooks abound—I ran back to the bookstore and bought two more copies to give as gifts—but for any time of year.Indeed, people will read and reread this book over the years I’m sure, for beware! Frankenstein’s Monster has been born again, and in his second life, as in his first, he is a classic.To learn more about Susan Heyboer O’Keefe, click on the monster. Don’t worry, he won’t bite, but he may haunt you . . . less

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