Film, thoughts, info and opinions: The book the film was based on: Frankenstein

I'm not precious when it comes to adaptations of books, unless of course that adaptation completely misses the mark (see my previous blog on Artemis Fowl), I have even preferred the film over the book at times (Blade Runner), I believe that there is a place for both, and both can be enjoyed not despite the differences but because of them.

I have recently been catching up on some books that I always meant to read, but never seemed to get round to, some of the classics and some not so classic.

In 1818 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, was first published, the story behind the genesis of the novel is quite interesting in itself.

Mary Wollstonecraft's father provided Mary with a rich, if unconventional education and encouraged he to follow his own anarchist political views, this may explain why she was considered strong willed and independent.

In 1814 Mary began a romance with a 22 yo political follower of her father Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was married and she was 17, they, and her sister in law Claire Clairmont, left to travel through Europe.

Their travel included a trip down the Rhine where they stopped close to Frankenstein and it's Castle, part of the history of the Castle was that of Johann Dippel, in the late 17th century, was an alchemist with an interest in anatomy and was said to have practiced on bodies that he exhumed, a local cleric warned the villagers that Dippel had made a monster that was bought to life by a lightening bolt, Universal Pictures used this method in the 1931 film, Mary Shelley make no mention of this in her novel.

Though there is no proof that Mary Shelley visited Castle Frankenstein or even heard the Dippel story there's too many similarities between the stories to ignore completely.

The trio also spent some time in Geneva, this is where the bulk of the Frankenstein novel takes place so we can assume that the city made a impression on Mary, and it was during the summer of 1816 that the trio were joined by Lord Byron and John William Polidori.

It was during this summer stay in Geneva, whilst discussing such subjects as the occult and galvanism, that Mary, Percy and Byron decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story, and after a few days trying to think of story Mary dreamt of a scientist who created life but was then horrified by his creation!

Mary Shelley's novel holds up today, even after 200 years, it is a story of hope, discovery and obsession, a story of alienation and longing to belong, regret and retribution, there's no happy ending here to be had by anyone.

I love the Universal Studios versions of the classic horror stories but they are not true adaptations, but that's fine, they don't always have to be.

One of the closest adaptations of the original source material that I've seen is the 2004 2 parter currently on Prime, Frankenstein starring Luke Goss, Alec Newman, Donald Sutherland, William Hurt and Dan Stevens, it's probably one of the most faithful adaptations.

Notable entries in the Frankenstein franchises, though not necessarily faithful to the source: