Hey all, Sam here.
That’s it! I’m finally getting this review written up and posted on here. I have been in such a procrastinator mood when it comes to this blog for far too long. I just can’t seem to find my rhythm, not after the past couple of years. But I miss having regular content going, which means I really need to figure out a blog prep schedule that’ll work for my life so I can at least get some posts up on a more regular basis.
I’d like to do more than just my Weekend Writer post each week. So let’s take today’s review post…I read this book in December 2023, and fully planned to make it one of my posts for starting fresh in 2024 with regular content. Obviously, today is April 1st….which means that I procrastinated on this for a few months. I literally had this thing tentatively scheduled for three or four different Mondays in February and March.
So here we go. I’m finally writing it and getting it posted. And no, this is not some sort of April Fool’s Day prank. There’s actually a review coming after this rambling intro, so let’s just get into it.
Obsessed with natural philosophy, the young Victor Frankenstein succeeds in creating life from its basic elements — and abandons the newborn monstrosity in terror when he cannot bear to look at it. The rejected creature vanishes, and Victor attempts to forget what he has done… But the monster survives. It learns. Deprived of everything, fated to forever be alone, it has nothing left but revenge. Manga Classics® presents a frightening new manga adaptation of Mary Shelly’s famous tale of creation and destruction!
My Thoughts
Rating: 4 stars
I honestly don’t know if I’ve read the original Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. I’m sure I’ve seen some TV episodes and movies that have focused on this classic tale, but that’s about it. So, obviously, I jumped at the chance to take in a manga adaptation.
I’ve read a number of classics in my life. From novels to novellas to short stories and even poetry, when you have a degree in Literature, it’s pretty standard to have delved into a number of literary classics. Since graduating with my degrees though, I’ve definitely strayed away from classics for the most part, only doing the occasional re-read.
That is why I enjoy this line of Manga Classics. It allows me to indulge the part of me that misses those college days where I did more regularly read classics, while also not getting bogged down in some of the writing style indicative of the time periods these stories were originally drafted and released.
I read manga quickly, and aside from combat/battle/fighting scenes, I find them very easy to follow. So a classic novel that might take me at minimum a few hours can be read in about 45 minutes in a manga format. It’s the same information, but easier to digest and comprehend thanks to actually being able to see the setting or character appearance, etc, instead of reading lots of flowery sentences describing such things.
This manga adaptation of Frankenstein is definitely the most foreboding, terrifying, and dark of the Manga Classics that I’ve read so far, which is keeping with the vibes of the story. And okay, aside from Frankenstein’s monster, the rest of the characters are in that kind of cute manga style. Although, I’d say the monster doesn’t look too terrible or horrifying, but he is different enough from everyone else that he definitely stands out.
The eerie feeling and slowly creeping horror and tension just build through these pages, and you can feel this panic and terror just grow the deeper you get into the story. It was absolutely compelling, and I just wanted to keep reading. I’m not typically a horror or suspense type of reader, but I found myself needing to keep going with this one. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, even when I suspected it was going to be terrible.
I’m glad I read this, and hopefully I have some more Manga Classics reviews coming to the blog soon.
Well, that’s all. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
Free State of Geek 