Mountain High

When we hear the name Frankenstein, this is the image that usually springs to mind. Green, squarish head, bolts in neck... While this could have been how Mary Shelley envisioned her creature when she wrote his story, the person actually named Frankenstein was the scientist who created the creature: Dr. Victor Frankenstein. There begin the twists in what we think we know about this book.
Born out of a convergence of a volcano in Indonesia, a gloomy summer in Switzerland and a contest between brilliant, bohemian writers, Frankenstein remains a cultural touchstone and a tale that has never lost its relevance.
I am recommending Frankenstein, The Modern Promethius as our October book, one, because it is Halloween, but two, because, with the birth of AI, it is increasingly important that we consider how much we want the creations of our own hands to control our lives. Frankenstein spoke to that question over 100 years ago.
If you are interested in diving deeper into understanding the author of Frankenstein, I also recommend another book in the MHS library, Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness and How Mary Shelley Created FRANKENSEIN. This book is a fascinating, quick read about the wild and dramatic life of a woman who created one of the world’s most famous monsters.