Tag Archives: Uncategorized
Rediscovering Frankenstein
So, i had certain expectations getting into Frankenstein. The first thing I expected was a lot more lightning bolts. I had the classic image of a dungeon turned laboratory so cemented in my head from years of the movies and … Continue reading → Continue reading
Hello world!
I was struggling to figure out what to call my blog. So, here I sat trying to be original (or maybe just different). I thought it was very ironic (apropos even) that the course number would be (Fahrenheit) 451 – one of the best classic sci-fi books ever! Then I remembered one of my favorite catch phrases […]
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Defining “Playing Science”
With respect to my previous blog post I thought I would further define my use of the term “playing science” versus “playing god.” The distinction I am making is that the things we attend to god can be explained by science. So therefore you are not playing god, you are playing the part of science. […]
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Redefining the “Mad Scientist”
Whenever you hear the term or quote “Mad Scientist” you might always bring yourself to the image of some crazed man in a white lab coat, a hunchback named “Igor” and lastly, but not least the desiccated parts of many corpse loosely bound by stitches. Let’s move away from this mental image and try to […]
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Scientific Pursuits (and the ills that spring therefrom)
I’ve read Frankenstein once before, years ago. Returning to it, I was instantly struck by the role that science plays. Victor Frankenstein is a fiercely committed student of philosophy and other sciences. He has a sort of obsession with the … Continue reading →
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Frankenstein: Comparing Walton and Frankenstein
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, there are a lot of similarities between Walton and Frankenstein that stems from their thirst for knowledge. This leads them to strive to achieve something that mankind has not done before. Frankenstein finds how to create … Continue reading → Continue reading
Desiring the Extinction of Knowledge
What does Frankenstein posit about the intelligibility of nature, especially human nature? “I at once gave up my former occupations, set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation, and entertained the greatest disdain for a would-be science which could never even step within the threshold of real knowledge.” Awed […]
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Science and Nature in Fankenstein
In his article “On the Poetics of the Science Fiction Genre”, Darko Suvin posits “Science Fiction as the literature of cognitive estrangement.” By this definition and its subsequent explanation I believe that Shelley’s Frankenstein falls short of the parameters … Continue reading → Continue reading
The Arctic as the Penultimate Frontier
It has been some time since I last read Frankenstein. And I’ve never read it under the pretext of science fiction, but rather as a gothic novel. However, upon rereading the epistolary opening sections of Mary Shelley’s novel, I immediately … Continue reading → Continue reading
Frankenstein is not weird
Although I have never seen any of the many film adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I have already read the novel once before in its entirety. Usually, rereading a book is a rewarding experience for me, but in this particular … Continue reading → Continue reading