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ClareR (5991 KP) rated Frankissstein in Books

Aug 6, 2019  
Frankissstein
Frankissstein
Jeanette Winterson | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A novel with a lot to think about!
I feel a sense of satisfaction having finished this book. I loved it, and I can really see why it has made the Booker Prize longlist (2019).
It is set in two different timelines. The first begins in 1816 with Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley (actually, before they were married), Lord Byron, Mary’s stepsister and Byron’s lover, Claire Clairmont and Polidori, Byron’s doctor. During a particularly wet two weeks on Lake Geneva, Byron sets them all the task of writing a horror story. And so Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is born.

In the modern day, we follow Ry Shelley, a transgender doctor, Victor Stein (a ‘mad’ scientist), Ron Lord (a very successful sexbot producer), Clare (a staunch Christian, who seems to be working undercover in the most unlikely places!) and Polly Dory (a journalist for Vanity Fair. Do you see what she did here? It took me a couple of ‘chapters’, sadly! This is the Frankenstein of the modern age. Where Mary Shelley was terrified at the idea of creating a living man from parts of the dead, Victor Stein in the present day wants to preserve the brains and thoughts of the dead - and it’s equally terrifying.

Mary Shelley and Ry Shelley are very similar (the same, but in different times?) characters, even though they are in two very different times. Mary is at the mercy of her female body - she falls pregnant and loses two babies before she has the third who survives. Ry is trying to change his body from female to male so that he has control over it. But society has very fixed ideas about these characters in both timelines.

It’s a very current book with mention of Brexit and Trump, but I think it will hold up well in the future because it is so well written, and it has a lot to say about society and gender.
I thoroughly enjoyed it - and now I’m going to go and find more books in Jeanette Wintersons back catalogue!

Many thanks to Penguin Random House/ Jonathan Cape and NetGalley for a copy of this book (which I actually went and bought as well - it needs to be sat on my bookshelf!)
  
My Son, the Vampire (1952)
My Son, the Vampire (1952)
1952 | Classics, Comedy, Horror
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Mother Riley Meets Bela Lugosi
My Son, the Vampire as known as Mother Riley Meets The Vampire as known as Vampire Over London is a good movie.

The plot: Irish washerwoman Old Mother Riley (Arthur Lucan) foils a would-be vampire (Bela Lugosi) and his misguided robot.

This was the final film of the Old Mother Riley film series, and did not feature Lucan's ex-wife and business partner Kitty McShane, whom he had divorced in 1951.

In 1963, a recut American version called My Son, the Vampire was released, featuring an introductory segment with a song by American comedian Allan Sherman.

On the suggestion of producer Richard Gordon, Bela Lugosi had travelled to the UK to appear in a stage play of Dracula, which failed. He needed money to return to the US. Gordon persuaded fellow producer George Minter to use Lugosi in a movie in London.

Lugosi was paid $5,000 for his role. The plot was taken from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Its a funny horror comedy.
  
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe (Deadpool Killogy, #1)
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe (Deadpool Killogy, #1)
Cullen Bunn | 2012 | Comics & Graphic Novels
7
7.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fan-fiction in the most delightful way.
A ‘What it says on the tin’ comic including issues 1 through 4 of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe and, in the edition read (I don’t know if it is in all editions) issues 1 through 4 of something called ‘Classics Killustrated’ in which Deadpool travels through some classic novels: Dracula, Moby Dick, Don Quixote and Little Women to name a few (and the film version of Frankenstein) killing everything that gets in his way. (Also showing where the inspiration for different Marvel characters came from.()

If you are new to comics, or just to Marvel, this may not be a great getting on point, as many characters are dropped into the story with little explanation as to who they are or what they can do (including Namor, who has around 79 years of backstory). However, these characters are really only props for Deadpool’s story, so not knowing who they are may not affect your enjoyment of what is really just a gory outing for the Merc.

Overall an interesting read, though not the greatest piece of Deadpool media in recent years.
  
Profoundly Disturbing: Shocking Movies That Changed History!
Profoundly Disturbing: Shocking Movies That Changed History!
Joe Bob Briggs | 2003 | Film & TV, Horror
7
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Profoundly Interesting
Joe Bob Brigg certainly knows his stuff. He delivers an intelligent and fascinating view on the films covered here. Especially interesting was the chapter concerning Kroger Babb, a name I wasn't familiar with until now. Joe covers the films Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919), Mom And Dad (1947), Creature Front The Black Lagoon (1954), And God Created Woman (1956), Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Blood Feast (1963), The Wild Bunch (1969), Shaft (1971), Deep Throat (1972), The Exorcist (1973), Isla, She-Wolf of the SS (1974), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Drunken Master (1978), Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Crash (1996). Although it is a very good read my only gripes are that the essays on some films are way too short and the summary pages after each chapter "For Further Disturbance" are basically an edited rehash of the previous pages. Also no matter how I try to look at it, Shaft (as good a film as it is) really doesn't fall under the 'profoundly disturbing' category. Nevertheless it's a good read and has some nice double page poster art for each film. A nice book to have but nonetheless not that essential