MADreads

The other green monster

June 12th, 2008 Kylee

I’ll admit, I’m not much of an incredible hulk fan. Though it’s been several years since I first read Mary Shelley’s classic monster novel, I’ve always had a soft spot for the big green guy she created in Frankenstein.

Inspired by a viewing of another classic, the hilarious Young Frankenstein, I decided to read further. I started with Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer by Alasdair Gray. In Gray’s story, the monster is not a large, brooding man, but a sweet young woman in 19th century Scotland. Archibald McCandless tells the story of his life and his relationship with his wife, who he discovers is actually a creation made by Dr. Godwin Baxter. Baxter, Gray’s “modern Prometheus”, decides to give an anonymous pregnant drowned woman a second chance at life by transplanting her child’s live brain into her own head. He names this woman Bella and raises her himself, as her brain quickly develops to match her body.

As in Shelley’s original story, chaos ensues, but instead of becoming a murderous, vengeful creature, Bella causes trouble with her innocence - ignorant of societal norms and gender roles, she creates havoc amongst the people she meets. Her story is told through McCandless’s memoir, with bits of letters and other documents scattered throughout. It’s a fantastic story, filled with some of the wittiest writing I’ve ever come across. I feel a little guilty saying this, but I think I liked it even better than the real Frankenstein. I also enjoyed the cover art, designed by the author.

After Poor Things, I read Mary Modern by Camille DeAngelis, another take on the familiar tale. In this case, the doctor is genetics researcher Lucy Morrigan, and her creature is created with more sophisticated technology. When Lucy finds that she can’t conceive a child, she decides to take matters into her own hands. In her basement, she finds a number of strange machines that her late father, also a scientist, had been experimenting wth. Using her father’s notes and some very old DNA, she manages to implant an embryo in her womb that she believes will genetically recreate her dead grandmother. However, what Lucy fails to understand from her father’s research is that her grandmother’s memories are encoded within her DNA, so instead of creating a child, she has essentially cloned her grandmother. When her baby begins growing much faster than it should, she discovers her mistake, and decides to meet the relative she lost as a child. While this novel doesn’t compare to Gray’s cleverly quirky story, it still was a good read. The cloning slant is an interesting twist, and DeAngelis adds enough gothic atmosphere to make what is essentially science fiction seem less like science and more like a creepy modern ghost story.

With two good books on the list, I’m tempted to find some more Frankenstein-esque tales. I think I might check out Valerie Martin’s Mary Reilly next, which is the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as told by an observant housemaid. There’s no green monster, but I bet there’ll be enough crazy to keep me reading.

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction, Science Fiction