Review of #Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus: A Literary Classic Told in Tweets for the 21st Century Audience by Mike Bezemek

 

Read for: Recently Added/ Frankenstein Adaptation/ Mary Shelley Week

Synopsis: "Few classic works of literature have excited such enduring popular interest among the general public as Frankenstein. But suppose the characters—Victor Frankenstein, Captain Robert Walton, and, yes, even the “monster”—had shared their tale in tweets? #Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus in Tweets hilariously reimagines Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel in about two hundred tweets, each 280 characters or less.

@frankendoctorvictor:

A rainy November night, under a dying candle, I infused the spark. A gasp! A convulsion of limbs! A yellow eye opened. ;P WTF had I done?

In this witty abridgment, Victor Frankenstein’s quest to create a sentient being is retold with the occasional emoji. The plight of his monstrous creation is presented with internet acronyms. And Captain Robert Walton ponders the blinding power of ambition with hashtags.

Including an appendix that presents the original passages upon which each tweet is derived, #Frankenstein offers modern readers an entertaining and accessible companion to a great American classic."

My Review: Being such a big fan of Frankenstein, I thought this would be a fun adaptation, and it was everything I hoped it would be. It actually does a good job of abbreviating the original story with just the highlights. The screen names of the characters were great but the hashtags were the star of the show. It was quirky and entertaining. Such a fun and creative twist on the classic. I am curious if there are more like this and I may have to check them out.

My Rating: I was super curious about how this adaptation would work and for the entertainment value it is great. It was super fast to read and so entertaining, having been so familiar with the original work.  It may not work so well if you weren't already familiar with the original work but he does have annotations to each of the original passages that are referred to in the tweets.  I give it a rating of Three Paws due to the creativity and entertainment value!