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Fascinating

Customer Rating:

The Monsters is a fascinating read about some of the most fascinating literary figures of the 18th and 19th century. It even has sections of pictures to better understand what these people looked like (which is important, especially for Byron). The book is far more than just the creation of the literary masterpiece Frankenstein. It spans the life of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: from her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft Goodwin (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman), and her father, William Goodwin, until her end. The book details the biographies of major Romantic literary figures, such as Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and even includes the mention of Thomas Love Peacock, Matthew Gregory Lewis, and others. I found the material dense and the pace a little slow at times. Someone interested in the topic will have their appetite for scandal and genius satiated with this work; although I would caution the more general reader. Having known the bare minimum of this era of literature, I found the background information to be enlightening, and quickly brought me up to speed with the history and people. Recommended

Slaughtered Authors

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The general story has been covered before, but here the Hooblers provide a readable update to the creation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and the surrounding events of her life. In 1816, the poet Lord Byron challenged some friends to come up with ghost stories, leading to not just Mary's classic but also to the first modern vampire novel (by associate John Polidori). Here the Hooblers compile the latest knowledge of everyone involved, leading to useful biographies of Mary Shelley, her poet husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Byron, Polidori, Mary's proto-feminist mother Mary Wollstonecraft, her anarchist father William Godwin, and everyone else involved in Mary's literary life. You'll be surprised by the free love and loose morals of all the protagonists, displayed during a brief lapse in the puritanism and patriarchy of European society when they were all in their primes. Percy and Byron come across in particular as irresponsible tail-chasing scumbags, with poor Mary suffering under her disrespectful and condescending male loved ones. But the Hooblers handily illustrate the social and historical inspirations for all these literary geniuses. They also provide a biographical reconstruction of "Frankenstein" and search for the parallels with Mary's life. This presents the only minor flaw in this book, as the Hooblers sometimes go overboard in conjecturing the inner private thoughts of Mary (and the others to a lesser extent) - regardless of the extensive use of letters and personal diaries as sources. Indeed, Byron's challenge eventually lead to the early deaths of almost everyone involved, with poor Mary surviving but dealing with a parade of personal tragedies that would have killed a weaker person several times. This wasn't really a "curse" mind you, just the result of the reckless lifestyles and poor health care of the times in which they lived. Here the Hooblers have provided a consistently readable multi-biography and literary review, based on a fresh reading of primary sources, of a unique troupe of literary fellow travelers. [~doomsdayer520~]

Delightful

Customer Rating:

Hey, just finished "The Monsters" and enjoyed it immensely. I'm not a "literary" person but am interested in history. As a history it's a great and non-boring period read. I won't go into details like the lit buffs, but I wanted to put in a word for the general reader. If more lit "stuff" was written like this literature would be more meaningful. When you know the when and why and about how something was generated it gives it much more significance.

Reveals some rather painful truths!

Customer Rating:

In some ways, this book is similar to Ken Russell's "Gothic," but in other ways, it's not; for one, Russell's film tends to Romanticise the two anti-heroes (Byron and Shelley) while the book states the sad facts quite clearly. It presents the true side of the "Romantics" and shows us that Byron and Shelley truly were very egotistical, narcissistic, and very selfish people with a varied modicum of talent. I really liked that this book did not sugar-coat the truth. Come to think of it, it may only have also been Byron's associations with his obviously mentally ill ancestors and peoples' obsessions with such luridness, and Shelley's association with Byron, that even elevated both to such high status! Add to that Byron's infamous handsomeness, although in my personal opinion, I never found him that intruiging -- even Samuel Taylor Coleridge was more darkly handsome when he was a young man. Coleridge was also a much better poet with a true talent for poetry! Read any of his poems, especially "Kubla Khan," and then make the decision on your own. Call me prejudiced, but I have never been a great fan of Byron and Shelley, although Shelley, I think, was more genuine, so again, I think it may be true that Byron's celebrity, and Shelley's association with him made these two famous. And as for their personalities, again, quite horrific. Of course, from the two, Shelley was rather tame, Byron makes Shelley look like a choirboy! One wonders how Byron survived as long as he did without dying of some disease from his varied sexual encounters. (Again, if Byron was the first celebrity, this also gives you a good idea of how people can be elevated to grand heights when they really don't deserve to be.) On the other hand, we are given a picture of Mary as being rather naive and foolish, as most young girls are when in love, but rather sweet altogether. She seemed to be the only morally and temperamentally sound one from the bunch. If anything, she is the real star here and the only real talent. (You can also see that her conscience was so strong that it haunted her to the point that she was impelled to write "Frankenstein.") Polidori, the poor victim, also had some real talent, I've always thought his short-story "The Vampyre" was quite excellent. And if you ask me, he was much more handsome than Byron (at this point you may think I actually loathe Byron, and sometimes I think I do!) As for Claire, she was just as batty as both Byron and Shelley, and deserved whatever the consequences may have been. Watch Ken Russell's film "Gothic" for a great interpretation of Claire's personality. Even though Mary Shelley has long been dead, I really feel for her, having to be around all those "monsters" as it were, must have been another reason for writing her classic novel!

Great Gothic History

Customer Rating:

This book focuses on the life of Mary Shelley, which was tragic. It appears to be well-researched (I don't know enough to contradict any of their conclusions) and was very interesting, one of my nightly "just before I go to sleep" reads. There is plenty of detail about the lives of Mary's parents, her family, her very famous husband, Percy, and other historical individuals, most notably Lord Byron. But the authors keep the pace moving and do not get bogged down in dull details. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the authors freely gave their opinion on Mary and the people in her life, making the biography more accessible and less a dry textbook. There is some very interesting (and spooky) details about Percy's early death and Mary's bizarre reaction to it. They also attempt to dispel the lurid falsehoods told by Lord Byron's enemies and paint a portrait of the true man, one of Europe's first celebrity idols. He was still a bad character, and I cannot help but wonder how Mary's personal life would have improved if she and Percy had never met the man; however, would Frankenstein been written and Percy become a belated star? I came away from the novel with a deep sense of pathos about Mary and a new sense of her greatness in literary history. In a way, Mary's life was a Gothic horror story, full of real life monstrous individuals.