Frankenstein
This is actually the second time I've read Frankenstein, the first time was back in high school though I don't remember which year. I certainly appreciate it much more this time around, though I'm not sure if it's because I already had somewhat of a memory of it, because I was a bit more mature this time around (though I doubt that, haha), or what, but I enjoyed it more this time for sure.
It's funny I mention above how I had somewhat of a memory of it from the first time, because now that I think about it I had definitely forgotten most of it. I feel bad because I genuinely enjoy the book and I think it's fair to say it's one of the most famous stories of all time, so the fact I forgot most of it shows pretty clearly that it must not have left much of an impression on me. I blame this partially on my memory which sometimes decides not to remember anything, even if it's something I would like to remember, such as this story. I also wonder, however, if it's not just my spotty memory, if perhaps a similar thing happens to many people in my generation. I know there are plenty of people my age who remember books like this no problem, but there are many like me who forget, and I think part of it has to do with my generation in general becoming much more desensitized to content like Frankenstein.
I'm sure you've seen video clips or read segments discussing this topic; kids these days don't understand how serious violence is and are desensitized because of movies, television, violent video games, etc... I personally think there may be some truth to this but honestly, humans have always been somewhat desensitized to violence, at least in the sense that we clearly don't see it as bad enough to avoid in many situations. Both World Wars, the Civil War, the Crusades even, all these incredibly violent events and for what? Reasons that don't merit that kind of violence in my opinion. I don't think someone who really understands how awful torture truly is would take it upon themselves to inflict it on even their least favorite person, yet we have the concentration camps during the Holocaust, and that's just one example in a long history of humans torturing each other. If you really do understand the magnitude of torturing someone and do it anyway, you may be a sociopath or psychopath, but for the rest of us, we must be somewhat desensitized or we would hopefully not really consider things like murder and torture, but we do anyway, so that speaks for itself I think.
Back to Frankenstein, however, I think many people don't remember it after reading it because of the kind of thing I mentioned above. There have always been stories about violence, body horror, gore, and other weird things like that, but especially nowadays when almost half the population on Earth has access to the internet, we can all be constantly looking at and reading weird and creepy things similar to Frankenstein, which takes some of the book's thunder even though it's a classic. Like I said, I will always enjoy it and its many adaptations, especially Gene Wilder's Young Frankenstein, but I'm afraid the scenarios I mentioned above might just continue and get worse over time to the point no one is even creeped out by something like Frankenstein anymore, but only time will tell.
It's funny I mention above how I had somewhat of a memory of it from the first time, because now that I think about it I had definitely forgotten most of it. I feel bad because I genuinely enjoy the book and I think it's fair to say it's one of the most famous stories of all time, so the fact I forgot most of it shows pretty clearly that it must not have left much of an impression on me. I blame this partially on my memory which sometimes decides not to remember anything, even if it's something I would like to remember, such as this story. I also wonder, however, if it's not just my spotty memory, if perhaps a similar thing happens to many people in my generation. I know there are plenty of people my age who remember books like this no problem, but there are many like me who forget, and I think part of it has to do with my generation in general becoming much more desensitized to content like Frankenstein.
I'm sure you've seen video clips or read segments discussing this topic; kids these days don't understand how serious violence is and are desensitized because of movies, television, violent video games, etc... I personally think there may be some truth to this but honestly, humans have always been somewhat desensitized to violence, at least in the sense that we clearly don't see it as bad enough to avoid in many situations. Both World Wars, the Civil War, the Crusades even, all these incredibly violent events and for what? Reasons that don't merit that kind of violence in my opinion. I don't think someone who really understands how awful torture truly is would take it upon themselves to inflict it on even their least favorite person, yet we have the concentration camps during the Holocaust, and that's just one example in a long history of humans torturing each other. If you really do understand the magnitude of torturing someone and do it anyway, you may be a sociopath or psychopath, but for the rest of us, we must be somewhat desensitized or we would hopefully not really consider things like murder and torture, but we do anyway, so that speaks for itself I think.
Back to Frankenstein, however, I think many people don't remember it after reading it because of the kind of thing I mentioned above. There have always been stories about violence, body horror, gore, and other weird things like that, but especially nowadays when almost half the population on Earth has access to the internet, we can all be constantly looking at and reading weird and creepy things similar to Frankenstein, which takes some of the book's thunder even though it's a classic. Like I said, I will always enjoy it and its many adaptations, especially Gene Wilder's Young Frankenstein, but I'm afraid the scenarios I mentioned above might just continue and get worse over time to the point no one is even creeped out by something like Frankenstein anymore, but only time will tell.
I agree with numerous points made about possibly the current generation not being impressed by Frankenstein due to the fact that we are kind of blank towards violence. We are introduced to it young and surrounded by it all the time. Another fact I would like to bring up is I also read it in high school and I think the other reason we probably don't remember it so much is that it was a novel that was forced and graded. A majority of the novels read in high school are lost on me because they are forced and we have to dissect them before we even get to indulge on them. What's different with this class is we have choices and we're allowed to take our own thoughts from these novels.
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