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A disruption of time and space sends a modern man back two hundred years to confront Dr. Frankenstein's immortal monster in this brilliant reinvention of Mary Shelley's classic tale Some years into the twenty-first century, a newly devised weapon of mass destruction will do far worse than kill; it will disrupt time and space. Suddenly, land, buildings, animals, and people are falling through "timeslips" and being transported briefly back to earlier eras. One of these inadvertent time travelers, Joe Bodenland, is shocked when he finds himself parked outside a villa on the shore of Lake Geneva--and soon after, unbelievably, in the presence of nineteenth-century literary luminaries Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, along with Shelley's very enticing fiancée, budding author Mary. But when Joe comes face to face with a real, flesh-and-blood Victor Frankenstein and the monster the mad doctor brought into this world, the visitor from the future realizes that not only has time been disrupted, reality itself has been transmogrified. And this Frankenstein, it seems, is far from finished with his unholy endeavors, leaving it up to Joe to make it right for the sake of history--and for the bewitching lady novelist who has stolen his heart--before he is rudely thrust back to his own time. An absolutely stunning reinvention of a cherished literary classic, Frankenstein Unbound proves once more that there are no limits to the unparalleled creative genius of science fiction Grand Master W. Brian Aldiss, one of the most revered names in the field of speculative fiction.… (more)
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Except it actually takes him to a parallel universe, since these were fictional characters even in his world. Also, Mary Shelley is there and doesn't realize her book has come true, until the narrator tells her. She hasn't even finished writing it yet. They also have a short-lived romantic encounter. He also pawns his uranium powered watch in this era for cash. I mean, at some point, it just becomes silly. The science is junk and the plot can't overcome it. The narrator seems, to be frank, quite stupid and that isn't intentional. His reactions to events lack realism. The reaction of characters to him lack believability. If you are going to go play with classic characters and classic historical figures, you better know what you are doing. Aldiss had no clue in this novel. I just can't figure out why it is regarded so well. On some level, the Shelleys and Lord Byron actually weren't terrible in terms of characterization. It seemed like Aldiss wanted to write a novel about them, and was using the paper thin plot as a justification to do it. But it isn't worth diving into this whirlpool for a very tiny pearl.
Don't let this book ruin Aldiss for you though. Hothouse, while not perfect, is vastly superior and a must read.
I actually thought the film, although definitely a 'B-movie' did a better job in some respects of delineating the parallels between the sci-fi scenario that Aldiss sets up and the classic story of Frankenstein.
In the 21st century,
Another 'slip' occurs, and our protagonist now finds himself some months later, in what may or may not be a different reality again, hanging out with Byron, Shelley and Mary Godwin (soon-to-be Mary Shelley).
Reality seems to be unraveling. Our protagonist becomes somewhat obsessed with tracking down the monster in his 21st-century car and killing it.
But is the real problem that humanity, in whatever century one may be in, seeks out forbidden and dangerous knowledge, as the original Frankenstein illustrates? Or is it the human hatred of and violence toward anything different and unknown?
This short, philosophical novel is really Aldiss' musings on these issues. It's OK, but perhaps could have been better executed. I liked how, in the movie, the protagonist was actually a scientist responsible for the device which caused the timeslips, setting up a nice parallel between him and Dr. Frankenstein. In the book, he's just a random guy, it seems.
Never really got what the point of it was though.
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Omslaget viser hovedet af frankensteins skabning
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
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| 823.9 |