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The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein | 
| Author: Peter Ackroyd
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £9.55
You Save: £7.44 (44%)
New (21) Used (5) Collectible (3) from £5.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 8529
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0701182954
EAN: 9780701182953
ASIN: 0701182954
Publication Date: September 4, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Dispatched Next Day
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| Customer Reviews:
 Could never better the original, but good in its own right. October 17, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The problem with books like THE CASEBOOK OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN is that they are rarely going to live upto the original. However, although this novel cannot be classed as a masterpiece like the original, that does not mean that it is not a good book in its own right.
Ackroyd has stayed true to the original in many ways. His portrayal of Frankenstein as the near mad scientist whose thirst for knowledge pushes the boundaries of normal and moral law is convincing. Similarly, as with the original, THE CASEBOOK also has a sadness to it. This is no easy thing to achieve - for Ackroyd to be able to generate sympathy from the reader for the creature shows that he has done a good job in his narrative.
In order to give his version difference, Ackroyd does give a name to the creature, in sorts. In THE CASEBBOK we learn, that rather than being constructed from reclaimed body parts, this creature is a whole man who is brought back from death. This gives him an identity even though it is somewhat flimsy. It is perhaps one aspect of the story that Ackroyd could have made more use of.
All in all, THE CASEBOOK is a successful attempt at gothic horror. Unlike another reviewer here, I quite enjoyed the twist at the end - it certainly makes you think about another dimension to the story if nothing else. As a quick read for dark nights, I would recommend this novel.
 Diverting, but ultimately hugely disappointing... October 13, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is my first Ackroyd and while his narrative is fairly gripping throughout, I'm afraid there's quite a lot to dislike about this retelling/reimagining of the Frankenstein story.
So, yes, the reader is initially fascinated by Ackroyd's puppetry with these - mostly historical - figures. Shelley prances about like an idealistic, ever-so-effeminate man of leisure/occasionally tortured soul with a joie de vivre which is quite endearing. Proto-feminist, cultured, metaphorically trouser-wearing Mary Shelley has a certain, serious-minded believability. And some of the incidental characters - like Fred and Daniel Westbrook - are sufficiently sympathetic. And, yes, Ackroyd does a passable - perhaps even a seamless - impersonation of a 19th century narrator/author. But it nevertheless remains an impersonation. The action flits about more hyperactively than any actual 19th century novel of note does. There are plenty of short scenes which seem to contribute little to the overall narrative and there's just a bit too much literal-mindedness and uneven tone to the whole thing which is in stark contrast to the wonderfully dense, terror-inducing paranoia of Mary Shelley's tragic/Gothic masterpiece.
Oh, and the twist at the end sends one's eyes rolling heavenwards. Especially if Ackroyd expects me to reread his slight, pastichey, entertainment in light of the final-page revelation!
Another Remarkable Novel From a Great London Novelist September 30, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
In this, Ackroyd's latest novel, Victor Frankenstein is a contemporary and companion of Percy Bysshe Shelley at Oxford before Shelley gets sent down for publishing an atheistic pamphlet. Frankenstein eventually cuts short his own studies and joins his friend in London. Here he attends lectures on the new science of electricity and as an amateur anatomist wonders if it can be used to reanimate corpses.
After inheriting money upon the death of his father, he makes the acquaintance of a group of resurrection men who provide him with the cadavers he needs for his experimentation. But he unwittingly unleashes a terrible beast into the world...
I thoroughly enjoyed this, as I have all of Ackroyd's fiction (and non-fiction) that I've read. Here he carefully interposes a fictional character created by another writer - i.e. Victor Frankenstein - into the lives of real historical (mostly lierary) figures, and adds his own excellent fictional characters to the mix - Fred Shoebury, his mother etc. He's done this many times before of course, and this is one of his strengths.
The author has great fun with the major poets of the period. In addition to the fanciful and excitable Shelley, he also has cameos for Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth, among others and there's lots of scholarly in-jokes (you won't believe the former identity of the monster he creates!) However, his greatest portrait is that of the fiercely intelligent and impulsive Lord Byron, who grows increasingly impossible and fiery as he's taken over by the demons that live within him.
And as Shelley's in here so is his wife Mary - the writer of the original `Frankenstein' novel. One scene is set in the chateau near Lake Geneva which saw the genesis of the original book.
This novel brilliantly evokes the sights, sounds and smells of pre-Victorian London. His descriptions of the stinking, muddy streets, the effluence of the Thames, the dark, low-ceilinged inns, the charnel houses. He's also clever at using place names that resonate with historical significance: Cheapside, Limehouse, St Pancras, Clerkenwell... Ackroyd is a master of the idioms of the time and there is not one single word of his narrative or dialogue that does not feel authentic.
I read the last few pages with my heart beating so fast I could hear it, but I don't know whether I was completely happy with the ending or not - which is why I've dropped a star. However, I am sure there will be many among its other readers who will think it brilliant.
Peter Ackroyd is a bona fide genius and we should treasure him.
Beautifully written, evocative and page-turning September 22, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an intriguingly-imagined and compelling story, mixing the startling and often heart-breaking exploits of the fictional Victor Frankenstein with real-life characters of his era, including Shelley, Byron, and Frankenstein's original creator, Mary Shelley. The writing is exquisite, and if Mr Ackroyd let any modern expressions slip through the net, I didn't spot them (and I am a pedant about such things...) The atmosphere and imagery of early 19th century London is so vivid it's almost possible to smell the river and the cobbled streets and gaols, and to see the resurrectionists striking their repulsive bargains with the infirmaries. The story unfolds with the measured control of a master and is a wonderful journey. The ending is absolutely remarkable - as a professional writer I should have spotted what was coming, but I didn't!
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