Frankissstein
.png) First edition cover | |
| Author | Jeanette Winterson |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | John Sackville[1] Perdita Weeks[1] Harrison Knights[1] |
| Language | English |
| Genres | |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
Publication date | 28 May 2019[2] |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 352[2] |
| ISBN | 978-1-78733-140-2 (hardcover) |
| 823.914 | |
| LC Class | PR6073.I558 F73 2019 |
Frankissstein: A Love Story is a 2019 novel by Jeanette Winterson. It was published on 28 May 2019 by Jonathan Cape.[2] The novel employs speculative fiction and historical fiction to reimagine Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein (1818). The story switches between Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein in Geneva, Switzerland in 1816 and the story of Ry Shelley, a transgender doctor and Victor Stein, a transhumanist, who become involved in the world of artificial intelligence and cryonics in present-day Brexit-era Britain.[3][4]
It was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize.[5][6][7]
Reception
[edit]At the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 31 reviews: 11 "Rave" reviews, 14 "Positive" reviews, 5 "Mixed" reviews, and 1 "Pan" review.[8][9][10]
Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly both praised the novel, with the latter calling it "vividly imagined and gorgeously constructed."[3][11]
Writing for The Guardian, British novelist Sam Byers gave the novel a rave review, praising Winterson's ability "to leaven the hyperinvention of rogue science with deeply evocative historical realism."[12]
Sarah Lotz, writing for The New York Times Book Review, praised Winterson's scenes of Mary Shelley as "visceral and seeped with Gothic gloom" and called the novel "both deeply thought-provoking and provocative yet also unabashedly entertaining."[13]
Ron Charles of The Washington Post gave the novel a rave review, praising its dialogue and calling it "an unholy amalgamation of scholarship and comedy."[14]
Holly Williams of The Independent gave the novel a positive review, calling it "enjoyably audacious" but also felt it to be "overstuffed" with Winterson's research and its satiric dialogue "too crude to be convincing."[15]
Sam Sacks of The Wall Street Journal gave the novel a favourable review, writing, "This is a book whose mismatched parts—subtle historical drama and philosophical allegory; bawdy humor and profound moral inquiries—somehow combine to form a powerful, living whole."[16]
Writing in the New Statesman, Ben Myers panned the novel, criticizing it for Winterson's "cramming in of so many ethical and philosophical points of discussion, often by way of didactic and totally implausible dialogue [...] it feels as if Winterson is playing to the contemporary woke crowd."[17]
Publication history
[edit]- Frankissstein: A Love Story. United Kingdom: Jonathan Cape (published 28 May 2019). 2019. ISBN 978-1-78733-140-2.[2]
- Frankissstein: A Love Story. United States: Grove Press (published 1 October 2019). 2019. ISBN 978-0-8021-2949-9.[18]
- Frankissstein: Eine Liebesgeschichte (in German). Translated by Walitzek, Brigitte; Grabinger, Michaela. Germany: Kein & Aber. 8 October 2019. ISBN 978-3-0369-5810-1.[19]
- Frankissstein: una historia de amor (in Spanish). Translated by Martín de Dios, Laura. Spain: Editorial Lumen (published 7 November 2019). 24 March 2020. ISBN 978-84-264-0643-9.[20]
- Frankissstein: una storia d'amore (in Italian). Translated by Spallino Rocca, Chiara. Italy: Mondadori (published 12 November 2019). 2019. ISBN 9788804718628.[21]
- Frankissstein: una història d'amor (in Catalan). Translated by Udina, Dolors. Catalonia: Edicions del Periscopi. November 2019. ISBN 978-84-17339-29-6.[22]
- Frankissstein: en kärlekshistoria (in Swedish). Translated by Fries-Gedin, Lena [in Swedish]. Sweden: Wahlström & Widstrand (published 23 January 2020). 2020. ISBN 978-91-46-23598-9.[23]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Frankissstein (Audiobook) by Jeanette Winterson. Retrieved 13 December 2019 – via Audible.
- ^ a b c d "Frankissstein". Penguin Books UK. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Fiction Book Review: Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson". Publishers Weekly. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Watercutter, Angela (1 October 2019). "WIRED Book of the Month: Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein". Wired. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Marshall, Alex (23 July 2019). "Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie in Running for Booker Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ O'Connor, Roisin (23 July 2019). "Booker Prize longlist includes Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Oyinkan Braithwaite". The Independent. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Schaub, Michael (24 July 2019). "Booker Prize longlist includes Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Valeria Luiselli". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson". Book Marks. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ Thomas-Corr, Johanna (20 May 2019). "Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson review – an inventive reanimation". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Garner, Dwight (1 October 2019). "Jeanette Winterson's Playful New Novel Offers Thoughts on Mad Science and Sexbots". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson". Kirkus Reviews. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Byers, Sam (24 May 2019). "Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson review – a dazzling reanimation of Shelley's novel". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Lotz, Sarah (7 October 2019). "A Novel That Riffs on Sex Dolls, Mary Shelley and Brexit". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Charles, Ron (15 October 2019). "In 'Frankissstein,' Jeanette Winterson brings something zany and intellectual ALIVE!". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Williams, Holly (24 May 2019). "Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson review: Bringing Mary Shelley's classic into the modern world". The Independent. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Sacks, Sam (4 October 2019). "Fiction Review: Jeanette Winterson's 'Frankissstein'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Myers, Ben (5 June 2019). "Jeanette Winterson's Frankenstein update suffers from an identity crisis". New Statesman. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ Winterson, Jeanette (6 April 2021). Frankissstein – Jeanette Winterson. Kein & Aber. ISBN 9783036961156. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Frankissstein: una historia de amor (Tapa blanda)". El Corte Inglés. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Frankissstein. Una storia d'amore". Mondadori Store. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Frankissstein". Edicions del Periscopi (in Catalan). Retrieved 24 May 2020.
- ^ "Frankissstein". Wahlström & Widstrand. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- 2019 British novels
- 2019 LGBTQ-related literary works
- Novels by Jeanette Winterson
- 2019 speculative fiction novels
- Jonathan Cape books
- Works based on Frankenstein
- Novels about artificial intelligence
- Novels with transgender themes
- Brexit in fiction
- Novels set in Geneva
- Novels set in the United Kingdom
- Fiction about suspended animation
- Sex robots
- Transhumanist books
- 2010s LGBTQ novels
- LGBTQ speculative fiction novels