Tag: books

The Start Up of You

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by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

This is the book, I got so excited to read and got so disappointed after reading it.

I was looking for a book, that can instill the curiosity in me, in terms of my profession. I was thinking, after few years working in a large bank, structure seemed to have gotten boring to me, and I wanted a shake up. I am looking for opportunities that excite me and push me. But, that’s when I thought, with the years in such a structured world, if I try to navigate an unstructured environment, won’t I break systems and reduce my self-confidence. So I leaned into structure again.

I thought maybe I can prepare my mindset, to acknowledge the gaps I have right now and prepare myself to delve into growth and uncertainty. The top recommendation was this book 😦

Do I regret reading it? No, I would never say I regret reading a book.
If I am honest, I did have few takeaways from the book. The first 3 chapters were truly eye opening for me.
Assessing oneself with regards to aspirations and abilities, was something I needed to work on. Plan A, Plan B and Plan Z – are something everyone should think at every point in life. I learnt those via this book.

But after that, it is only disappointment to me, Hoffman rightly created LinkedIn, because he believed that networking can take you to places in the professional world, not thought of before. He is absolutely right about it and I completely agree. After all, the world still revolves people and systems created by the people, gaining trust and networking is what brings you the unexpected, usually hard to get / find fruit.

Later on, the whole book was about networking in various forms and phases and examples of how networking saved and brought opportunities to people.

That’s why it was a disappointing read to me, I had an objective to get out of this book and it did not provide me that.

And after all, Hoffman, makes it sound so easy to network and everyone has or finds the time and prioritizes this. I have heard that this is mostly a silicon valley experience. I am from India and I live and work in India. This doesn’t apply as he narrates.

So, there is an underlying culture difference between the US and India, with respect to experimentation. After being under colonial rule, Indians have rightly been conservative in their approaches and have taken the beaten up path for financial incentives. With few businesses, that flourished from the 70s to 90s, most of them were of manufacturing sector and some of them were even created by families that were already wealthy and thriving in businesses, and after 2000, India utilized the software industry but in terms of offering services, rather than building in-house tech first products, which involves the capital and risk, that Indians are conservative about. Of course, there are few exceptions, but this is the larger picture.

With initiatives for funding start ups, and building a community for founders, India is now creating a budding atmosphere for startups and experimentation. Still, a large majority of people would prefer a huge stable paycheck, than building something of their own, on their own and take the risks involved. They can’t be blamed, there are numerous families, who are just trying to escape the trap of being poor and trying to build something for themselves first. After all, survey shows that inequality in wealth distribution is at an all time high.

With the introduction, now when I say, it is hard to network with people purely with fascination towards the field, hope you can understand. I have tried. But, Indians are labelled as people who just take care of all on the off-shore activities, and moreover with the speeches on why 70hr and 90hr workweeks are essential to create value, that are given by the entrepreneurs of the country, where is the time to look beyond work and connect with people genuinely?

This is absurd, I started writing it as book review, but I think I am enraged on how work-life balance in India is a joke. When someone stands up for it, they are often punished or labelled. While the whole western world tries to move towards 4 day work week, American hustlers thought it is a good idea to work 9 to 9 for 6 days a week, and Indians have been doing the same, for cheap for so long.

When the people in the other countries get to experience the time, lifestyle and health alongside the work that pays them for all of it, Indians lose their health, become insanely obese, lose time for family and friends, let alone networking for work, there are no words to describe the lifestyle India has to offer. Of course, quick commerce and delivery options are available, they are just other means of consumptions that Indians pay for the lack of time and energy they have after toiling at work and again, this is eventually going to make them pay more hospital bills as well. Where is the good air to inhale, less commute time and better roads for the taxes paid? After all this, of course, it is good idea to work 70hr, yes.

This article was not supposed to be a rant on the Indian workplace, but after reading the book, I can’t but, just be frustrated about how Indians lose opportunities that another part of the world sees as normal. Any human can innovate, with the needs and the space, but not with the lack of time. Ideas do get born out of desperation, but not out of lack of enthusiasm. It is time to get back enthusiasm.

Thanks Reid for selling LinkedIn in a book to me.

The God of Small Things

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The god of small things

By Arundhati Roy

I have always had this book on my TBR list and was excited to read it when I got the paperback. I have heard so much about the book before reading it. I thought I already knew the spoilers, but it turns out Arundhati Roy wrote it that way.

Before reading the book, I must say I have watched many interviews of the author – about the book and about her activism. I have liked her, I have grown fond of her, the way she articulates her thoughts, how she unapologetically and confidently expresses her opinions. I did go through her Wikipedia page previously to know more about her. When I started reading the book, I was confused to find her story in the starting chapters. It turns out, The God of Small Things is a semi-autobiographical novel.

I have now read this book at a time when her memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me has been launched and received a warm welcome. (I might pick up the new memoir someday.)

What’s the story about?

The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize, making Arundhati Roy the first to receive it for a debut novel. The story narrates the childhood and adulthood of twins (two-egg twins, as she stresses enough), and how their lives change entirely within a few days. I have a hard time condensing the plot without giving spoilers. The most important thread of it all is the life of the twins’ mother – her decisions, her childhood, and the love she had chosen – and how all of it was overpowered by the God of Big Things.

Things I must say

I loved the rich narration of Arundhati Roy; her writing was truly transformative. It is sad that the book still stays relevant today, given that casteism plays a major role – the Big Thing in the lives of the characters.

The brilliance of embedding comedy and a child’s perspective into such a serious and nerve-breaking theme is what made me understand the reason behind the wide acclaim for this work. I must say I wasn’t planning to write a glorious review of this book. But when I start finding words to express what I feel, these are the words that find their way.

The Writing – (Spoilers)

Small things are human nature – the longing for love, belonging, and happiness. Big things are the pillars and structures that humans have built for no clear reason but to maintain authority, including casteism and racism.

The author shows clearly how the God of Small Things is crushed when the Big Things take the stage – and it is always the Big Things that get the center stage.

That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.

Not something a child would want to listen from her mother, and wonder if her mother loves her less. If her mother and her uncle, would always love the cousin of her more, a white girl more. Will she have to always wonder at things and be not careless in her childhood. Would she have to run away from people who constantly remind her, that she and her mother have no place in the house they live.

Estha Alone is a phrase often written by Arundhati, depicting how the child, in every sense, was left to figure out his own path. Be it the abuse he had to endure, the return he had to walk through – leaving his family, his world – with no guide but himself. Not a single word was uttered by him throughout the adult phase of his life. When he is returned, he simply admires his sister, finds the beauty of his mother in her, and holds the pain both women had to endure. No glimpse is offered into his inner world, yet his seems the shakiest of all, the most tumultuous.

The notion that a woman stops belonging to the family she was born into once she is married is one of the most depriving ideas a society can hold on to. Again, the Big Thing wins, and Ammu is left with no support or right to belong anywhere – only to suffer.

Life would be much easier if the Big Things could take a step back, and if we stopped giving them the space they least deserve. For all the time humans have known, we have fought – and for what? We die after all of it, leaving behind only memories in the minds of others who are also bound to die.

This book is great – thought-provoking, touching, and something that instills fear and anger at the same time.

Lives of women – Kang Kyŏng-ae

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The Underground Village

I am currently reading  Kang Kyŏng-ae’s The Underground Village. It is a short story collection. I have read the first couple of stories. However, something in those stories stirred my heart, prompting me to write this article.

Before delving into the stories, it is important to know about Kang Kyŏng-ae. She is a Korean author who focuses on portraying the lives of Koreans, especially women from an impoverished community. Kang’s pro-feminist writings reflect the hardships of women in a colonial and patriarchal world.

The first story is called Manuscript Money. In this story, a woman writes to her friend ‘K’ about earning 200 won from a newspaper for her work. She wishes to buy things for herself like a fur coat, a gold watch, and even dental work, with the money earned. But her husband urges her to spend the money on others, for instance, helping in medical aid for a comrade. The woman goes on to write her friend about the obligation she is bound to, spend money on society and not herself.

The second story is called Salt. In this story, a woman and a man live with their son and daughter. When one of their children asks for a shoe, the woman explains the toil they have to go through, just to feed themselves. The woman loses her husband to the exploitation of labor. Her son disappears, and she is left with her daughter. She lives in Manchuria, as one of the many ethnic Koreans who were displaced during the Japanese occupation of Korea. She knows no one and no place, and she ends up seeking refuge from the very man who exploited her husband. She does domestic chores in his household. She gets sexually exploited by the man and also gets pregnant. But she gets kicked out of the house along with her daughter by the wife and the landlord, after knowing that the son of the woman was killed by the communists. She then gives birth to a girl child. She nurses a baby not of her own, and she makes money from her breast milk. Her daughters spend all their time alone, while the elder daughter goes through a hard time bringing up her baby sister, without her mother. Tragically, she loses both her daughters to illness, and she also loses the right to see the baby she nursed all the while. She has no will to live, but the starvation competes with her zeal to die. She then smuggles salt, merely to live her life, and that also ends badly.

The parallels from the stories are quite interesting. Both stories revolve around how a woman is viewed, her self vs the community, the control of a man over a woman, guilt, loss, and the survival of a woman from an impoverished community.

In Manuscript Money, the woman is made to believe that she is selfish for spending her earned money on herself. She is torn between self-care and community. In salt, the woman has no control over money or even her body. While the male partner dictates how her money should be spent, the landlord in the latter story exploits the woman’s body. The women in both stories feel guilty at the end of the day. In the former, she feels evil for just wanting her own money and wanting to live well. In the latter, the woman feels guilty for just being alive, after the loss of everyone in her family; she survives by instinct and has lost everything.

Kang’s words echo the hold of patriarchy in an already oppressed society. Mere survival of Korean women during the Japanese occupation was made difficult by double oppression. Her stories depict the systems and the values they associate with women. The silent suffering of the women during those times, whose values were in serving others, and whose existence was punishable, was alive in the stories.

I am excited to read the other stories!

I found a book that will stay close to my heart – All My Mothers

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All My Mothers

All My Mothers by Joanna Glen

When Eva finds no photos of herself before the age of three, she begins to suspect that she may have been born to a different mother. As she connects the dots—the absence of early photographs, the emotional distance between her and the woman she calls “mother,” and the flimsy reasons given for those missing years—her doubts deepen.

What Eva truly longs for is a sense of motherly love—the kind she sees Bridget, her friend, receive so freely. In a charming touch, she begins comparing the women in her life to those in a children’s book she reads at school, The Rainbow Rained Us, where different kinds of mothers are described using colors. In this world, her mother is a “pink mother,” while Bridget’s is clearly a “blue mother.”

This book unfolds as a poignant coming-of-age story. Eva’s father is often absent, and when she stumbles upon a childhood photo taken in a Spanish patio—featuring a woman whose head is cut off from the image—a mysterious fondness for Spain begins to take root. Life leads her to places she has yearned for, and to others she never chose.

I have never related to a fictional story the way I related to All My Mothers. The ache of searching for motherly love while having a mother is a quiet, difficult feeling to explain—let alone admit to anyone. You start looking for love, approval, or warmth from other adult women in your life. And as time passes, you may find yourself drawn more deeply into friendships, searching for the kind of companionship your heart longs for. Eva’s story isn’t very different.

Throughout her journey, she categorizes every woman she meets into a type of mother from The Rainbow Rained Us. Along the way, she encounters various forms of love and learns to find beauty in fleeting moments. Joanna Glen does a brilliant job subtly expressing the idea that love is everywhere—you only need to start looking for the essence of it.

The descriptions of architecture, especially in Cordoba, are vivid and transportive. Glen’s writing creates a virtual tour of Spain, igniting curiosity in the reader. Her lyrical style brings places to life and makes them feel within reach.

What I especially loved was how the story progressed through Eva’s evolving friendships, her romantic experiences, and the many beautiful relationships she forges. Glen captures the quiet presence of regret that comes with losing a loved one. The way she conveys the grief—tinged with confusion—is one of the most accurate and tender portrayals I’ve read.

If you enjoy coming-of-age stories with elegant narration and rich, atmospheric detail, I highly recommend this book. It gave me chills in the best way, especially during some of Eva’s most profound experiences.

Life is a journey filled with lessons, questions, doubts, and beautiful answers—each shaped by perspective. This book is a gentle, powerful reminder of that.

Rating: 4.5/5

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: A Satirical Punch to the Publishing Industry

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Who owns a story?

This is the thought lingering in my mind after reading Yellowface. R.F. Kuang, after her widely acclaimed dark academia novel Babel, ventures into satirical literary fiction, focusing on the publishing industry.

The book features a small cast of characters—June Hayward, an aspiring writer, and her friend Athena Liu, a successful author. Athena dies in an accident, and June discovers her unpublished manuscript. Believing it to be Athena’s final work, June takes it upon herself to get it published. However, beneath this decision lies a deeper truth—June has long harbored mixed feelings about Athena’s success. More often than not, she sees Athena as privileged from the start.

June goes on to publish Athena’s work under her own name, justifying her actions by convincing herself that she put in the effort necessary to complete it. She struggles with guilt but eventually frames herself as the victim, feeling as though the world is against her and that no one could possibly understand her reasoning. She argues that the publishing industry favors “diverse” writers and stories like Athena’s, while white American authors like herself are increasingly sidelined.

After a while, the book becomes unsettling. For me, it blurred the lines between reality and fiction. The internet is flooded with book reviews and critiques, and in many ways, it is a democratic space—anyone with access can share their thoughts and opinions. Personally, I hesitate to call myself a reviewer, as I mostly write about my personal takeaways after finishing a book. I understand that reviewing literature is nuanced and requires a careful approach. That’s why I found Kuang’s portrayal of online reviews as a major metric for literary success somewhat shortsighted.

In my opinion, Yellowface is not truly satirical. Rather, it feels like a culmination of Kuang’s own thoughts and perceptions of the publishing industry. It’s blunt—perhaps even biased—especially considering that Kuang herself has had a relatively successful publishing journey compared to her peers. As I continued reading, I found myself less focused on the book’s themes of racism and cultural appropriation and more preoccupied with the limited, one-dimensional perspective of the industry. At times, it was difficult to read because Kuang struggled to fully establish her characters as either right or wrong.

That being said, don’t get me wrong—I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It’s gripping, and I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages. Kuang’s vivid narration and rich details are irresistible. Through Yellowface, I gained insight into the hidden workings of the publishing world and how stories make their way to readers.

Rating: 4/5

3 books that made me Self – Introspect

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Self Introspection is an inward-looking process where one tries to find what their own mind and emotions convey. Self Reflection and introspection differ in that, reflection often involves trying to understand the values and goals behind one’s actions whereas, introspection is about finding the inner desires and motivations. Introspection mostly involves looking inwards by meditation or sometimes having a time by self.

The books that encouraged me look inward, made me self reflect as well. Not all times, do our actions align with our selves.

1. Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a world striving for perfection – Haemin Sunim

This book was very kind to me, starting with self-care and it later moves on to the other aspects of life, which we overlook at that moment, but return back to them in memories. I would say it all starts with self-compassion, when I read the first part of the book, I was completely hooked, it made me view myself in a different way. I tried to be more accepting of myself and I tried to push myself forward with a small nudge, rather than beating myself up in the process.

The fact that relationships require effort, and it is sometimes fine, if we end up hurting others, meaning, we can’t be the 100% always someone expects of us and that is how it is. But, we must value others in the same time, it is not about being indifferent to others, it is more of value others and ourselves to take in.

Life is short and the world is whole lot larger. It is good to fail, even more better to heal.

When we become kinder to ourselves, we can become kinder to the world

2. Don’t Believe everything you think – Joseph Nguyen

I saw this everywhere as a tonic to overthinking, and it was precisely that.

The book starts with explaining, how pain and suffering differ. Pain is something that occurs often out of our control, but the latter is always under our control. It’s we who choose to suffer the pain or not.

The interpretation of the events define our perception and hence we choose to suffer or let go. It is our thinking that leads to it, rather than the thoughts themselves. Thoughts occur, but the thinking is our interference of them. We don’t have to think positively. We simply need not think at all. The author goes on explaining his point, with few exercises as well.

Our feelings guide us. The feelings that come above the surface when we are tranquil, devoid of anxiety. When we reach a state of no thought, otherwise termed as flow state, what we feel is often the answer for the questions we might have in mind. And this is how, we take the decisions, eliminating the thinking.

To be honest, it is very hard to practice this. It might sound simple, but not easy. I do overthink at times, switching off when the thinking carries me somewhere is tedious. But it has paid off well, when I did try.

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so

3. The Subtle Art of Not giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life – Mark Manson

This book’s tone is completely different from the above two, but meets them in the objective. I loved this book, because it was too straightforward at times. While the other books were gentle, this book calls you upon the wrong doings.

I have read Mark Manson’s blog before and liked some of those articles as well. Haemin Sunim said that suffering is your call, Mark Manson kind of meets at the same point and puts forward that it is because of the pain you learn and grow.

Being self-compassionate shouldn’t mean to keep you safe everywhere and be cautious. It is the opposite, it is the daring to do the things, choosing what you really value. When you can choose what you value, the other things become the last things on the planet and that’s how you eliminate giving a f*ck to them.

Mark puts forward five values – Responsibility, Doubts on self-beliefs, Failure, saying No, Commitment

These are kind of correlated if you try to elaborate. In that, taking responsibility to the actions and words, we might end up failing a lot. That only shows that we are trying and it is how you choose to take a hold on life. Failure makes us doubt what we believe, and hence we take those steps we hesitated before, assuming. Commitment and saying No go hand in hand. Getting a no, often leads to better things, or even if it doesn’t, it makes us see the world differently and better than before.

All in all, it was a packed book in itself and I loved every chapter of it.

In conclusion, self-help books are great when you need a piece of advice from someone. But the true impact lies in taking in and following them which you think might be helpful. If not, they are simply the rant of someone in a metro, you act like you care when you listen, but forget the minute you step out of the metro. It has got nothing on you.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein

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By Coco Mellors

This is a debut novel by the author.

I started of thinking if this is a romance novel. The story starts with the meet-cute and that is highly unlikely for a romantic novel. And hence this book is. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is more than romance, it is more than a relationship, but it dwells deeper into the aspects of life and the people it is embedded with.

Cleo is an art student from London, who lives in US and she might have to leave the country sooner and that’s when she meets Frank and they talk, flirt and like each other. Six months in, they get married. There is a constant doubt in the air whether they married for love or out of desperation. Frank is 40-something ad exec, while Cleo is trying to figure out an identity for herself.

The dynamics of their individual lives is already a lot, let alone the life they try to work out together. Cleo’s friendship with Quentin doesn’t make things easier. She had the longest friend in him. But, the perception of his life makes Quentin even more hard to work with. He tries to establish a status around Cleo, on how his friendship with Cleo will never be matched by any relationship of hers, be it her marriage.

It starts from a point where Quentin tries desperately to suppress his feelings to being immature about them. His hold on drugs and sabotaging relationships makes things go even more harder to restore to normalcy and adds on to Cleo’s plate. The uncertainty grappling both of them, makes their friendship go more incomprehensible.

Zoe, Frank’s sister tries to find her place in Frank’s life after his marriage to Cleo. She is studying and is monetarily dependent on Frank. Cleo wants to have a friendly relation with Zoe, for she feels Zoe can understand her more than any of the people in Frank’s circle because of their age as well as she knows how important is Zoe to Frank. Zoe and Cleo share a bond, but which the author fails to take it any further.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein’s side characters had a vivid life with too many details, but it misses when they just disappear as side characters. The author was trying to show how everyone in this world made sense but actually couldn’t make it to a point. Eleanor and a possible affair, completely drives the plot to a whole another path. I liked how Eleanor’s life was written in first person, it is hard to not like Eleanor. She is a simple 30-something woman who is still figuring out her life with her own set of obstacles.

Sometimes, it felt like Coco really liked the side characters and she went on talking about them and suddenly gets reminded of whom the book is about and returns back to them. But it is hard to not fall in love with them, so who am I to blame !

The plot was too short, too chaotic to give them a space to fill. It encompasses on relationship, marriage, friendships sometimes complicated, trauma and separation. But it was a whole less soup with many ingredients. They were flavorful, yes, but could have had much more as well.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an interesting read, you can take up your cup of coffee and enjoy the drama it has to unfold. Would have loved it more, if for less sway.

Rating: 4/5

Navigating Grief: A Candid Review of ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ by Joan Didion

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Do you remember that I had the goal of reading at least one of Joan Didion’s book in 2023, when the year began?

So here we go, let me embark on a heartfelt exploration of grief with Joan Didion’s ‘The Year of Magical Thinking.’ The book contained everything that a book on grief will venture upon, say the emotional depth, moments of reflection, but needless to say the narrative’s repetitive nature for emphasis, made me lose attention as well.

Compelling Introspection in Early Chapters

Didion’s eloquence invites readers to introspect on their own experiences of loss. The narrative skillfully captures the universal nature of grief, resonating with those who have navigated similar emotional landscapes.

In the opening chapters, Didion’s poignant prose captivates, into an introspective exploration of grief. Her raw and unfiltered reflections create a profound connection, making it a compelling read for anyone grappling with loss.

I was able to completely relate to her grief, it brought back my own memories, which I often wish, they were parts of a nightmare. The surrealness she describes, when she realizes her husband has passed away, not in the first night but in the upcoming nights, when she will be all alone, grappling the grief single-handedly is what the true form of grief seems like. One can not escape feeling sorry and heartbroken if they haven’t experienced such a personal loss.

Navigating the Labyrinth of Repetition

While the initial allure remains, the narrative encounters hurdles with repetitive content. The revisiting of certain themes may lead to occasional bouts of boredom, as the storytelling seemingly retraces familiar emotional territories.

Yet, as the narrative progresses, the recurrence of certain themes becomes apparent, posing a challenge to sustained engagement. The book revisits emotional landscapes, occasionally leading to a sense of monotony tested my patience.

An Unflinching Portrayal of Despair

As the story unfolds, a prevailing sense of hopelessness begins to overpower. Didion’s unflinching portrayal of grief can be emotionally taxing, making it a challenging read for those seeking a more uplifting perspective.

I read this book when I was reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin parallelly. In fact, the idea of reading this book was inspired by her book, which dedicates a chapter for gratitude and introspection. She explains how the grief memoirs made her feel the intensity of luck bestowed upon her. More on this book later…!

Hence, when I was reading with this mindset, the journey through ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ became increasingly challenging as a pervasive sense of hopelessness permeates the narrative. The emotional weight may be overwhelming for readers seeking a more balanced exploration of grief and healing.

‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ by Joan Didion offers a profound exploration of grief, prompting introspection and connection. However, the repetitive nature and the overarching sense of hopelessness may pose challenges for some readers, leading to moments of disengagement.

Rating: 3/5

Image credits: amazon

Monstrously Brilliant: Exploring the Depths of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a timeless masterpiece, captivates readers with its haunting narrative and profound exploration of human nature. In this review, let’s delve into the intricacies of Shelley’s magnum opus, examining its thematic richness, compelling characters, and enduring relevance.

Unraveling the Narrative Tapestry

Shelley weaves a tapestry of suspense and horror, skillfully blending Gothic elements with philosophical depth. The story follows Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who defies the laws of nature by creating a sentient being. The narrative unfolds through multiple perspectives, adding layers of complexity that keep readers on the edge of their seats.

In the dark recesses of Shelley’s prose, the reader is enveloped in an atmosphere of chilling suspense. From Victor’s feverish pursuit of knowledge to the creature’s poignant self-discovery, every twist in the narrative is a masterstroke of literary prowess.

Characters that Transcend Time

Frankenstein introduces characters that resonate across centuries. The novel doesn’t seem like a work of 1818. Victor Frankenstein’s tragic ambition and the creature’s existential quest for identity offer a profound commentary on the human condition. The depth of characterization elevates the novel beyond a mere horror story, making it a timeless exploration of morality and empathy. It can be rightly termed as gothic fiction.

Shelley’s characters are not mere specters in a Gothic tale; they are vessels of universal truths. Victor’s ambition mirrors our relentless pursuit of progress, while the creature’s isolation reflects the consequences of societal rejection. The yearning of the monster to have at least one life beside him to truly understand his nature and who he has become, resonates the human mind that longs for sense of belonging to a community, often bound by love.

Shelley tackles ethical dilemmas, the consequences of unchecked scientific ambition, and the societal rejection of the ‘other.’ The novel’s relevance persists, echoing warnings about the ethical implications of modern scientific advancements.

The book was written in a period when curiosity of mankind was proving to bear fruits. Industrial Revolution was transforming all walks of life. As society grapples with ethical questions surrounding technology and artificial intelligence, Frankenstein’s cautionary tale gains renewed significance. Shelley’s exploration of scientific responsibility remains a pertinent guidepost in the face of our own technological advancements.

In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein stands as a literary colossus, weaving a narrative that transcends time and speaks to the deepest recesses of the human psyche. Its enduring themes, unforgettable characters, and philosophical depth ensure its place as a masterpiece that continues to resonate with readers across generations. Dive into the world of Frankenstein, where horror meets profound introspection, and discover a timeless tale that remains as relevant today as it was in the 19th century.

Rating: 3.5