Title: This Monstrous Thing
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Date of First Publication: 2015
Place of Publication: HarperCollins
Type: Novel.
Characters: Mary Shelley; Percy Shelley.
Themes: ANDROID; BYRONIC HERO; POSTHUMAN; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; RACE/POLITICS; RETRO SF; SYMPATHETRIC MONSTER; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical Summary: This story takes place in 1818 in Geneva. The main character, Alasdair Finch, is known as a shadow boy who secretly works with his father and cares for men who have sustained great injuries and have been repaired with clockwork parts. They have to complete their work very discretely because it is illegal in their society for people to have clockwork parts in place of body parts (thought to be less human). Alasdair harbors another secret: after his brother Oliver died, Alasdair conducted an experiment on him and brought him back to life. Oliver is forced to live in exile away from society in an abandoned room. Alasdair is constantly ashamed of what he did for when his brother woke again, he was very violent and not the brother he remembered him to be. Frankenstein is released anonymously in this story and Alasdair is suspicious after reading it and unearthing how strangely similar it relates to his life and experiences. He tells us the only person who knew of his secret was the love of his life who abandoned him years ago named Mary. We discover that Mary ran away and married a man named Percy Shelley and used Alasdair’s secret as a plot for her story, using different names. Alasdair along with his clockwork friend Clémence have to work together to keep Oliver safe and away from Dr. Geisler and his automatons who want to capture Oliver and keep him to conduct experiments on him. Dr. Geisler has spent his entire career secretly striving to bring back the dead and accomplish what Alasdair did. When the townspeople and the authorities learn that a monster (Oliver) lives among them, it becomes their mission to find him and arrest him. Alasdair and Clémence successfully keep him safe, but wherever Oliver goes he will constantly have to live in fear and secret; this is something Alasdair never quite forgives himself for putting Oliver through.
This work connects to Frankenstein because you are essentially reading Victor and the Monster’s story but through Alasdair and Oliver’s eyes. Although fictional, one is able to see where Mary Shelley drew her inspiration for her story and how she came to write it. Mad Scientists, Retro SF, and the Sympathetic Monster are just a few of the many themes that show up in this story. Just like Victor, Alasdair is a mad scientist who is determined to bring his brother back to life after he dies. Similarly, Dr. Geisler devotes his life to conducting experiments on the dead, driving him to insanity when he can’t figure out how to accomplish what Alasdair did. In terms of Retro SF, Lee connects her novel to Shelley’s by revisiting the same premises and themes. This is achieved by Alasdair (the Creator) giving life to Oliver (the Monster). Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is the Sympathetic Monster. When Oliver is forced to live in exile and hide from all civilization, as a reader, one feels sympathy for Oliver because he didn’t choose this life and the fact that he is considered a monster and will never be accepted into society is terribly disheartening. Shelley’s revolutionary creation of a monster that readers not only sympathize with but identify with as well is apparent in this story through the character of Oliver.
Administrative Notes: Keeley Fransen, CSUF; GC Philipp, CSUF (editing)