First let me just say that I’m so excited to be here because I’m a Hapa chick too (half Japanese)! Thanks for spreading the Hapa love and asking about Ember and Chase’s favorite book, FRANKENSTEIN, which makes several appearances in ARTICLE 5.
So why does Ember reference Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN? For one simple reason: because FRANKENSTEIN is one of the best books ever. Ever ever. Ember has loved it since she had to read it in high school English, before the Federal Bureau of Reformation deemed it Contraband and put it on the Banned Books List. It’s a story that resonated with her from the first read – not because it’s about crazy monsters with bolts sticking out of the sides of their heads (at least, not entirely), but because it’s about how people live with the crap that happens to them.
In Shelley’s novel, Dr. Frankenstein creates a human from scraps of other corpses, believing that he is doing something brilliantly scientific and beautiful (wouldn’t anyone?) when really he’s setting a danger loose on the known world. His creation on the other hand comes to life innocent, and only after constant fear and rejection does he become that which everyone thinks him to be: a monster.
The concepts may have been written two hundred years ago, but for Ember and Chase, they still ring true. FRANKENSTEIN is a book for anyone who screws up given the best intentions, who wrestles shame and fear, who keeps secrets. Anyone who starts to believe the crap other people say about them. But also anyone who finds beauty in human connection, and who longs for peace and the ability to rectify their mistakes, even when things seem hopeless.
Now I will definitely going to go add Frankenstein to the list of classical literature I'm wanting to devour this year! A big thanks to Kristen Simmons for this awesome post and Teen Book Scene for heading up this book tour!
If you want to find out more about Kristen Simmons and her dystopian novel Article 5 check out her website here.
Also be sure to add Article 5 to your Goodreads here!
You can also add Frankenstein to your Goodreads here.
Julia :)
i loved article 5 and curently reading frankenstein/ gr8 post
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I really hated Frankenstein but I did like some of the ideas in it. It was just executed awfully...in my personal opinion. Totally glad that at least SOMEONE enjoyed this book though! :) haha...
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