Review: ‘Frankissstein: A Love Story’ by Jeanette Winterson

Frankenstein is one of the first novels I fell in love with. I adored its language, I adored Mary Shelley, and I was fascinated by the novel's provenance and message. I wrote university essays about it and my copy of Frankenstein was annotated on almost every other page. It also let to my love for Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. So I knew that I wanted to read Frankissstein from pretty much the moment I heard about it. Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 10/1/2019
Publisher: Grove Atlantic

Since her astonishing debut at twenty-five with Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson has achieved worldwide critical and commercial success as “one of the most daring and inventive writers of our time” (Elle). Her new novel, Frankissstein, is an audacious love story that weaves together disparate lives into an exploration of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and queer love.

Lake Geneva, 1816. Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley is inspired to write a story about a scientist who creates a new life-form. In Brexit Britain, a young transgender doctor called Ry is falling in love with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor leading the public debate around AI and carrying out some experiments of his own in a vast underground network of tunnels. Meanwhile, Ron Lord, just divorced and living with his mom again, is set to make his fortune launching a new generation of sex dolls for lonely men everywhere. Across the Atlantic, in Phoenix, Arizona, a cryogenics facility houses dozens of bodies of men and women who are medically and legally dead… but waiting to return to life.

What will happen when homo sapiens is no longer the smartest being on the planet? In fiercely intelligent prose, Jeanette Winterson shows us how much closer we are to that future than we realize. Funny and furious, bold and clear-sighted, Frankissstein is a love story about life itself.

Frankenstein, as originally written, is far removed from the way it is portrayed in most modern media. No bolts, no nonsensical words, no Igor, almost no horror. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a meditation on the effects of unchecked progress, on the megalomania of some creators, and on the consequences of creation. Frankissstein is a story about what happens when our creations get away from us. It's also about the rapid progress of creation, of happenstance, and maybe fate, that leads us from one step to the next. At times highly philosophical, while also focused on the small details of human, physical life, Frankissstein asks us who we are. As the reader you find yourself wondering, are we just bodies or are we souls? Could we imagine our lives without bodies? And if yes, would that be preferable? Winterson doesn't provide answers, but she does show us how language, gender, technology and politics all come together to shape our future.

In Frankissstein, the future of our world seems to rest in the hand of two men who are almost polar opposites. Victor Stein, a mysterious, maybe mad, scientist, is hoping for a world in which humans are released from their fleshy prisons. He is fascinated by Ry, by their very existence and at times his fascination with Ry edges into cold, analytical interest. His ideas, and his willingness to see them through, are when the novel edges into something almost akin to horror, and yet Victor is a fascinating character. At times his philosophical arguments suck some of the tension out of the narrative, but they are great food fro thought. Ron Lord looks at the future in a different way. Rather than wanting to "free" humans of their bodies, he is looking at technology and AI as a way to support our (read: men's) physical desires. His sex robots are both a hilarious and strangely sad presence in the Frankissstein. In one scene I found particularly memorable, we catch a short glimpse of what a sex robot's life might be like if they developed any kind of conscience or memory. It was heart-breaking and the casual way in which he dismisses the fact many bots are returned with their heads smashed in is chilling.This will also be part of our future, Winterson warns; not just the high-minded scientists striving for next-level humanity, but also the opportunists who support our most brutish instincts.

Winterson confidently moves between 19th century Europe, where Mary Shelley is creating her masterpiece, to 21st century Brexit Britain, where an array of characters is looking into the future, each in their own way. It's Ry, once Mary, who is one of the standout characters of the novel. They are a transgender man, but also considers themselves a 'hybrid', both man and woman. They have created their own body in their own (mental) image, and this engenders both fascination and confusion in the people around him. A doctor themselves. Ry is surrounded by those who are trying to shape the future, yet they are oddly sidelined from these attempts themselves. They was able to shape themselves, but the future seems out of their grasp. Similarly, the novel tracks Mary Shelley as she writes Frankenstein, argues with Byron, and faces loss after loss. Mary's scenes are some of the most beautiful, evoking the language of her own novel, and analyzing with acuity and gentleness the effects of loss and restraint.

A lot can be said about Frankissstein and I haven't said half I thought. It will take some time to let it all sink in, and as the world changes so might my thoughts on this novel. But it is a great addition to the original Frankenstein, and much more in line with Mary Shelley's idea than most other media.

I give this novel...

4 Universes.

Frankissstein is a fascinating novel full of ideas that are innovative and thought-provoking. Anyone with an interest in Frankenstein, AI, robotics and the question of our souls, will find Frankissstein an interesting and rewarding read.