GJ

Murder investigation | Totalitarian regime
I had to constantly remind myself that this is not a dystopian fiction. Inspired by a real-life investigation, it is set in the USSR under the rule of Stalin – Moscow, 1953.
The story follows Leo Demidov, a high-ranking State Security operative, a believer. The politics of that time is portrayed in the most not boring way possible in the first few chapters. As Leo is forced to investigate an officer's son's death on the railway track which has been reported as an accidental death, he notices something off. To disregard an official report is not an easy task for Leo. He is a believer. A believer in the party, a believer in the society the leaders have formed. In this society there is no crime. To believe that a murder has occurred is to have lost faith. That is blasphemy. “An elaborate charade that fools no one”
There is constant threat to life looming over every citizen's head, as soon as they are twelve years of age. Children are obedient, adults are law abiding, everyone is wary, like prey in a forest. There is no forgiveness, no trust. And it is imperative to catch one spy even if it costs innocent lives. There is a uniform love for the leader in all – children and adults, officials and housewives. It is an unusual combination of fear and pride. Or more likely it is just fear masquerading. It is an unforgiving story and pulls no punches. The reality must have been equally horrifying if not worse. A gripping story, each sentence pulling my eyes to the next.
As the story moves forward and when the façade unravels before Leo's eyes, the hunter becomes the hunted. On realizing that public opinion as well as law is not on the side of truth, but on the side of the Party, Leo is forced to embark on his mission to solve a string of child murders, with only his wife by his side; and even that relationship is hanging by a thread.
There is a calmness to the brutality in the story. It comes unexpected and makes the least noise. The act of violence is never elaborated. There are never descriptions of murder dragged out. All quick and efficient like any job well done, a routine – nothing to be made a fuss about. This further adds to the bleakness of the environment.
The colors in a book sets a mood. What are the colors in this book? There is bright red, excessively red, a little too much just to be safe. The is red on the white snow. There is grey in the sky and dark brown bark in the mouths of dead little children.

It would be a shame for you to miss this book.

This book is like a bad dream.

A passionate scientist in the early 1800s embarks on a mission to create life from non-life, resulting in disastrous consequences.

All I remember from the abridged version, I read as a kid was a man made a monster and may or may not have made a female companion for him. I'd forgotten that Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster. I haven't watched any of the movies. So I read this with untainted perspective.

For people expecting a sci-fi - there are no technical details. A ‘spark of life' and ‘chemical instruments' are all he needed to make a live being. That was a disappointment. It was clever though. Technicalities would have been pretty soon outdated. It was either none or nonsense. The book is long enough, and I'm glad she chose none.

Passion
The book begins with passion, goes through a lot of emotions and ends in tragedy.
“nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye” -from Robert's letter.

The creature is a direct consequence of the fiery passion of Frankenstein.
“A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father would claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs”
And then when the big guy starts moving, like a switch was flipped, Frankenstein's feelings change. Working on this project for 2 years, and only when it starts moving the dream bubble pops; his heart fills with “breathless horror and disgust”. It was not a deed or a conversation or the countenance that made him loathe it. It was the mere sight of him ‘alive.' When it was merely a science project, a goal to achieve, the ugliness did not matter. Did he foresee the ‘completely understandable havoc', the big guy was gonna wreck? Or was it simply because he was ugly? If the latter is the reason, which is more likely, then that was a pathetic turn of events. He did not even have a chance. With the power to meddle in nature's affairs comes responsibility to deal with the consequences, which I think is the point of the story.

“A human being in perfection ought always to preserve calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory device to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this truth”

It is a socially acceptable psychosis when a scientist puts so much into work or a students prepares really hard for a test and everything around them ceases to matter. Full-on passion levitating you off ground reality is cool until you hit the ground with a thud.

Nature
Throughout the novel, the author spares no words in describing the grandeur of nature surrounding, encompassing our lead character, who is comparatively miniscule - the magnificence of the mountains, the raging avalanches, the torrential downpour, thunder, the winding river and the unrelenting wind, through which this lone man, a dot in the vastness, tries to wade through.
The apparent insurmountability is subtly intended.

Who's right.
Definitely the big guy. What was he to do? He was reasonable. Frankenstein could have atleast made him an infertile partner, they might have happily lived ever after. (If it was in the 21st century there is a slight chance of her going woke and spouting ‘I'm not made for a man' nonsense. Anyway...

How a fully grown ugly looking infant would survive in the wilderness of the society would be an interesting thought experiment. Other than the crash course on everything and anything else, he learns as a peeping tom on a whole family, our big guy has had no parenting. He believes he owes his compassionate personality to his ‘protectors', and if they were soldiers instead of a ‘loving family', he would have had a completely different outlook on life. Frankenstein refuses to believe the effect the nurture on the big guy; he calls him a daemon, a wretch and doesn't believe that his nature will change(?)

Is this just real lifeis this just fantasy
Is any of it real?
If not written as a recording of Robert's experience, this surely could be considered under the heading of ‘unreliable narrator'. Just for the sake of it, if we consider the story without Robert in it, everything following Frankenstein getting sick from too much work could be just dreams and hallucinations.

This book is like a bad dream. Why? Because the story goes everywhere.
There's a guy climbing mountains during rainstorms and avalanches, jailbreaking, enjoying the vista while sailing, a murder investigation, romance, capital punishment and making 8foot tall live being. Like dreams where you are chasing down the bus you just missed one moment, and the next moment you are in class, pantless; it appears incoherent from the outside but coherent from the outside.
And for some reason, the Kindle edition of this book I got was typed(?) twice; the book was over when I thought it was only half way through. I'll admit there was a sigh of relief, because things couldn't get worse, and there was nowhere the novel could go from there. Still unexpected abrupt endings are disappointing.

It's a tragic novel. There are plenty of literary effusions, so much of emotions that might seem a little over the top. The images are sharp, emotions intense, it was a novel idea at the time and there's nothing quite like this since or before this. As a ‘sci-fi' venture during the romantic era, Frankenstein surely deserves the unique status it has in literature.

A county prosecutor's complicated past is dug up, during a trial involving a loaded defendant.

Engaging writing as far as thrillers are concerned.
Humor✅️
Not too macho, lots of practical women ✅️
For some reason all women are hot. It felt a little unnecessary, to mention how his jaw dropped every time. Anyway feminine beauty is art for him. So, it's... fine. I guess.

You do see some of the twists coming earlier in the story, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

A good light read.

Few lines into the book, I was racking my brains, as I absent mindedly read through a few more lines, trying to put a face to Elinor Oliphant, who seemed really familiar. And then all of a sudden she fell into place. This is Amy from the Big Bang Theory. Though I do not have vivid enough imagination to read a whole story with an image of a character in my head, at certain moments her face pops in; it fits just right.

I am pretty sure, the number of high ratings this book has a direct correlation to readers who can relate.

“If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn't spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say.”

Loneliness has certainly had its share of portrayal in many books. This is the first one I read where it takes the center stage. Every moment I am struggling, to not make this review personal. Precisely because there isn't a ‘Loners' club', none of the loners know what their kindred feel. This is a brave attempt(given how completely Eleanor disregards the conventions of polite society, thereby creating a character slightly leaning over to the area of ‘unlikability') to unite the loners at some level, to remind that we are not alone in being lonely.

Eleanor holds one her hands in the other to feel how it feels when someone holds your hand. Eleanor realizes that there is no Eleanor shaped slot in the society for her to fit in. Standing alone staring into the middle distance, is a ‘familiar social scenario' for Eleanor. It was ‘absolutely fine'. And she means it.

The whole thing is all too familiar. I feel too close to this that I can't analytically review. I can see only what I want to see, and there's plenty for me to look at here. There are metaphors and word plays, it's all very nice. That said, it's not a sob story. Eleanor is funny, rudely pragmatic often upto a point of hilarity and a woman of her mind, who finds her way in the world, with little acts of kindness from people surrounding.

Raymond, like a ray of sunshine, tenderly opens the shy and obscure little bud into
a beautiful flower, confident and proud.
(Okay maybe that was a little over the top.)

If you feel lonely too often, read it.

Amazing character development. Impeccable, yet believable plotline.
It does take about the first 30% of the book, to actually get into the story, which was kind of annoying. Still, it was a decent thriller. The drama is what I enjoyed more than the plot twists. I never knew I could admire someone like Salander. Thankfully, there's more of her left. Yay!