Mary Shelley

Rating:
Summary: A thorough, well-researched biography
Review: I disagree with my fellow Michigan man who trashes the subject and its author by mentioning "feminist" as if it is a four-letter word.
Those who didn't find this book difficult to follow will discover a well-researched, well-written biography.

Biographies of romantic-era writers can be very difficult, especially if the writer happens to be a woman. If Victorian-era leaders and historians didn't attempt to wipe out the writer's existence altogether, they at least attempted to wipe out parts of them that were not representative of Victorian, ie ultra-conservative, values.
Little is known about the "mother" of science fiction beyond the most outrageous and scandalous aspects of her life, and even those facts were concealed by Mary Shelley's well-meaning family members for more than 100 years.
For what she's been given, Seymour does an excellent job revealing the history and personality behind this writer and if that's considered feminist, I believe that's complimentary.

Rating:
Summary: A Dry Account of a Fascinating Life
Review: I have a love/hate relationship with Miranda Seymour's rambling account of the fascinating life of 19th century gothic novelist Mary Shelley. While the subject matter is truly intriguing, Seymour fails to do justice by the long-suffering Mrs. Shelley.

The daughter of a well-known feminist who died in childbirth and a philosopher father, Mary Shelley was destined for tragic greatness. She led a tumultuous life on the edge by 19th century standards - running off with the married Percy Bysshe Shelley at the age of 16 was just the beginning of a lifetime marked with scandal. Mary was a hot topic for gossips throughout Europe in her day. She suffered through her poet husband's infidelities and early death, the deaths of all but one of her children, abusive behavior from family members, and serious money problems. She wrote her greatest work, Frankenstein, at the age of 19, and her career essentially went downhill from there. While she remained a fixture on the fringe of rebel literary society, she never achieved the social acceptance or literary respectability she longed for.

Unfortunately, Miranda Seymour manages to take this whirlwind of a life and bore you to tears with it. Her dry writing style and unpleasant habit of over-examining and revisiting minute details are exasperating. Seymour's prose occasionally takes on a slangy tone that I found mildly annoying and inconsistent. The book has it shining moments of clarity; however, I was often put-off by the author's confusing method of organizing her facts. She jumped back and forth in time and it was often difficult to discern what year in Mary Shelley's life Seymour was trying to discuss. It took me forever to finish "Mary Shelley" (to the point where it became a joke among family and friends) - the only reason I persevered is because I really wanted to know how this fascinating life culminated. Call me a glutton for punishment - even though the presentation was maddeningly dry and poorly organized, Mary Shelley herself is captivating. Perhaps another writer will take up her case more concisely some day.

Rating:
Summary: A thorough, well-researched biography
Review: I hvae been reading this biography in fits and starts. It's slow going not because of the writing, which I find skillful and interesting, but because I keep wanting to check facts in Claire's and Mary's letters and journals, as well as in Byron's. My daughter has been reading it straight, and enjoys it on a different level; it seems amazing that these people, so creative, so interesting, were just her age.

Seymour's sympathetic but careful view of Mary Shelley is a refreshing change after the hackjobs and hagiographies of the past century and decades. Claire's troublesome complexities, and Shelley's selfishness, come sharply into focus as they do when one reads the journals and letters. In short, kudos to Miranda Seymour for a job well done.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to follow
Review: The subject was interesting to me but the author is not easy to read. Her sentence structure is often convoluted, I found myself having to reread many sentences to grasp the meaning. She also refers to people,dates and places in such a way that it is difficult to keep track of what is going on. Finally, her perspective is very sympathetic to MS, its obvious the author is a feminist.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely boring presentation of an interesting life...
Review: This book is very thick and very difficult to read. I do not reccomend this biography because of how confusing it is to read. There are too many dates thrown in here and there and not enough simple facts to keep the reader focused. I have read many biographies but this one must surely rank as the most perplexing! Try another biography of this interesting woman.