Doctor Ry Shelley is a trans man trying to get by in the world, when he encounters Victor Stein: a brilliant scientist obsessed with creating Artificial Life. After a few encounters, Ry becomes enmeshed in Stein’s charismatic, but potentially dangerous web of plots, lies and insane creations. MEANWHILE: in the early 19th century, Mary Shelley, a brilliant but very young artist, has eloped with the poet Percy. Stuck together with Lord Byron and his insufferable doctor Polidori, Mary is inspired to write a tale of a man bringing life to the dead…but subsequent events lead Mary to believe her creation of Doctor Frankenstein may have taken on a life of its own…
So this is a collection of fine prose, ideas, and wonderful characters all in desperate search for a decent story. I honestly would have a hard time telling you what the narrative was really about. Oh, there are interesting DISCUSSIONS, sure; Ry and Victor (and a hilarious, if one-note, sex-bot salesman called Ron) have some great, thought-provoking chats. The sections with Mary Shelley suffering poverty and the death of her children are all great, and in my opinion the most complete, compelling parts of the book. But things just kinda ramble on and on and Victor has a sinister underground base and STUFF is happening there (but what sorta stuff? aahhhh…) and there’s a dude in Bedlam writing about a patient which is BORING and then some MORE underground base stuff happens and, and then…
It just, sorta…ends?
I get a lot of what this novel is going for. The confrontation with Artificial Intelligence is a subject that decries easy answers, and the idea of a popular work of fiction becoming its own sorta AI in the collective unconscious is brilliant, but…well, I felt like Winterson landed, lightly, on these subjects, and then danced off into obscure territories, leaving only the faintest of impressions behind. I was looking for real engagement, and what I got was some honest, but noncommittal musings.
There’s still a lot to like here: again, I wish the excellent prose and characterizations had a richer STORY to plant themselves in. For the moment, this must stand as only a qualified recommendation. Me like books.
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