‘This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein’ by Kenneth Oppel
Posted: January 23, 2012
Book Reviews
Reviewed by Harriet Zaidman
What forces can compel a young person schooled in good morals to follow the path of evil? In the case of Kenneth Oppel’s captivating interpretation of young Victor Frankenstein, brotherly love drives this son of progressive, upper-class parents to violate the code of ethics he’s been taught. Oppel applies the mastery that won him the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction and a long list of other honours to create a rich prequel to Mary Shelley’s classic tale.
While he frames his narrative within the context of the original story, adopting the names of Shelley’s characters among other details, Oppel then departs and creates his own tale. He imagines that sixteen-year-old Victor has a twin brother, Konrad, who develops a fever that puzzles doctors in the late 1700s. A chance discovery of books containing the secrets of alchemy sends Victor on a journey that we already know will end terribly in the years to follow. Oppel establishes the essence of the eighteenth century with a vibrant vocabulary and antique diction: “He strode into the room, took one look at my brother, and said he had a disturbance of the blood. Therefore he needed to be bled.” But he skilfully avoids overwriting that could slow down the plot. Set in an old castle with thick stone walls, towering turrets and secret passageways, the story is a suspenseful gothic page-turner.
Victor’s life becomes further complicated when he realizes he has fallen in love with his distant cousin, Elizabeth. Unfortunately. Elizabeth loves Victor only like a brother. Her heart belongs to the gentle, thoughtful Konrad. Even as he risks his own life to save his brother’s, Victor engages in a fierce competition with Konrad. And even though his mind tells him he can’t win with shows of force or by begging Elizabeth to love him, he becomes obsessed with winning her away.
He pits himself against everything good – a loving mother and a father whose wisdom he had never doubted or commands he had never disobeyed, until now. Victor is emboldened when he discovers that his father is not the upstanding man he thought he was. He also dismisses the growing body of science that later became the basis of modern medicine (“The blood’s filled with what I call cells…the cells are like living machines that go about their work completely without our knowledge or will”), putting his faith in the mystery and lure of magic to find the Elixir of Life.
This Dark Endeavour has already been optioned for movie rights by the producers of Twilight, an indication of the significant buzz the book has generated. It has something for young adults of both sexes — danger, romance and ethical dilemmas — the hallmarks that have made Oppel one of the best writers in the YA genre. His Silverwing series, the story of a young bat that proves himself and saves his colony against impossible odds, and the Airborn series, a futuristic adventure set on board a fantastical airship, have sold more than a million books around the world and become staples in young adult collections.
“I will create something, some great work that will be useful and marvellous to all humanity,” Victor says, foreshadowing the monster he builds that will cause death and destruction. Still, readers will hold their breath in this exciting, suspenseful science fiction/adventure novel, hoping that Victor somehow accomplishes good things. They can follow his difficult path in a sequel, Such Wicked Intent, which will be released this summer.
‘This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein’ by Kenneth Oppel
Book Reviews
What forces can compel a young person schooled in good morals to follow the path of evil? In the case of Kenneth Oppel’s captivating interpretation of young Victor Frankenstein, brotherly love drives this son of progressive, upper-class parents to violate the code of ethics he’s been taught. Oppel applies the mastery that won him the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction and a long list of other honours to create a rich prequel to Mary Shelley’s classic tale.
While he frames his narrative within the context of the original story, adopting the names of Shelley’s characters among other details, Oppel then departs and creates his own tale. He imagines that sixteen-year-old Victor has a twin brother, Konrad, who develops a fever that puzzles doctors in the late 1700s. A chance discovery of books containing the secrets of alchemy sends Victor on a journey that we already know will end terribly in the years to follow. Oppel establishes the essence of the eighteenth century with a vibrant vocabulary and antique diction: “He strode into the room, took one look at my brother, and said he had a disturbance of the blood. Therefore he needed to be bled.” But he skilfully avoids overwriting that could slow down the plot. Set in an old castle with thick stone walls, towering turrets and secret passageways, the story is a suspenseful gothic page-turner.
Victor’s life becomes further complicated when he realizes he has fallen in love with his distant cousin, Elizabeth. Unfortunately. Elizabeth loves Victor only like a brother. Her heart belongs to the gentle, thoughtful Konrad. Even as he risks his own life to save his brother’s, Victor engages in a fierce competition with Konrad. And even though his mind tells him he can’t win with shows of force or by begging Elizabeth to love him, he becomes obsessed with winning her away.
He pits himself against everything good – a loving mother and a father whose wisdom he had never doubted or commands he had never disobeyed, until now. Victor is emboldened when he discovers that his father is not the upstanding man he thought he was. He also dismisses the growing body of science that later became the basis of modern medicine (“The blood’s filled with what I call cells…the cells are like living machines that go about their work completely without our knowledge or will”), putting his faith in the mystery and lure of magic to find the Elixir of Life.
This Dark Endeavour has already been optioned for movie rights by the producers of Twilight, an indication of the significant buzz the book has generated. It has something for young adults of both sexes — danger, romance and ethical dilemmas — the hallmarks that have made Oppel one of the best writers in the YA genre. His Silverwing series, the story of a young bat that proves himself and saves his colony against impossible odds, and the Airborn series, a futuristic adventure set on board a fantastical airship, have sold more than a million books around the world and become staples in young adult collections.
“I will create something, some great work that will be useful and marvellous to all humanity,” Victor says, foreshadowing the monster he builds that will cause death and destruction. Still, readers will hold their breath in this exciting, suspenseful science fiction/adventure novel, hoping that Victor somehow accomplishes good things. They can follow his difficult path in a sequel, Such Wicked Intent, which will be released this summer.
HarperCollins | 304 pages | $19.99 | cloth | ISBN #978-1554683390