Deep into the new version of Mary’s Monster that hopefully will be out before December. At best, only a few hundred people have read the original version of the novel, and this posting is for those people.
What’s different?
Well, there’s no more cigarette smoking! Cell phones exist! Uber exists!
The most radical change, however, is a reflection of post-9/11 reality — in the original novel, our friend the Monster hops on a plane in Canada and lands in Newark International Airport, no problem!
Of course, the Frankenstein Monster (as he’s portrayed in Mary’s Monster) has no ID. He has no passport. He has no birth certificate. And one thing he definitely does not have is a plane ticket.
Since the novel opens in Canada, and then transfers to New Jersey, the Monster becomes an illegal immigrant, sneaking across the Canadian border, and then has a cross-country road trip, which I’m in the process of writing. It will be fascinating writing new scenes with characters left in the past a generation ago, but it’s happening.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Continuing my work on the updated version — add tape recorders, land-line telephones, reporters (which is sad) to the list. It’s been a fascinating experience to really take a moment to realize how much has changed in 32 years. Wire services still sort of exist, don’t they? But in 1991, that’s how news traveled — now, not so much.
Mary’s Monster now experiences his first viewing of James Whale’s 1931 version on a tablet, in a car, traveling east. So different.