FRANKENSTEIN

We all know the Hollywood FRANKENSTEIN and even Mel Brooks's "Frahnken-steen." But how many of us have heard the original version? Kenneth Branagh provides a sincere and well-modulated narration of what is basically a cautionary tale. Victor Frankenstein is a visionary scientist often overcome by nervous fevers, fainting, and dementia when confronted by life's shocks and losses. Frankenstein's particular torture is the creature he has created in hopes of achieving a better human. Instead, he finds he has spawned a monster with the heart of a poet, who seeks acceptance and love, or, if unsatisfied, deadly revenge. Branagh's understated presentation is worthy of this classic. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]