Sir Walter Scott wrote that "upon the whole, the work impresses us with a high idea of the author's original genius and happy power of expression", but the "Quarterly Review" described it "a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity".
Sir Walter Scott, writing in "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine" congratulated "the author's original genius and happy power of expression" (620), although he is less convinced about the way in which the monster gains knowledge about the world and language. On the other hand, the "Quarterly Review" described it "a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity".