Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

 Hi Everyone!

Between book club books and another series I will talk about when I have finished it, I read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This book literally sent a shiver down my spine but also brought a tear to my eye. It isn't too challenging so I would say it is appropriate for beginners in classics (like me!).

You probably all know the rough storyline but one thing is a common misconception.

Frankenstein is NOT the monster. Frankenstein MAKES the monster.

So if you don't know, the basic storyline is of a Dr. Frankenstein who makes a deformed monster. He soon realizes how terrible this monster is and lives the rest of his life in fear of it. The narrative starts in letter form with a man who is on a ship in the North Pole and pulls Frankenstein out of the water. Frankenstein then tells his story and mixed in with this is the story of the actual monster, which I really enjoyed. 

The monster has a hard life too. As he looks so atrocious, people have lots of prejudices against him and that is partly what sparks his demon side in the first place. Dr. Frankenstein grows up in Geneva and has a fairly carefree early life but he suffers loss and once he makes the monster, endures a life of terror.

However, it is not my favourite classic; that remains North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Although I enjoyed it, I found some of the scenes slightly tedious and couldn't manage to read the critical essay at the back. I read it for The Hound of the Baskervilles but I don't like the one at the end of Frankenstein; it was way too long!

The emotions this book made me feel were very strong and I enjoyed that about it. It was also nice to see the original text and I surprisingly didn't know much about the story apart from a vague recollection of a deformed green monster so I enjoyed discovering that. I generally don't enjoy supernatural stories as much as more realistic novels but I did like Frankenstein so I am very pleased I read it. 

Thank you so much for reading this post!