Frankenstein by Mary ShelleySeries: None
Published: 1818
Publisher: Almost Any Now-A-Days
Number of Pages: 210
'I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion.' A summer evening's ghost stories, lonely insomnia in a moonlit Alpine's room, and a runaway imagination -- fired by philosophical discussions with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley about science, galvanism, and the origins of life -- conspired to produce for Mary Shelley this haunting night specter. By morning, it had become the germ of her Romantic masterpiece, "Frankenstein." Written in 1816 when she was only 19, Mary Shelley's novel of 'The Modern Prometheus' chillingly dramatized the dangerous potential of life begotten upon a laboratory table. A frightening creation myth for our own time, "Frankenstein" remains one of the greatest horror stories ever written and is an undisputed classic of its kind.What I’ve learned from Reading Frankenstein:
1) The big green monster isn’t Frankenstein
2) The doctor is, and it’s his last name (first name Victor)
3) The big green monster isn’t actually green...
4) Doctor Frankenstein doesn’t have an sexy assistant (or any assistant at all)
5) Monster can actually talk (at least, he learns)
6) Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller aren’t real characters in the story
