Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

This book needs no introduction. But I feel certain that more people have watched a Frankenstein movie than read the book. And now I’ve done both!

The story isn’t a “this is happening now” kind of thing. It starts out with a man writing to his sister. He met Victor Frankenstein and heard his tale. And that’s the book. At the end, the original man comes back to the story, and we hit the end.

You think you know how the story is going to go, but it surprised me. There’s not a ton of action, and Victor repeats his feelings of despair numerous times. But I was really invested in the story. The creature was a tragic figure, but he wasn’t a mindless monster. He was like a strange child abandoned at birth and left to learn how life worked on his own.

I’m a bit disappointed in myself for waiting so long to read this book. With the gaps between actual action, I’m surprised I was so interested. But even with the repetitive despair, you can really get a sense of how each character made mistakes. I do recommend this book, but it does show its age a bit. It has thee and thou when people speak, so that gives you a general idea of the language. It gets a Good Book! review and is better than all the movies!