I refuse to spoilertag anything in this review, because people, this book is nearly 200 years old. You’ve had ample time to read this book, if anything in my review spoils it for you, on your own head be it. Captain Robert Walton writes letters to his sister Margaret, recounting his journey to the North Pole in a quest for scientific fame. He writes of the strange and charismatic man they rescue in the wilderness, a Victor Frankenstein. Through Walton’s letters, we also get Frankenstein’s […]
A Classic – Happy Halloween!
In honor of All Hallow’s Eve, I read a classic monster story. The fact that Frankenstein is a household name 200 years later is a testament to Shelley’s work–which she began writing at only 19 years old! The story is told in a series of letters that Walton, a captain of a ship trying to find a Northeast passage, writes to his sister in England. He comes across a bedraggled man with a dogsled in the middle of the ice, takes him on the ship, […]
Man is a Monster
Literary classics earn their designation by presenting themes that resonate throughout the ages. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is just such a literary classic. She wrote this short but brilliant tale when she was about 20, while she, her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron were on holiday in Switzerland. As the poor weather prevented their outdoor adventures, the three entertained themselves with stories of the “supernatural.” Shelley’s Frankenstein has become a world renowned classic and a staple of Halloween partiers everywhere. And yet, Shelley’s scary […]