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Completed	28 March 2006
Title	Frankenstein
Author	Mary Shelley
Published	1818
Quote	"Great God! what a scene has just taken place! I am yet dizzy with the remembrance of it. I hardly know whether I shall have the power to detail it; yet the tale which I have recorded would be incomplete without this final and wonderful catastrophe. "I entered the cabin, where lay the remains of my ill-fated and admirable friend. Over him hung a form which I cannot find words to describe; gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions. As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy. When he heard the sound of my approach, he ceased to utter exclamations of grief and horror, and sprung towards the window. Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes involuntarily, and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with regard to this destroyer. I called on him to stay."
Review	Like Dracula, I also thought I knew the storyline of Frankenstein. But the book is so different from the monster-like images of Frankenstein that I've had since youth. In fact, we think of "Frankenstein" as the name of the monster, but actually, Victor Frankenstein was the name of its creator. The author, Mary Shelley, comes from a long line of literary scholars. And, in the summer of 1816 Mary and her husband, Percy, found themselves on a continental trip, up to Geneva, where they befriended the poet, Byron. On 16 June 1816, the threesome, Shelley, Shelley, and Byron had a little ghost story contest, a story-telling contest, and that's where Mary got the idea for Frankenstein. Somebody really needs to write a story or screenplay about those three in June of 1816----it's really interesting, their talk of religion and science and possibilities, and the gothic. If nothing else, you should read the introduction to Frankenstein. It's really interesting. Finally, I have to share with you the passage where the "monster" comes to life. "It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." Shelley does such a good job of description; it's really a pleasure to read. This book, apparently written when she was 19 years old, is, by many considered the "first" science-fiction novel. And, many believe it's her best novel.

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