The Books In The Freezer Readathon is going decently, I suppose. I'm still on the first book, but I have until the 15th to read my picks! (All of which are smaller books.)

 

Halfway done with Frankenstein. I am reading the $1 1818 Kindle version (the original text) and listening to the free public domain audiobook from Librivox at the same time. (Posted on Youtube) That helps me focus on classics. I have dyslexia, so sometimes my mind trips up on the old-fashioned language in classics.

 

The reason I looked for a copy of the recording on YouTube is that I like to speed up the audio to match how fast my brain works. (If that makes sense)

 

Free Public Domain Librivox Recording

 

$1 Kindle 1818 Version

An interesting tale filled drawn out in the elegant prose of the era in which it is written. Full of depth and emotions one does not often see in today's literature. Yet there are a few things that kept this from being as fulfilling as the potential it held.

Starting off are some letters that at first confused me. I thought I knew the story of Frankenstein but I had no clue who this captain was. Luckily the pieces are soon drawn together. Yet while I am trying to figure out who is who my mind is rapidly working to change gears from common, current verbiage to the poetic, old English style in which this story is form. While utterly beautiful, it did take awhile to be able to fully appreciate it.

The next thing that has me thrown off is how easily the "Wretched Monster" learns. And how he knew about Frankenstein and his homeland when is states that Frankenstein immediately bails on his creation one it is alive. It must not have been as quick as described....

And the monster-he is amazing and filled with emotion. Overwhelmingly so. He seems to feel things more strongly than man. Be it love, loneliness... or hated! His tale is both wonderful and yet heart-wrenching at the same time.

I wish the book covered more of how the monster came to be. And as for Frankenstein, he sure was sick often in this book. Sheesh! I neither liked nor disliked his character.

This is very, VERY different from the movies I have seen. I almost wonder if ANY of the scriptwriters have ever actually read the book. Why have none of them correctly portrayed the story?! It would be so much better! Maybe one of these days, someone will get it right...

Final rating: 3.5 on enjoyment, 4.5 stars on writing!

Victor Frankenstein creates a monster, brings it to life and immediatly abhors it. He leaves his appartment and when he comes back the monster is gone.

Meanwhile, the monster learns how to live, to speak, to read and to write by watching a family. He slowly loses faith in humanity because everyone he ancounters is afraid of him and/or wants to kill him. He is lonly, wants a companion. He tracks down Frankenstein and demands a female monster. Frankenstein agrees to this because his family is threatened (the monster already killed his little brother) but then destroys the second monster before it is finished. Needles to say that the monster was not amused.

Frankenstein is beautifully written. Mary Shelly really has a way with words. I liked this version of the book because it suprised me. I always thought that Frankenstein was old (he is in his early 20s) and that the monster was not able to speak but in fact he can speak quite well. Also, he is not green but yellow-ish and he is not afraid of fire, there were no angry villagers with flaming torches after him. Maybe that is in the second version which I will definitly read too. And I can really recommend this one. It's awesome!

4 Stars.

Very different from the Hollywood movie version. I was confused at one point though. It seemed to be following one narrator then suddenly it was a different narrator lol. All and all I can see why this is a classic. It's creepy. It's passionate. It's violent. It got murder and death. Fiends and whatnot.

Interesting read.


***Read For School***

I'm having an inner conflict about who to feel sorry for. You have Frankenstein who has suffered a lot during this book but also did some bad things and you have the monster who did some horrible things but was abandoned by his creator. I think this is a great aspect of this book since it therefore leave a impression.