I have finally conquered Frankenstein. And it has been okay. There are things that I Iike about this book and there are things that I don´t like about it.

The descriptions of the nature, the landscapes and the wheather are splendid and the story of the creature is heartbreaking. You cannot help but to feel sorry for it / him and despair over the cruelty of men.

But the narrative is to convulted and at times boring and I´m pretty sure I wouldn´t have made it through some of the chapters without listening to the audiobook in these chapters (narrated by Dan Stevens). And how I disliked Victor Frankenstein. He is such a pathetic character and a huge jerk.

Not one of my favorite classics, but I´m glad that I finally read it.

Victor Frankenstein really likes to hear himself talk, doesn´t he?

I have heard that especially the beginning of this book drags a little bit, so I´m alternating between reading the novel and listening to the audiobook. Dan Stevens narration really helps with getting through the first few chapters.

I really loved this book. It has hit all the right spots with me and there isn´t a single thing that bothered me, which would make my star rating be any less than five stars. The intricate plot is meticulously crafted and the characters are the most memorable I have ever encountered in a book. There is the heroic hero, who is in love with the insiped damsel-in-distress (okay, she isn´t one of my favorite characters), the villainous villians (Count Fosco is truly one of a kind) and Marian, oh my, Marian, I just love her. She is pure awesomeness.

I don´t know if everyone is going to love The Woman in White as much as I did, because let´s face it: this book is 700 pages of victorian storytelling and Wilkie Collins takes the scenic route in his narrative, since every little detail of the story gets explained by means of reports told by different narrators. I like this kind of story telling, but I´m not sure if everyone would feel the same way.

A truly great read and one of the best books I have read this year. Highly recommended.

"Who cares for his causes of complaint? Are you to break your heart to set his mind on ease? No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women. Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and peace - they drag us away from our parents´ love and our sisters´ friendship - they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel. And what does the best of them give us in return? Let me go, Laura - I´m mad when I think of it!"

I´ve gotta say, I love Marian.

The first encounter between two of the main characters, Walter and Marian:

"I looked from the table to the window farthest from me, and saw a lady standing at it, with her back turned towards me. The instant my eyes rested on her, I was struck by the rare beauty of her form, and by the unaffected grace of her attitude. Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place, it filled out its natural circle, it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by stays."

As she turns around and approaches him, he recognizes that she is ....

"The easy elegance of every movement of her limbs and body as soon as she began to advance from the far end of the room, set me in a flutter of expectation to see her face clearly. She left the window - and I said to myself, The lady is dark. She moved forward a few steps - and I said to myself, The lady is young. She approached nearer - and I said to myself (with a sense of suprise which words fail me to express), The lady is ugly!"

Because smart, strong and indepent women have to be ugly. Thank you, Wilkie Collins. I have to admit, though, that I giggled quite a bit while reading this. Walter is such a jerk in this scene.