This week in class we are reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. So far, I have really enjoyed the novel (I'm only a little over half way through). I am still absolutely amazed by the range of vocabulary and word usage that Mary Shelley had at the age that she wrote this novel (I think she was 19ish). Although, her mother was Mary Stone Wollencraft and her father a literary as well, and she eloped with Percy Shelley ~ so when you think about how she was probably raised and the people who influenced her life from birth, perhaps it isn't so shocking.
Anyway, when I got to the chapter where the monster wants to talk to Frankenstein on the top of the mountain, I was completely surprised by the language he used. I had started to read this novel when I was 18, but I never got this far, so all of my knowledge of Frankenstein came from Hollywood (and I haven't seen the movie Mary Shelley's Frankenstein). He was just so eloquent in his explanation and throughout his story (which I'm in the middle of), you really can begin to feel for this poor creature. I think in some ways, it also makes it hard to believe that he was created and learned to speak that way in just a short amount of time (almost two years).
I also found it quite interesting that Shelley doesn't actually go into detail about how Frankenstein created the monster, but rather leaves that up to the imagination. Some things she goes into vivid detail, while at the same time leaving quite up to the imagination. I can really see why this novel is such a classic and I'm glad that I've been given the opportunity to read it [again].
I'm anxious to get back to the novel and finish it. As soon as I finish my online posting for tonight . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment