Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Everyone of you has heard the story of the Monster of Frankenstein. A mad scientist hides away in his castle and creates a monster out of dead body parts by sewing them together, and using lightning to shock it into life. But as much as we believe this Hollywood version of the story, it is nothing but that: a Hollywood version.

The story of Frankenstein starts off with a sailor on his way to the polar caps of the earth, writing to his sister back in England about a man he and his crew pulled out of the icy waters. When talking to the man, he finds his name, Victor Frankenstein, and what he was doing so far north. He was chasing a monster.

Sitting down with this strange man, the sailor listened carefully to the story Victor told of his live in Geneva, and his studies at his university. He was told of how the monster was created, and of the misery that had followed. He listened to the misery that took over the live of the creator, and how he promised to bring his own creation to it's second death.

The story of Frankenstein is so different from that of the Hollywood tale, that I was actually taken by surprise. The story shows the tragic tale of both Victor Frankenstein, and the monster itself, and it gives an entirely different view of everything the Hollywood story left out.

Mary Shelley's writing is fantastic as she goes into the detail from the emotion of the characters, to the sound of the blades of grass being crushed under their feet. Her writing is Charles Dickens x10. To some of those it sounds like a turn off for some, it's actually a very good thing.

I highly suggest reading this classic for anyone who loved Dracula, or other classic horror monsters. It fits up there with the other nine out of tens.