i finally finished “frankenstein” and i’m mad at myself

it’s ironic that the book i was supposed to finish in high school (almost TEN years ago) and dnf’d three times in the last 2 years, not only ended up being 4.25 ⭐️ but also being book 100 for 2024. wow.

i was the kid growing up who read every single book in all of their classes—even the ones that weren’t required. but “frankenstein” was that ONE book i just decided to skip. i used sparksnotes for my exam too 😭😭 god, forgive me for my sins 😭

it’s also funny to me because i actually had never made it past the first letter/chapter. it had always failed to capture my attention. i don’t know what happened this time around but i decided to give it another shot. i’m so glad i did. though in hindsight, i think it was “the phantom of the opera” that put me in the PERFECT mood to try out “frankenstein” again.

i’m a sucker for gothic literature. now i see why this is the most recommended one. the writing was superb, suspenseful and just vivid. it captured the feelings of creator and creation so perfectly. i was not expecting this much depth on philosophy, on life, creation, etc. and the fact that the writing style was so approachable was just the cherry on top!

the first third of the book is largely written in a series of letters from walton to his sister. then, the narrative shifts (kind of like a story within a story) and victor frankenstein begins telling us the reader about his background. there was so much suspense there.

the 2nd third was mostly from the monster’s perspective (so a story within a story within a story 💀). but i didn’t particularly care for this section. i feel like it put the brakes on the pacing of the story. there wasn’t any suspense. while i appreciate the fact that we got to understand the monster more, i just feel like it interrupted the flow of the story. it was very abrupt. this is also where the writing became more clunky and convoluted. it is the section that made me knock down the rating to 4.25 ⭐️

what i loved the most about this style of narration is that each character (walton, frankenstein, the monster) had their own voice. everyone could stand on their own. no one sounded the same. it was a better experience than the characters in “dracula” (which i still loved), who kinda all sounded the exact same.

so this is a lesson to all the folks who didn’t read the books they were supposed to for school—read that book now. who knows? you might be missing out 🤷🏾‍♀️