BOOKBROODER, Oct 7, 20__
TO Mr. Frankenstein,
“Oh, Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me.”
FRANKENSTEIN
Dear Frankenstein!
When your monster said these lines in the last, I asked myself also why did you behold the accomplishment of your toil on that dreary night of November.
Yes! He repented! But your creation did not remorse before he had urged his diabolical vengeance to such an extremity.
What a wonderful man you were, Frankenstein! So ambitious, sharp and determined. How wonderfully you created, one day, such an animated creature from lifeless matter. You became the creator that day! What had been the study and desire of the wisest men since the creation of the world was now within your grasp. You perfectly knew then that the real elixir of life was chimera! You felt exquisite pleasure dwelling on the recollection of your childhood, of your knowledge and invention, of your adventure, of your grief, of your fear and of your remorse. When I was listening to you, I thought of you as the most sagacious researcher of your time. But when I started listening to the evolutionary saga from the mouth of your own creation, I doubted you’re being the best mind of your time. The powers of learning or I would say, more explicitly of deceiving, of your creation, were far ahead of you.
When a strong multiplicity of sensation seized your monster and he saw, felt, smelled and heard at the same time, I was also pressed upon by a strong light on my imaginative nerves at that very same moment. When your monster unsuccessfully tried to imitate the pleasant songs of birds, the uncouth and inarticulate sounds which broke from him frightened me as well. From his hovel, where he lived secretly for a long time, watching cottagers, learning human emotions, name of cottagers, the language and then about slothful Asiatics, wars of Romans and stupendous genius of Grecians, I tried to recollect the beginning of my existence as if I too had learned such things in similar fashion.
Your monster made me curious about the Werter’s imaginations of despondency and about the high thoughts of Plutarch from whom he learned such traits! Finally, I too felt my flesh tingled with excess of sensitiveness and my pulse beat rapidly, though not as rapidly as yours, every time when your monster came out of his hide to present himself. Though you had benevolent intentions towards humankind, how terrible it turned out to be!
“Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a state which I feared yet did not understand”
FRANKENSTEIN
THE BOOK
I loved the beautiful writing of Shelley in this book. You may be aware of the story, but I think she deserves the reading of this wonderful piece of fantasy and science fiction work and when you know that she wrote this novel in her early twenties, your admiration for her writing will enhance for sure.
It is written in a very unique style and I appreciated the way, the first few letters started the story and then it was ended in a similar fashion. Multi-layered narration, all perfectly synchronized with one another, makes it a nice reading experience. The natural imagery in the exploration in the North Sea region, Arctic ice and narrator’s delightful and full of warmth relations with his family and friends will touch you. The portrayal of the devil is extraordinarily plotted in two entirely opposite ways. Some time he will frighten you through his corpse like hideous horror and at some places you will be filled with compassion towards this wretch monster.
“I endeavored to crush these fears and to fortify myself for the trial which in a few months I resolved to undergo; and sometimes I allowed my thoughts, unchecked by reason, to ramble in the fields of Paradise, and dared to fancy amiable and lovely creatures sympathizing with my feelings and cheering my gloom; their angelic countenances breathed smiles of consolation. But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him”
Frankenstein
A brilliant piece of work!
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