"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

From the very start of my science fiction class, I was least excited to read this book for it is the oldest on the course list.  Written in the early 1800s, I thought it would be agonizing to get through.  However  I should have known better as it was published the same year as Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. ;)

I had absolutely no background on the story of Frankenstein before reading Shelley’s novel.  So if you are unaware like I was, here is a brief background on the plot (minus spoliers!).  Victor Frankenstein, a studying scientist, creates a gigantic hideous human man and immediately becomes terrified of him.  Throughout the novel, he battles with sanity and fear while deciding between his own happiness or the potential collapse of the human race.  Told from the prospective of both the scientist and “the creation”, this is a complicated scenario and is difficult as the reader to pick a side.  This confliction kept me intrigued and propelled me quickly through the book.

What I could not get over was how beautiful the language was.  It was like reading a continuous poem and felt more than natural to read entire chapters outloud.  As a young university student, the diction was easy to interpret and understand.  I probably could not have done the same as a young teenager, but this understanding could still be achievable for some.  I think this novel is a great challenge for those looking to improve reading comprehension while still being entertained.

So if you are a fan of reading well written books and classic stories, then go ahead with this novel.  But if you are like me, skeptical of this being a boring dusty story, then challenge yourself and read just the first two chapters.  This is all it took for me to be convinced of otherwise.