Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (Penguin Classics)

Not having previously been a fan of the horror genre, I firstly read Frankenstein as an A Level student and subsequently for pleasure. It possesses all the classic conventions of a gothic novel, pathetic fallacy, where the weather symbolizes prophecy and romanticism. However, the novel has many other ingredients that contribute to making it sustain the passages of time. One of those factors is that we judge people on appearance and the image of Frankenstein's monster is horrific. Also, with medical advancements Mary Shelley's original idea in 1816 may not be so far fetched almost 200 years later. It throws up issues of medical ethics. Shelley was around 18 when she wrote this book and the writing reflects her youth and naivety. For example hopw did the creature arrive and how did he mature? He was said to be over 8ft, so how would he be able to have been created from human bones? "I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter". What is quite remarkable about this book is the fact that Mary Shelley wrote it as a challenge whilst in the mountains in Switzerland, telling ghost stories with her husband Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. The story is told through 3 narrators and the reader needs to decide which character is the one that they trust.