Apparently, my world tour now takes my computer to the UK, as youtube is now displayed as uk.youtube.com. Neat. I always wanted to visit the birthplace of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Too bad I still haven't even left the state of NJ in over a month. Typos may exist, as I can't even run a spell check through Blogger now. [b]Book Rec: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley[/b] I'm a fan of the epistollary novel. The concept appeals to me. What better way is there to gain insight into a character, events, and relationships while silencing the "I refuse to read first person narrative" naysayers? There isn't any. What Mary Shelley achieved in her debut novel written as a teenager is nothing short of extraodinary. Alleged issues of outside editing and rewrites aside, Shelley managed to capture the darker side of human ambition. The issues discussed in Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus, are still relevant today. From the opening lines describing a fateful sea journey to the latter confrontations between Frankenstein and the monster, the novel is extremely accessible and dripping with mood. No detail is left untouched, and no aspect of the human condition with even the slightest relevance to the plot is left uncovered. She even has a grotesque, and I'm a sucker for the grotesque in pre-20th Century literature. If you think you know Frankenstein from watching the Universal film, you are woefully misinformed. I can't imagine a library not having a copy of this novel, nor a bookstore that does not have some edition for under six dollars. You won't regret it.

Labels: book rec