Frankenstein up to chapter 10 (because I forgot that I had to write this evil blog post)

Really, the letter was not clear as to how much detail was required for this blog. That said, booklets were provided, but they were misplaced...

Shelley uses framed narration in her novel. The opening narrative perspective is in the form of letters from one intrepid explorer to his beloved. He embarks on a journey to the North Pole to broaden his horizons and generally be a bit of a hipster. He wants to be able to drone on about his gap yah in Boliviyah. On his travels northwards, he locates a willing crew to man his ship and sets sail for the tundra. During his travels, he sees an 8 foot demon on a dog-sled flying across the ice. Later, he discovers a man on the ice, and invites him on board. The two bond quite closely as friends (in a slightly homoerotic fashion, I add) and the stranded man tells the journeyer his tale, promising that it will explain his downcast and sullen countenance (Shelley likes this word. A lot.).

The stranded fellow goes by the name Victor Frankenstein. He was raised in a loving family of an adopted sister (or two, I don't remember) and dedicated parents. Shelley basically emphasises that his upbringing was pretty much stellar, and all the messed up shit he does later can't be justified by that. He becomes interested in natural philosophy; specifically, a couple of outdated philosophers who believed in some nonsense that I forget. The point is, he mentions this to his Dad, and his Dad waives the idea without explaining why they're a load of nonsense. Naturally, the adolescent Frankenstein is urged out of teen spirit (or something that smells like it) to disobey authority and dedicate a large portion of his time to revering these books like the gospels. The product of this is that he is firmly entrenched in anachronistic ideas about life and humanity and stuff. Eventually, he gets sent to university, but not before his mother (or perhaps after - I forget) dies. He's a bit gutted that his mam's dead, but he moves on. At university, he is ridiculed for his outdated beliefs, but is set on the path to enlightenment by one of his tutors. His thoughts develop and Shelley alludes to the creation of the monster, noting that it is made from dead bodies. Frankenstein becomes isolated and alienated from his family, and there are attempts from his sister, Elizabeth, to reconnect him. Additionally, his close school friend, Clerval, does similar. However, it is not until one of his brother's (or cousins or something. The Frankensteins reproduced like rabbits) mysteriously is murdered, that he returns to the Frankenstein abode in Geneva. It is concluded that another member of the family (SEE) killed the relation, but the evidence is incredibly tenuous, and the guilty verdict appears to be Shelley's indictment of the stupidity of humanity (or mine...). Despite the verdict, Victor Frankenstein is insistent that it was the monster that killed the boy, and seeks the monster out in the mountains. 

That's as far as I've got. It's actually not that bad a read. Shelley's language is WAY less ridiculous than Carter's. Who's ever heard of the word chthonic? Really. It actually predates Jesus. What up wid dat?