End of the Summer & Mary Shelley

Hello, my Blog Freinds. Summer is nearly over and that's somewhat distressing and also thrilling since Fall is upon us. I wanted to blog one last time before September to let everyone know I'm alive. Summer sped by so fast, it hardly felt like a break.

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Not much excitement happened to me other I visited family in Texas. What an amazing trip! The state is positively larger than life and the residents tend to beam with such pride and joy it's infectious. You gotta love it. If any of you have visited Texas or have lived there give me a shout out and tell me where.

Since returning from that trip, I jumped back into the grind and got my kids off to school. This year I have two kids in middle school which is equal parts frightening and exciting. It's nice when both kids are at one school which means less driving and more productivity.

Happy Birthday, Mary Shelley!

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Anyway, for those of you who don't know Mary Shelley's birthday is today. It's not surprising that after all this time, she is still relevant and still an original. Amazing, huh? I wonder what she'd think of her fans, and how her notoriety and cult following continues to grow. It's simply amazing. I've read Frankenstein several times and may have to do so again for inspiration. If you haven't had a chance to read it, check out my review. Such a wonderful book and treasure.

According to Biography, she defied convention even before she wrote her classic horror tale. She ran away with Percy Shelley who was a poet and already married. Yikes, that must have been a scandal to be sure. The article mentions how her father didn't speak to her for some time after that which is kind of sad. She was very young when she fell in love and ran away. *Sigh* Oh, young love. She had a somewhat tragic life with the death of her mother when she was young and then a tumultuous marriage. Shelley endured the deaths of two of her children (only one survived) and was also widowed at the age of 24. Very sad, indeed. She was an incredible woman in her day and gave birth to one of the greatest literary masterpieces of our time. What an icon! To learn more about her background, click here. Happy Birthday, Mary.

Favorite Quote:

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” 

― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Hope you enjoyed your Summer!

Mina Burrows

A Creepy Classic Review: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

What can I say about a classic like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?  Brilliant, methodical, soul-searching... yes, all of these and more.  With fevered intensity, Victor Frankenstein conspired to wield the hand of God.  Shelley artfully described Victor’s outlandish beliefs and passion for the impossible, and I found it inspiring to read, to say the least.  Such dedication to one’s plight to forgo relationships, food, sleep to the point that one's life becomes a hodge-podge of research testing and theorizing.

Salvaging spare dead body parts to create life, Frankenstein was a man obsessed.  At first, he believed he’s done what he so passionately strove to do, create a living, breathing being.  When he wakes from his one night’s slumber, he realizes the thing is wretched and horrible to view.  In a mad dash, he leaves, retreating in his mind, conspiring on his next moves.  In doing so, he stumbles upon an old friend and feels inclined to bring him back to him home.  This next part was "laugh out loud" funny. Frankenstein’s a character.  He believes the monster’s in his home and won’t let his friend in see his place.  Once he realizes the beast is gone, he joyfully invites his friend in for refreshments. Oh, joy!  Like I said, he’s a character.

Moments later, Frankenstein faints, succumbing to vicious fever.  Finally reviving from his debilitating condition, he thinks he’s imagined the monster – and that he doesn’t really exist.  Two years later, he spies the creature and suspects the wretched thing actually does.  In his mind, he traces it back to that fevered night.  “Alas, I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch…”  Despair swallows him once he believes the monster is the murderer of a beloved brother, William.  Is Frankenstein’s plight all in vain and his monster retaliating, an eye for an eye?  Or in the beast’s case, with my life, I give you death?

Frankenstein finally meets the monster.  And the beast speaks too and quite eloquently I might add. He’s lived the last two-year experiencing life, learning emotions, absorbing every nuance of detail…and for what?  To hear the monster describe his short-time living among humans and thereafter, the sorrows and dejection that rob his mind was gut-wrenching.  One can’t help but feel sorry for the beast.  And now he wants a companion.  A female one too. Can you blame him?

The story morosely unfolds from there, delving deeper into the challenge that Victor has.  Can he concede to the demands of a wretched beast?  What guilt besieges him in creating life in the first place?  And now he must do it again?  Can he?  What about his own life?  What’s it worth at this point?  I won’t say anymore you’ll have to read it yourself.

Shelley was so ahead of her time with her gothic, gloomy tale, it confounds me.  In embarking on this novel, she created an eternal stamp in the literary world of monsters we crave so much today.  And her discussions on life – living it and the attempts to create it – well, just look at the world we live in now.  Amazing.  Mary Shelley was amazing and so is her classic, Frankenstein. I give it a 5, hands down.

Now you have no excuse. Go get this book and get it now.

Until next time…looking for something to read…try a Creepy Classic, try Frankenstein.

Mina B.

Top Steampunk Books I’m Dying to Read

Okay, so I wanted to do a quick post on Steampunk novels I have on my TBR list. In no particular order, I compiled a list of Steampunk books that I’m dying to read. I’m slowly working them in queue under my Dying To Read section of my blog.

Did you know that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is considered Steampunk? Yes, Shelley’s monster classic is considered Steampunk. And what’s funny is I’ll be reviewing it for this month’s Creepy Classics segment. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, take a look at the ones below. Have you read any of these? Are they any good? Please comment and send me the link to your review. Also, comment to add additional books to this list.

  Soulless by Gail Carriger

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman   

  Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest 

  Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare 

   Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Vern

Until next time….looking for something different, try a Steampunk novel.


Mina B.