Frankenstein

I found it difficult to get interested in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" at first. It was just hard to find interest in the letters at the beginning of the book. However, once I got past the letters, I became very interestedand even found myself having trouble putting it down. What I love about this book is the incredible quality of vivid descriptions Mary Shelley used in her writing. I can get completely lost in a book when I can have a mental picture of what is happening in the story, and this book definitely gave me mental pictures. For example, Mary Shelley states, "I looked on the valley beneath; vast mists were rising from the rivers which ran through it, and curling in thick wreaths around the opposite mountains, whose summits were hid in the uniform clouds while rain poured from the dark sky, and added to the melancholy impressions I received from the objects around me" (Shelley 64). This line gives me an idea of exactly what the valley and rivers look like that Frankenstein is telling the readers about. Another line in the book that I believe has good description is when she described Frankenstein's creation. She wrote, "His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion, and straight black lips" (Shelley 34). These are only a couple of examples of the descriptions in this book and I'm sure there are more to come.