Frankenstein by Emily Inseam

Mary Shelley’s – Frankenstein          

 

Mary Shelley’s story begins with Robert Walton, a sailor, who is looking for a new passage from Russia to the Pacific Ocean by crossing the Arctic Ocean.
Months later the ship’s crew finds Victor Frankenstein on a small ice glacier at death’s door. They bring him to the ship and that is when he tells everyone his very sad story.

Victor Frankenstein is the son of Caroline and Alphonse Frankenstein who grows up in Geneva, Switzerland. His parents are passionate travellers so a few years after Victor’s birth they travel to Italy. One day they visit a farm and in that moment as Caroline, Victor’s mother, walks in the door she falls in love with a most beautiful little girl. She is an orphan and her name is Elisabeth Lavenza. She wants to adopt her and proceeds to do so. Elisabeth is so happy to have a family and she is such a cheerful child. Later on Caroline is infected with Scarlet Fever and Elisabeth takes care of her, but she unfortunately Caroline dies.
Victor realises how much he loves science and so he prepares to leave for his studies at the University of Ingolstadt.
In Ingolstadt he gets to know his professors M. Krempe and M. Waldman. Two years pass by and he is very involved in his studies and his ambition is to re-create a new life, by bringing a dead body and back to life. He spends day and night creating it and as he brings the creature back to life he realises what monster he has created. Afraid, Victor runs away, the monster leaves his apartment and goes into the woods, and Victor doesn’t see him anymore. Victor makes himself very ill by the shock and worry of it all and it is his best friend, Henry Clerval, who takes care of him during his illness.
One day Victor receives a letter from his father telling him he must return to Geneva immediately because his younger brother William has been strangled to death. This news shocks Victor even more, so he returns to Geneva and as he sees his brother’s body he realises that the monster he made, killed him. Victor doesn’t go to the police because he feels guilty of having created such a thing. Unfortunately, the police accuse Justine Moritz, their housekeeper, of the murder.
After this tragedy Victor decides to leave Geneva and he visits Montanvert, where he meets the monster. They take refuge in a small hut and the monster begins to tell his story…

The monster had taught himself to read and understand the language so that he could follow the lives of his “adopted” family, the De Laceys. He found some notes in a jacket he found in the woods. The monster realized they once belonged to Victor. By reading them he understood that he was not like all the other people, he was different from mankind and so he wanted a companion. He wanted Victor to create another monster.
Victor refuses his wish but the monster convinces him and he says he will leave Europe and move to South America if he creates another creature like him.
Victor agrees to begin his work on a second creation and makes plans to go to England and Scotland, with Henry Clerval. Before he leaves Geneva, Victor agrees to marry Elisabeth immediately after his return from Britain.
He stays on the Orkney Islands and he begins his work. He thinks a lot about the monsters‘ words but he cannot create another one so he destroys it. He put so many people’s lives at risk because he created the monster and he doesn’t want relive that shock again. He finds a boat and goes out to sea. Before he leaves Victor meets the monster again and breaks off the agreement. The monster vows revenge on Victor by murdering his family.
There’s a big storm and Victor’s boat gets blown off course and he ends up in Ireland. With Henry Clerval’s dead body having been washed up on Ireland’s shores, Victor feels guilty of having caused so many deaths and so he decides to go back to Geneva and marry Elisabeth as soon as possible.
The wedding goes off as planned and while Victor makes sure he barricades all the possible entrances the monster could use to get into the house, the monster climbs into Elisabeth’s room and strangles her.
Victor now wants revenge and chases the monster through Europe and Russia. Victor nearly catches the monster near the Arctic Circle when Robert Walton discovers him. Victor, now dying, is taken aboard Walton’s ship to recover.

The monster enters the cabin of the ship and tells Walton his side of the story. Victor dies, and the monster tells Walton that now his enemy is dead he doesn’t have anything or anybody else and he promises he will never come back or torment anybody ever again. The monster then disappears in the waves and darkness, and never comes back!

My comment:

Mary Shelley is a great author! I had no problems understanding her story because she explains things in such a detailed way and I really like that.
I don’t think this novel is a horror; it’s a tragic Gothic story. At the time Mary Shelley wrote it, people thought no such thing could ever happen. If we look back and think of how much mankind has created we have arrived at a point where our world is changing, where people are changing. Nobody knows what will happen in 50 years’ time. I think as time progresses, the world changes, people change because who knows, maybe one day people will be able to re-create such creatures. I don’t know now and Mary Shelley didn’t know at that time and it’s better that way.

Mary Shelley

Mary Wollestonecraft (Godwin) Shelley was born on August 30, 1797 in London, England to philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollestonecraft. Both her parents were very well known writers in the 19^th century.

When Mary was born, William and Mary had only been married for five months. Four weeks after giving birth, Mary Wollestonecraft died of complications. Mary Shelley never knew her mother. Her father remarried a woman named Mrs. Clairmont when Mary was four years old.
She enjoyed writing at a young age, and her passion was to write stories intended for a very limited audience. Between June 1812 and March 1814, Mary lived with relatives in Scotland. When she returned to London she met Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their relationship began. In 1814 they got married and in February 1815, Mary gave birth to a daughter, who was born prematurely and then died in March. Mary and her husband later moved to Bishopgate, England, and a second child, William, was born.
In 1816 they moved to Marlow, England and a third child, Clara Everina, was born. In 1818, they left England for Italy to escape mounting debts and to improve Percy’s health. It was during this time that both children died; Clara died in September 1818, and William died in June, in 1819. In 1822 her husband was drowned at sea and this changed Mary’s life completely. A year later, Mary Shelley returned to England and from then on devoted herself to the upbringing of her son and a career as a professional author.
Mary Shelley died at the age of 53 from a brain tumor.

(c) Emily Insam

Emily Insam and Breaking Dawn (part 1)

I must say that I have been a little surprised by the effect Stephanie Meyer’s books have had on my students in the past years, books I do not think I will ever have the pleasure to read. Nor movies I will happily watch. After the big wave of the Titanic that practically pierced the heart of my students, now the dark black triumphs. The idea of the macabre is the main thread around which romantic stories are developed – as easy as that. Who else is Edward Cullen if not a “vampire”? And the unbelievably beautiful “Bella Swan” if not the potential victim of an obscure sect that needs blood to survive. On the well defined path of Dracula by Bram Stocker, who had the main idea in 1897, repeated ad nauseam, it seems that the gothic novel, horror fiction, and finally the vampire literature has found a new broad audience, seen the numerous books sold by the young author who also fantasizes on how she wrote the story, “sent to her in a dream” – or some sort of…

Anyhow, Emily’s writing is excellent, her English mother and German father have made of her a perfectly bilingual student, if not trilingual, seen that she attends an Italian school. Congratulations, and let’s hope that her next reading will be of a different genre!

(c) Anny Ballardini

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Twilight – Breaking Dawn (part 1)

 

Bella Swan, an average teenager is in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. There is only one problem, Jacob Black, her best friend and a wolf, loves her, too. He tries to convince Bella to end the relationship as he thinks she will be in so much danger, but she knows that Edward will always protect and save her. Their love story continues and Edward decides to marry 18-year-old Bella.

Bella is driving around in her new Mercedes Guardian, an engagement present from Edward, but she feels uncomfortable because everyone in town is staring at her. She cannot wait to marry Edward but one thing is missing, Jacob. He went missing after the announcement of their engagement.
The big day has arrived. Alice and Rosalie, Edward’s sisters, are getting her ready. Her father, Charlie, leads her down the aisle and she cannot wait to say, “I do” to her future husband. Everybody congratulates the couple and there is a surprise waiting for Bella. Jacob turns up and they dance together. He teases Bella that she is not going on a “real” honeymoon. When he finds out that she is planning to sleep with Edward, he loses his temper and Edward and Seth have to restrain him. Jacob runs into the woods and Seth follows him.
The wedding ends with Bella and Edward leaving Forks, but Bella does not know where they will go on their honeymoon, as Edward wanted to surprise her. They fly to Rio de Janeiro, spending a night there and then they take a boat to go to an island.
Edward and Bella spend their honeymoon on Esme Isle, an uninhabited island off the coast off Brazil. The island was a gift from Carlisle to Esme, Edward’s parents. Their first attempt at lovemaking leaves Bella with bruises and Edward with a guilty conscience, but she keeps pressing him, so they try again. Days later, Bella realizes that she is pregnant and that her baby bump is growing at an unnatural rate. While she feels protective of whatever is growing inside her, Edward wants to get rid of “the thing.” Bella secretly calls Rosalie for help. They return home to Forks immediately.

Jacob has returned to Forks, too, and he finds out that Bella and Edward have also returned from their honeymoon, but she is sick. He believes that it is because she has become a vampire. He presses Sam, the werewolf alpha, and the werewolves to attack the Cullens. Sam resists, so Jacob goes to attack the Cullens on his own, with a special aim for Edward.
When Jacob sees Bella, he can tell that she is in great pain and is shocked when he finds out that she is pregnant. Edward has a plan; he wants to save Bella but he needs Jacob’s help. The baby is killing her, but she will not let him abort it, and Rosalie acts as her bodyguard. Edward proposes an idea to Jacob that he gives Bella what she wants in the form of a baby from Jacob. Jacob protests, but is intrigued by the idea, so he agrees to offer “his services” to Bella. Edward promises that if Bella dies, Jacob is free to kill him.

Bella’s condition is getting worse and the baby’s accelerated growth causes Bella’s bones to break, but Edward discovers that he can hear the baby’s thoughts and that it loves Bella. Bella decides to name the baby Renesmee, if it is a girl. Edward is now taken with the baby too, and Jacob feels betrayed. He still believes the baby is a monster, slowly killing Bella.
Bella gives birth, but the baby breaks more of her bones and she loses massive amounts of blood. In order to save Bella’s life, Edward changes her into a vampire. Jacob wants to kill the baby, but upon seeing the little girl’s face, he falls in love with her.

Nobody knows if Bella will wake up even though Edward bit her. Everybody is keeping their fingers crossed. Jacob and the rest of the Cullens are waiting in the living room for news. Edward is sitting next to Bella’s body. He is in tears and he just wishes he could have saved her. In that moment, Bella opens her eyes. She looks beautiful. Her skin is pale, her eyes are red and she is so strong, a perfect vampire. Edward is over the moon, they are so happy to be together and they cannot wait to see their newborn baby and to begin a new chapter of their vampire life together.

                   Stephenie Meyer    

Stephenie Meyer is a young American adult fiction writer and film producer, best known for her vampire romance series ‘Twilight’. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. Meyer was the bestselling author in 2008 and 2009 in America, having sold over 29 million books in 2008, and 26.5 million books in 2009. Twilight was the best-selling book of 2008 in US bookstores.
Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what became Chapter 13 of the book. In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel, though she says that she never thought of publishing Twilight. Her sister read the novel and she persuaded Meyer to send it to literary agencies.

 

My comment

I only started watching and reading Twilight this year and I love it so much that I have seen the films at least 6 times. It is a beautiful love story that never ends. Edward would sacrifice his life for Bella no matter what. They love each other so much that nothing can stop them, which I believe makes the story so special.

The language of the book is not too difficult but I sometimes had to look a few words up in the dictionary. I read the book in a week because I just enjoyed reading it that I found it difficult to put it down.

(c) Emily Insam

Emily Insam and John Green

The Fault in Our Stars

“Some infinites are bigger than other infinites”

 

The Fault in Our Stars is a novel by author John Green. The story talks about the main character, the seventeen year old Hazel Grace Lancaster, as she battles cancer.
One day, Hazel attends the Support Group for people who are suffering from cancer. This is where she meets Augustus Waters. They become really good friends and Hazel tells him about her favourite book, An Imperial Affliction. They talk about the end of the book, which ends in an unfinished sentence. Augustus manages to contact the author, Peter Van Houten. Hazel emails him and tells him she wants to know about the end of the book, and he invites both of them to Amsterdam.
Unfortunately Hazel’s parents don’t have the money to pay for the trip to Amsterdam so Augustus surprises Hazel by telling her that he still has his wish (a wish given to cancer sufferers) from when he had cancer and when he lost his leg and he’d happily use it to take her to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten. Hazel is over the moon about the surprise but first she has to persuade her parents and her doctors to let her take the trip.
They go to Amsterdam and get to know the author of An Imperial Affliction. Peter Van Houten, who turns out to be a nasty character and who does not answer any of Hazel’s questions.
Hazel is really angry and upset about the meeting. Lidewij, Peter Van Houten’s assistant, shows Augustus and Hazel Anne Frank’s House and this is where Hazel kisses Augustus and she finally falls in love with him. While walking through the park Augustus tells her that he was diagnosed with cancer before going to Amsterdam and he does not have much time left. Hazel is shocked and breaks out in tears.
As they get back to Indianapolis Augustus wants Isaac, a friend from Support Group, and Hazel to share their eulogies that they wrote for him. Throughout it all Hazel is with him until the very end.
Augustus dies eight days later. Hazel is shocked and she can’t believe he has left her, his family and all his friends. At his funeral she gives a different eulogy, because she thinks he knew what she wrote and she wants to keep her thoughts about him to herself.
Peter Van Houten suddenly turns up out of nowhere at the funeral. She talks to him about An Imperial Affliction and he tells her that his daughter also died of cancer and the book is dedicated to her.
Isaac tells her that Augustus wrote a sequel of An Imperial Affliction that she wanted, before Augustus’ death. She contacts Lidewij and asks her if she knows anything about a sequel that Augustus wrote for her. Lidewij sends Hazel the sequel. It turns out to be a eulogy for Hazel’s funeral and not a sequel of the book.
The book ends with Hazel reading the eulogy and Augustus writing:
“ I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.”

“I do.”, she answers.

My Comment:

I have read the book about four times and I never get bored of it. It’s really emotional and inspirational. It describes the reality we are living in. We sometimes have to let go of the people we love most. It’s sad but true.
It’s not only a story about cancer, it’s a love story. John Green doesn’t want readers to think that Hazel and Augustus are special because they are both dying of cancer. He wants readers to think the opposite; that they are average teenagers, who fall in love for the first time in spite of the cancer.
He explains things in a way that I never thought about and they are all so true. Every time I read the book I learn new things. It’s as if you had to find the key to a secret door.
I don’t read a lot but this book convinced me to continue reading books because you just lose yourself in them, and perhaps more importantly, learn from them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Green

 

John Green is a very popular author in Adult fiction. The Fault in Our Stars is considered his outstanding bestseller.
John Michael Green was born on August 24, 1977, in Indianapolis. He worked as a student chaplain after graduation in a children’s hospital. He wanted to become an Episcopal priest. However, the time he spent among children with terminal-illnesses convinced him to become a writer. Afterwards, he worked as a publishing assistant for Booklist, a book review journal.
He also began writing his debut Looking for Alaska. Eventually, he had his project completed and published by 2005. In 2006 he won the American Library Association’s Michael L. Printz Award.
Green quit his job at Booklist as a critic with the intention of working as a professional writer.
His success was achieved by publishing The Fault in Our Stars. It has now been adapted for the big-screen, released in June 2014. John Green’s works in collaboration with other writers include Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances (2008) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2010).

 

 

© Emily Insam – 1^st B Linguistic Lyceum

 

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