Book Review - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Rating: 10/10

Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young man who devised a way to give life to inanimate objects. He performed an experiment wherein he collected "materials," put them together, and gave life to a creature of gigantic stature and horrible features (it is sometimes referred to as "demon" or "ogre"). Upon waking up, Frankenstein realizes his mistake and fear engulfs his heart. It's a carefully crafted story that will thrill readers of all ages.

Now this is what real horror is all about! Mary Shelley delivers a great masterpiece of a book by showing the reader the human. Harold Bloom writes: "The greatest paradox and most astonishing achievement of Mary Shelley's novel is that the monster is more human than his creator." Thus, it is true. Actually, my awe shifts from Frankenstein to his creation. It's a powerful novel. What else is there to say?..

By the way, the monster in the book did not have screws. XD

January 6, 2010

6:23PM - It's been a beautiful day with a mixture of fortunate and unfortunate events. It seems very little is left of Emily's pen, though.

Perhaps the culprit is the fear I felt during our class for Kasaysayan 2. Our professor had announced that our first exam will take place on January, probably on the 25th. I was immediately seized with fear. My heart was beating so fast. I swear I was shaking in my seat. It was a horrible feeling, really. I'm pretty sure you have felt it before. Ah, the best way to illustrate is in this way:

"The old man with the familiar voice and odd gestures - the monster in my dreams. He haunts me; his words are poison spreading on my mind, ridding it of sanity. I am like the shinigami of my memory, cowering beneath the awesome power of one stronger than he. In a moment, he loses his grip on the sword and -

BAM! Fear envelops his soul, squeezing out all the good juices. It torments him endlessly, day in and day out. It does not let him go and tells him of impending doom and the most horrible failure. Yes, I am like he. I know his feeling. I must fight it, but I have grown weary from fretting and crying. I cannot - no, no longer - raise my sword, not even the scabbard would do. Another. Yes, another must fight for me. He will uphold my cause and help me stand. How romantic - like the knight that saves the damsel from the scaly reptile. How soothing. How lovely..."

I wrote those two paragraphs last Monday. I was so depressed then.

We watched a film for Linguistics 1. The subject matter is interesting enough but the images flashed on the screen and the sound quality was horribly troubling. It was very boring and not worth mentioning.

Ms. Mata cancelled classes because she is sick. I wish it would continue until Friday. (I am so sly sometimes, no?) I want to go home already.

I had to clean (really clean!) my room this afternoon. It's General Inspection day and all must be in order. I even swept the top of the bookshelf and tried to use the bunot on the floor. (I don't know if the bunot worked. I didn't see any difference. The floor was still red and shiny.) The bunot had something written on it: "May bunot kami!!" I laughed in my mind. It was amusing to see a coconut husk with something like that written on it! It's as if owning a bunot was a luxury... Oh, some may consider it a luxury, I think. No one ever hardly uses them anyway. Perhaps we'll see them in a museum someday...

I finally have my readings for Kasaysayan 2. It wasn't very thick - only 91 pages long. It was easy reading too, which is good. I had it ring bound for 35 pesos because the stapler wouldn't do. I hope I remember to bring it home this Friday...

It seems we won't be having classes for Linguistics 1 on January 22. That's quite fortunate. I'll be taking my Kasaysayan 2 exam during the afternoon on that date so that I won't have to go back to the dorm on January 24. It would be nice to spend some hours reviewing for the exam.

As I was walking to the Faculty Center, the acacia trees were sending down showers (it's a more romantic word for rain) of green and yellow. It was so lovely! I felt like I was walking in an Autumn path. I wish it was always like that...

For a moment, I thought it was going to rain. The sky was so overcast. But far away, I saw the glint of a white-and-green church, its tall steeples were shining wildly and standing proud. It was lovely to perceive so ethereal a view with a grayish sky as your background. It looks like Hope sending its rays to me...

Perhaps it was!

I played Sims 1 awhile ago. I had fun creating the Rosenmeyer, Montgomery, and Cruz families. They were awesome and their life stories were tragic and odd (spotted rabbits and a business tycoon who owned a company that manufactured plastic raincoats!). I'm looking forward to playing again, perhaps tomorrow night... There was one problem, though. The battery of my mouse has lost its power and I'm left with the uncooperative keyboard mouse. Ugh. I have to remember to bring a spare next time!

I've begun to read The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. It's fantastic, even with its lengthy descriptions that are quite unnecessary. I haven't finished the first chapter... Yet.

I MUST go now because I have to review for my exam tomorrow. I also have to tidy up my room more...