Mim/Mom: Of Bodies, the Fall, and Frankenstein's Monster

In October I read two of the books I'd hoped to read: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), and The Body Snatcher (Robert Louis Stevenson). They were sufficiently creepy and suspenseful! I especially enjoyed the literacy of both authors--their ability to express things clearly and beautifully. I was unprepared for all the symbolism in Frankenstein--all the implicit comparisons to the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall. (Where have I been?) It was fun to be aware of the 1816 prevailing thought regarding the Fall, and to see how the Monster was a modern Prometheus who created a great dilemma for his creator (as Adam and Eve supposedly ruined things for God). Actually I've had a chance to comment on the importance of the Fall, both in our Relief Society book group full of nonmember friends (regarding the book Frankenstein) and in Protestant Women of the Chapel groups.

Here's a Halloweeny passage from Frankenstein. Most of this is actually a quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:

Like one who on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread."

The Body Snatcher is only 16 pages long in my little Dover Thrift Edition, and it's a really fun short story when you don't have time for anything long. Based of the reality of medical students using cadavers for their studies, and the possibility of actually recognizing a cadaver in class . . . Did you know Mary Shelley never really spells out how Dr. Frankenstein got the parts for his monster(s)? But everyone assumes it was "bodysnatching." I like Stevenson (Treasure Island, Kidnapped, etc.). Both of these books had the effect of making me want to write more, and to read lots of well-written stories!

For November I'm going to watch a biographical DVD instead of reading a book. I've ordered Paradise Lost: The Life and Times of John Milton from Amazon. (More Adam-and-Eve stuff, actually.) With my being at an overseas military address, the DVD may not get here till December so my "report" will lag behind. I didn't find the book about Milton that I was looking for, so the DVD will be better than a book this month.

Besides, I need extra time for another book I'm supposed to be reading for our Relief Society book group. We chose a Military category for November (and Veterans' Day), so I'm going to read If You Survive (George Wilson). As I was telling Rae H, this is a book Maddie actually picked up off the Recommended Military Reading shelf, of all places. She knew nothing about it, but it looked interesting and then she just devoured it! And Blake stayed up most or all of one night reading it himself. (He has an endearing habit of snitching our books and reading them during the same time we're reading them.)

Happy Thanksgiving to All!