North London Reading Group

I was about or nine or ten, nearing the end of junior school and had chosen Shelley’s Frankenstein, among others, for my holiday reading – even then so much thought went into what to read while I had time off (I’m currently planning my reading for Christmas 2015).

Christmas for me brought books, and new and shiny books with their lovely smell might well trump the library books I’d borrowed – perhaps this is a factor as to what spurred me on to finish the book in a 24-hour period.

From the start, I was gripped. I started the book in the morning and got dragged out to do last minute Christmas stuff with my family, my one focus was getting back to my bedroom and curling up with my book (so little has changed). On the pretext of being ‘good’ and going to bed early – always useful in front of your younger brother who still believes – I was in bed with my book much earlier than the norm.

Lights were dutifully turned off for the parental good night and surreptitiously switched back on so I could keep reading.

What a tale. Science – creating a person and then the horrible misunderstanding that unfolds as Frankenstein’s monster seeks companionship and finds that his appearance merely terrifies people. Igor is the ultimate misfit and I cried as I read on. The least scary monster in history illustrates the abyss of loneliness.

With the silence of the small hours and the excitement of tomorrow I finished the book and, for me, it will be forever inextricably linked with Christmas (perhaps the snowy scenes add to my Christmassy associations).

This week sees the launch of the film Victor Frankenstein, with a star studded cast including Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy. Apparently, it had a poor opening weekend in the States and, according to CinemaBlend, would have been better released around Hallowe’en.

How wrong. There is nothing remotely frightening about Frankenstein’s monster. Shelley’s novel explores being different and the reaction of the majority to the odd one out; rejection when you reach out. As a child it had me in tears and I’ve re-read Shelley’s monster masterpiece several times since, always having my heartstrings tugged. I’ll see the film but, most important of all, I’m going to pick up a new copy of Frankenstein at the Reading Group’s Christmas shopping trip to Waterstones and get myself in a festive mood with a long overdue re-read on the night before Christmas.