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[personal profile] lydamorehouse
 It is Wednesday, right?

Having Shawn's surgery cancelled has thrown a wrench into so much, including my sense of time. Also, things that were off are suddenly possible again--including the possibility that I could attend part of ConFABulous this weekend. I do have a membership, so maybe I will stop by, but probably the smartest course of action is just to stay close to home and regroup.

But, it's reading day and I have a few things to report. First of all, I'm listening to the audiobook of Frankenstein for Mona Lisa Overpod's Halloween episode. I'm probably halfway through?  I think I reported last week or whenever I last talked about this book that I was pretty certain that I must have read it for my English degree. Nope. No way. I would have remembered how young Victor Frankenstein was when he created his monster. He's in his second year of university. (This man never completed his doctorate, by the way. Unless he goes back to school before the end of the book, there's no way.) So, what, like nineteen? Anyway, you can tell. Victor is not good at adulting. His solution to creating a monster in the backroom laboratory of his apartment is to freak out, lock the door, and run out into the street and have a panic attack for a couple of days while wandering in the rand, LITERALLY hoping that the problem will solve itself. 

Which it sort of does?

In another scene that had me imagining a hilariously panicked young adult, Victor runs into his pal Henry Cavill (it's actually Clerval, but the reader's pronunciation has imagining Superman) who has finally managed to get his father to agree to send him to university, that same day the monster was created and Victor is all, like, "Uh, my apartment? mmmm, yeah, I GUESS we could go back there..." and is very sus and runs up to check the place out before letting Henry come in. Discovering the monster gone, he's like "WHELP, disaster averted!"

And, I don't know why, but this whole thing reads to me like something I'd read on Tumblr, you know? Or an AITA post. "Created the Philosopher's Stone, but Now I Can't Go Back to My Apartment: AITA?"

This is the other thing I swear to god no one remembers about this book. Victor Frankenstein created the philosopher's stone very explicitly. It's all over the beginning when he nearly quits university in a huff because the ugly Natural History professor tells him that alchemy is an "exploded" science (as in debunked) and only idiots waste their time studying it. Victor's like, "Okay, but you smell," and huffs off to his rented apartment determined to sulk. Except he gets bored and decides to attend a lecture by a much more handsome chemistry professor who, unprompted says that chemistry has the old alchemists to thank for its existence and so Victor is like, "THIS. This is for me." But, it's really only because this new chemistry prof is cool with him continuing to be the reigning expert in alchemy (despite explaining kindly that the science has moved on from trying to change lead to gold) that Victor even stays at university.  Meanwhile, Victor continues to be obsessed with breaking the law, as Edward Elric might say, of equivalent exchange. And... has some successes making the spark of life from nothing! No one also told me that Victor apparently broke the code earlier and decides to move on from reanimated... (what? It's not said, but I am totally imagining a reanimated mouse running around his apartment lab)... "successes" to building a human.

No stitching required! Instead, Victor gathers parts for his creature from the usual places... and the Butcher's. I had hither to NOT imagined Frankenstein's creature being part "rack of lamb." But, apparently so!  Also, it's implied once the philosopher's stone (which is possibly just a formula? He won't tell us, because of course he doesn't want anyone to use this malicious and dreadful art) is applied the creatures body basically knits itself together. 

Very, very different from all the Hollywood and other versions I've seen!  But also something I'd love to actually see dramatized. Like, Victor is just letting the body percolate with the magical science of the philosopher's stone when it opens its glassy eyes and reaches for him.

I am loving this book so far. Who knew it was so weirdly relatable?

But, you all have read this before so it's not news. I feel a bit like Captain America waking up 90 years later saying, "Guys! Have you seen this thing called a TELEVISION! It's so cool!"

Otherwise, I also read a pretty cool manga called Dogma. But, I feel like I should tell you about that next Wednesday.

So, my usual question to you all: read anything NEARLY AS COOL AS FRANKENSTIEN lately?? 
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