In a bold and unusual move, we're kicking off the September theme of "Family and Society" for our 2019 Reading Challenge with a couple of reviews of stories about monsters.
Technically, to be, er, frank, they're actually two reviews of the same story about monsters. Tasch reviewed the original story, and Sharon reviewed an adaptation. Why? Because we can.
Natascha Kucurs read Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
You may be familiar with the plot of Frankenstein. Perhaps you've read it yourself, perhaps you've seen one of the many movies, or perhaps you've read a review of the book recently. The story of a man who made a monster who wanted to be loved (and went on a killing spree when his "father" wouldn't make him a "wife") is such a classic that it has been adapted many times.
One of the adaptations we happen to have is a graded reader in German.
"What's a graded reader?" I hear you ask, "Isn't it one of those books that have been dumbed down for slow readers?"
Nein! Tausandmal, nein!
Graded readers (also known as Language Learner Literature) are books that have been especially designed to fit within a certain reading level. Sometimes the reading level is in steps (e.g., level 1 is very simplified, level 12 is almost at the level of authentic texts), sometimes they're based on something like the Common European Framework. The levels are designed so that people who are learning to read a language can have a book that is within their range to help build up their reading "muscles". It really is a lot like lifting weights - you get the most improvement if you start with a weight you can just lift, and build up, rather than starting with weights that are far beyond your abilities.
This version of Frankenstein is written in a level of German suitable for learners at A1 Level in the CEF. If you've taken a semester or two of German lessons, you'll probably be able to read most of this book - and reading it will help you work on your fluency and give you a bit of a boost. Plus, you can listen to the CD to hear the words pronounced properly as you go.
You get the broad strokes of the original story and it's tale of dysfunctional families, and you also get some break-out sections talking about Mary Shelly, some of the locations mentioned in the book, monsters in books and movies...
We have graded readers in all of the main languages we teach at JCU (German, French, Italian, Japanese), so whether you are studying the languages as a subject or just for your own amusement, you should come and take a look.
Fiction-ish, 438.64 WER, Science Fiction (in the bonus challenge)
Technically, to be, er, frank, they're actually two reviews of the same story about monsters. Tasch reviewed the original story, and Sharon reviewed an adaptation. Why? Because we can.
Natascha Kucurs read Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
And here we have an Equinox inspired review. Equinox in more
ways than one as we make our way from Winter to Spring in the celestial realm and
from Science to Family in the more earthly reading challenge.
So what happens when science meets fiction meets family? Science
fiction with a dose of family you say. And how does the notion of reading something
like that make you feel? For the uninitiated it can appear a somewhat ‘alien’
genre (ha!), one which conjures images of space craft and dystopian worlds.
However, what science fiction really is, is a way of interpreting how actual or
imaginary scientific principles can influence our mortal way of life.
So enter Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, not a Dalek in
sight, albeit a bit of zombie action, and arguably the pioneering
science fiction text. An oldie but a goodie, Frankenstein really is Victorian
science at its best. First drafted in 1816, the story tells of a young doctor
(Victor Frankenstein) and his quest to create a monster made from parts of
corpses. When the resulting loveable monster inevitably realises he is a one
of a kind and destined to an existence of eternal unrequited love, things get a
little bit pear shaped. Our monster gets antsy and turns up the heat on his
creator to make him a girlfriend, one which he can love and make his own little
fam bam with.
The read has its feet planted in a couple of the eras’ most
intriguing scientific advances. Drowning as a reversible condition (aka
resuscitation) and electrophysiology (the study of electrical effects on
biological cells and tissue) are the principles on which Shelly bases this
macabre novella. Both fields under investigation in the decades prior, shared,
in that they were occupied with what really constituted life and death, #EthicsGoneWild!
As you can imagine the fear of then being buried alive grew, causing considerable
anxiety amongst the burgeoning bourgeoisie population and a niche market for safety
coffins, yep they were a thing!
Even though Shelly’s work prompted an article in the most
revered of scientific journals, Nature, debate still surrounds
her scientific sophistication. Was she really that well acquainted with the
medical science of her time? Shelley's personal journals apparently recorded a
pretty impressive reading list in the sciences, and she did grow up in the
company of scientists (as well as writers, poets and philosophers - thanks to
anarchist Dad, Willian Godwin, and feminist philosopher Mum, Mary Wollstonecraft).
Hubby to be, famous poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, was keen on keeping it in the
family as well, conjuring up a bit of amateur chemist action on the side (all while
trying not to be expelled from Oxford under suspicion of being a covet Atheist).
Whether family drama at a stretch or straight up science
fiction this read is not going anywhere soon having more than 90 dramatisations
in its wake. If you can cast your mind back to 1816, to a dark and stormy night
on the shores of Lake Geneva, when the novel was first conceived, in the
company of another sort of family (think Byron, and Percy Bysshe, Victorian
kinda Woodstock… another blog post entirely…) then you will surely be
spellbound by this read. I hope you find it as riveting as I did.
Author I haven't read before, Fiction, 820 SHELL
One of the adaptations we happen to have is a graded reader in German.
"What's a graded reader?" I hear you ask, "Isn't it one of those books that have been dumbed down for slow readers?"
Nein! Tausandmal, nein!
Graded readers (also known as Language Learner Literature) are books that have been especially designed to fit within a certain reading level. Sometimes the reading level is in steps (e.g., level 1 is very simplified, level 12 is almost at the level of authentic texts), sometimes they're based on something like the Common European Framework. The levels are designed so that people who are learning to read a language can have a book that is within their range to help build up their reading "muscles". It really is a lot like lifting weights - you get the most improvement if you start with a weight you can just lift, and build up, rather than starting with weights that are far beyond your abilities.
This version of Frankenstein is written in a level of German suitable for learners at A1 Level in the CEF. If you've taken a semester or two of German lessons, you'll probably be able to read most of this book - and reading it will help you work on your fluency and give you a bit of a boost. Plus, you can listen to the CD to hear the words pronounced properly as you go.
You get the broad strokes of the original story and it's tale of dysfunctional families, and you also get some break-out sections talking about Mary Shelly, some of the locations mentioned in the book, monsters in books and movies...
We have graded readers in all of the main languages we teach at JCU (German, French, Italian, Japanese), so whether you are studying the languages as a subject or just for your own amusement, you should come and take a look.
Fiction-ish, 438.64 WER, Science Fiction (in the bonus challenge)
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