Frankenstein (chapters 1-4)

I am reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelly instead of the Odyssey, so I will first give a summary of the first four chapters and the prologue.

In the prologue, a man named Mr. Walton embarked on a trip across the ocean to the north pole in order to study magnetism - against his father's dying wishes. Walton first saw a massive figure on a dogsled - I am assuming this person was the monster - then later rescued a man who had been following the creature. The stranger came with Mr. Walton on the voyage, and this man told Walton his story.
The man's name is Victor Frankenstein. His father and his mother, Caroline, adopted a girl from an impoverished family. Her name is Elizabeth, and Victor loves her dearly as a sister. Elizabeth had a positive influence on the personalities of both Victor and his best friend, Clerval.
Victor became extremely interested in outdated, fantastical theories of alchemy when he was a teenager. He believed these writings as true science. Later, a scientist happened to be visiting the Frankenstein family during a thunderstorm. He explained electrical theories to Victor, who then transferred his interest from alchemy to mathematics.
When Victor was seventeen years old, his mother died of scarlet fever. He went to a university soon after, despite his depression. He was then alone, having left his friends and family.
He heard a professor, Mr. Waldman, speak. The teacher convinced him that the alchemists were geniuses who contributed to mankind; they had just been wrong on some counts. Mr. Waldman also gave Victor the use of lab equipment. Victor was convinced to return to his previous studies, as well as chemistry. He became and exemplary student, but ignored his family.
Victor became intrigued by anatomy and the cause of life. To determine this cause, he studied death and corpses. This morbid interest eventually lead him to discovering how to make the dead live.
He began gathering body parts to build an over-sized human being. After almost two years of toiling, he nearly finished, though he neglected his family and his health.

I like Mary Shelly's writing style. The plot progresses in a very thoughtful manner. It is not jumbled and extremely fast-paced as many horror stories are today. The circumstances started out as normal, then became more supernatural. Also, there isn't just one turning point that influences Victor Frankenstein; there is a series of events that lead up to him becoming a 'mad scientist'. A lot of the mood is created by Mary Shelly's use of the element of suspense. I enjoy the foreboding tone of the book.

The author also did a great job of not only relying on the story line to capture readers' attention; though the monster is a large part of the book, the main aspect is merely about Frankenstein's development as a character. He gains depth and personality as his thoughts, reactions, and feelings are described. His journey leading up to the monster's creation, for instance, is composed of his decisions. His interest in science causes him to choose to avidly pursue these studies while neglecting his relationships - even though the obsession takes a toll on his health - and eventually is determined to become "capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter". Also, though he always craved knowledge, he first had a misconception of reality, then wished to understand the unknowable. The story seems to tell of his moral decline as a person when he conducts dark experiments. Lastly, I thought it interesting that the narrator is an older Frankenstein who now sees the error of his ways.