Frankenstein Audiobook | Chapter 2

[Music] hello and welcome back we are in chapter 2 of Frankenstein we were brought up together there was not quite a year in difference in our ages I did not say that we were strangers to any species of disunion or dispute harmony was the soul of our companionship and the desire T diversity in the contrast that subsided and our characters drew us nearer together Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition but with all my ardour I was capable of a more intense application and was more deeply smitten with a thirst for knowledge she busied herself of following the aerial creations of the poets and in the majestic and wonder scenes which surrounded our Swiss home the sublime shapes of our mountains the changes of the seasons tempest and calm the silence of water and life and turbulence of our Alpine summers she found ample scope for admiration and delight while my companion contemplated with a serious and satisfied spirit the Magnificent appearing zuv things I delighted in the investigation of their causes the world was to me a secret which I desired to desire to divine curiosity earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature gladness akin dick raptures they were unfolded to me are among the earliest sensations I can remember on the birth of a second son my junior by seven years my parents gave up the entirely their wandering life and fixed themselves in the in their native country we possessed a house in Geneva and chimp and campagne on Bellerive the Eastern Shore of the lake of the distance of rather more than a league from the city we resided principally in the latter and the lives of my parents were passed in considerable seclusion for theirs my temper to avoid a crowd and to attach myself fervently to a few I was indifferent therefore to my school fellows in general but I United myself in the bonds of the closest friendship to one among them Henry Clerval was the son of a merchant of Geneva he was a boy of singular talent and fancy he loved enterprise hardship and even danger for some sake he was deeply read in books of chivalry and romance he composed heroic songs and began to write many a tale of enchantment and nightly adventure he tried to make us Peck act plays and enter the masquerades in which the characters were drawn from the heroes of romance of all's of the round table of King Arthur and the chivalrous train who shed their blood to redeem the holy sepulcher from the hands of the Envia infidels no human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself my parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence we felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our a lot according to their Caprice but with the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed when I mingled with other families I distinctly discerned how peculiar fortunate my lot was and gratitude assisted in the development of failure love my temper was sometimes violent and my passions for he meant but by some laws and my temperature they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to eager desire to learn and not to learn all things indiscriminately I confess that neither the structure of languages nor the code of governments nor the politics of various states possessed attractions for me was the secrets of the heavens and earth that I desired to learn and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical or in the highest sense the physical secrets of the world meanwhile Clerval occupied himself so to speak with the moral relations of things the busy stages of life the virtues of Heroes and the actions of men were his theme and as hope in his dream was to become one among those whose names are recorded in history is a gallant and adventurous benefactor of our species a saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like the shrine dedicated lamp in our peaceful home her sympathy was ours her smile her soft voice and the sweet glance to her Celeste realized were never there to bless and animate us she was a living spirit of love to soften and attract I might have also I might have become sullen in my study rough through the ardor of my nature but that she was there to subdue me in the semblance of her own gentleness and Clerval cannot could ought to ill entrench all the know the spirit of Clerval yet he might not have been so perfectly inhumane as thought as thoughtful in his generosity so full of kindness and tenderness amidst his passion for adventurous exploit had she not unfolded to him is the real loveliness of benevolence and made the doing good the end of the aim of this his soaring ambition I felt exquisite pleasure and dwelling on the recollections of childhood before misfortune had tainted my mind and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon itself besides in drawing the picture of my early days I also record those events which led by insensible steps to my after tale of misery for when I would eager account for myself for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled my destiny I find it a rise like a mountain river from ignoble and almost forgotten sources but swelling as a proceeded it became the torrents which in its course has swept a bit away all my hopes and joys natural philosophy is genius that has regulated my fate I desired therefore in this narration state those facts which led to my patel occasion for that science when I was 13 years of age we all went on a party of pleasure to the baths near thought phonin the inclement inclemency of the weather obliged us to remain a day confined to the inn in this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa I opened it with apathy the theory with which lie attempts to demonstrate and wonderful facts which he relates soon changed his feelings to enthusiasm a new light seemed to dawn upon my mind and bounding with joy I communicated my discovery to my father my father looked carelessly at the title pages of my book and said ah cornelius agrippa My dear Victor do not waste your time upon this it is sad trash if instead of this remark my father had taken to the pains to explain to me the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded and the modern system of science had been introduced which possessed a much greater power than the ancient because the powers of the latter were chimerical by those of the former were real and practical under the circumstances I could certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my warmed as it was by returning with greater ardor to my former studies it is even possible that the Train of my ideas would never receive that fatal impulse that led to my ruin but the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted with the contents and I continued to read with the greatest avidity when I returned home my first care was to procure the whole works of his author and after words of correct oh wow press Celsus and Albertus Magnus I read and study in the wild fancies of these writers with the light as they appeared to me treasures known to a few besides myself I've described myself as always having been imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature in spite of this intense labour and wonderful discoveries of modern philosophers I always came from my studies discontented and unsatisfied Sir Isaac Newton is said to have on a vowed that he felt like a child picking up shells beside the Great and unexplored ocean of truth those of his successors in each branch of natural philosophy with whom I was acquainted appeared even to my boys apprehensions as Tyros engaged in the same pursuit the untaught peasant beheld the elements around him and was acquainted with their practical uses the most learn of the loss for a new little more he had particularly unveiled the face of nature but him her immoral liniments were still a wonder in a mystery he might detect and I'm intent and an inanimate eyes given names but not to speak for a final final cause causes and their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him I gazed upon the fortifications and pediments that seemed to keep human beings from entering the Citadel of nature and rashly and ignorantly I had repined but here were books and there were men who had penetrated deeper and no more than I knew took their word for all that they heard and I became their disciple Jesus he may appear strange that such should arise the 18th century but which I followed the routine of education in the schools of Geneva I was to a great degree self-taught with regard to my favorite studies my father was not scientific and I was left to struggle with a child's blindness added to a student's thirst for knowledge under the guidance from my new preceptors I entered with the greatest diligence into the search for the Philosopher's Stone and the elixir of life but the latter soon obtained my undivided attention wealth was an inferior object but what glory could attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death nor worthy is my only visions the raising of ghosts or Devils was a promise liberally accorded to my favorite authors the fulfillment of which I almost are most eagerly sought and if my incantations were always successful I attributed to the failure rather than my own experience and a mistake then too I want of skill or fidelity and my instructors in thus for a time I was occupied by exploding systems mingling like an unadapted actory theories and floundering just desperately in a sloth of multifarious knowledge guided by the ardent imagination and childish reasonings till an accident again changed the current of my taught ideas and I was about 15 years old we had to retire to our house near Belle Reve when we witnessed a most violent and terrible thunderstorm it advanced from behind the mountains of Jura and the Thunder burst at once with a frightful loudness from various quarters of the heavens I remained while the storm lasted watching us progress with curiosity and delight as I stood at the door on a sudden on a sudden I be killed a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about 20 yards from our house and so soon as a dazzling light vanished though had disappeared and nothing remained by a blatte but a blasted stump when we visited the next morning we found the tree shattered in a singular manner it was not splintered by shock but entirely reduced with thin ribbons of one wood I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed before this I was not on acquainted with the more obvious laws of electricity on this occasion a man of great search natural philosophy was with us and excited by his catastrophe and he answered on the explanation of a theory which he had have formed on the subject of electricity in galvanism which was at once new and astonishing to me all that he had said through greatly into the shade Cornelius Agrippa Albertus Magnus and throughout oculus and what doesn't matter the Lord is my imagination but by some fatality the overthrow of these men - disinclined me to pursue in a custom studies it seemed to me that if nothing would or ever could be known all that had so long engaged my attention suddenly grew despicable by one of these caprices of the mind which we are perhaps the most subject to an early youth I once gave up my former occupation set down natural history in all its progress II and deformed and abhorred of creation and entertained the greatest disdain for the would-be science which would could never even step within the threshold of real knowledge in this mood of mine of it took myself into the mathematics and branches of studying study a pertaining to that science as being built upon secured foundations and so worthy of my consideration the strange they are souls constructed by such slight ligaments we are bound to prosperity or ruin when I look back it seems to me as if this most miraculous change of inclination and will was the immediate suggestion of the guardian angel of my life the last effort made by the spirit of preservation to avert the storm that was even then hanging in the stars and ready to envelop me her victory was announced by a new unusual tranquility and gladness of soul which followed the relinquishes of my ancient and latterly tormenting studies it was thus that I was taught to associate evil with their prosecution happiness with their disregard it was a strong effort of spirit of good but it was ineffectual destiny was too potent and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction and that is the end of chapter 2 and as I have learned with chapter one and two that this book will continue to be incredibly confusing and difficult to say out loud because of the weird use of language that's done here it's almost intentionally difficult so I will analyze this for you and break down exactly what happened in this chapter our main character Victor here is talking about Elizabeth and his friends whose name we also learned and I have immediately forgotten because he was only briefly mentioned [Music] Henry Clerval Henry Clerval was his friend Henry Clerval we learn is into Knights and nobility and he wants to go down in history as being somebody who is really noble basically he just wants to be associated with something good and great and chivalrous and so that's his goal in life and he's a good friends with Victor as a kid he's actually his only friend Victor's only friends as a kid and of course Elizabeth this is other friends and they're very very close and so she's seen this is very soft and very beautiful person who will always support and always be there to round off any of the roughness in life so if you're really really struggling with something she'll be there to be the helping hand and be like it's okay you're gonna figure it out it's gonna be all right and so that's kind of that introductory part there and so our main character Victor when he's younger discovers this writer this author who talks about alchemy basically and he brings it up to his dad and if you don't know alchemy is the basically turning using the Philosopher's Stone there's a lot of it too if you know Harry Potter to obtain eternal life and convert metal into gold that's basically what alchemy is I don't think he cares about the metal of gold part I think he likes the idea that there's something that can make people immortal something that can make people not die from sickness or old age but it can only die if they die from a violent death and he's like I would like for us not to die of stupid things I want us to only die if it's completely out of the blue and unpredictable I want people to be able to live their lives as best they can as carefully as they can and never die so he's like that's a cool pursuit to go after and so he's really interested in that he's reading through it and he brings up this book to his dad and he's like oh look here's an alchemy thing and his dad rather than saying Oh alchemy was disproven like it's completely nonsense like Natural Sciences and everything discovered kind of contradicts everything that said instead of saying that he's like nah that's dumb and so he said that and that made Victor think oh my dad just doesn't know anything about it and so he gets really interested rather than being turned away and he says here that all of the gloominess all the terrible things could have been averted if his dad had said oh all this had been disproven but instead his dad just dismissed it immediately which made him want to dig more into it and so he digs into it he spends all this time like trying to figure it out and he's reading different contradicting theories from all these crazy people that were looking at now alchemy and of course none of them are correct because all of them are just kind of biessing and trying to figure their way through it and they never do and so he's like I'm not really getting anywhere here and then all of a sudden one day is a big lightning storm and lightning strikes an oak in his front yard and it blows up the oak just boom lightning strikes and blows up the tree in his front yard and somebody who's versed in knowledge and all that stuff and electricity says oh this is electricity it's the power it has to galvanize stuff and blow up the tree and so our main characters like well screw all the things that the alchemy has been going through because they obviously didn't know what they're talking about the science things the way to go now he's not dismissing the idea of trying to make people live forever which he picked up from reading the alchemy he is dismissing the way that they were approaching the issue if his dad had turned him away that black early on he would never have gotten interested in trying to make people live forever he never would have gone into that prevention of death thing instead he would have gone along down the scientific route but instead since he went down this dip in alchemy and then came back to science because he diverted away from science at first and then came back to science because of that now he's going to try and commit technology using actual laws of nature and actual experimental data to try and follow these pursuits that the alchemists had previously tried to use basically magic for which doesn't exist and so that's where we kind of leave off the chapter here it's telling us that if fate tried to steer him away from the alchemy path by saying look science lightning that's what it's arguing in the end here is look lightning science and he's like oh this is trying to correct my path and get me away from alchemy but in reality all it did was push him closer to achieving this in reality which is what we're assuming is going to happen but we no yet so I think that's everything maybe I said it a little confusingly but I'm better than the book right so thank you for joining me if you have any questions drop them down below as always we can discuss it and figure everything out thank you and goodbye [Music]

Channel: Micah Reads

Views: 1,333

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: frankenstein, audiobook, Mary Shelley, shelly, mary, book, reading, out loud, help, summary, high quality, hd, hq, full, complete

Id: lkVQMkcXcbM

Length: 18min 3sec (1083 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 22 2019