It's alive. Oh God, it's alive. Can a monster pray? What if one of those books was...
The creature invented by Mary Shelley was not the shambling mumbling monster from the movies (apologies to Mr. Karloff). Shelley's creature learned to reason and speak with his ear to the cabin wall of a family who lived in the woods. He learned to read when he discovered a leather satchel full of books in that same forest.