Product Description

Begun when the author was only eighteen and conceived from a nightmare, Frankenstein, is the deeply disturbing story of a monstrous creation which has terrified and chilled readers since its first publication in 1818. The novel has thus seared its way into the popular imagination while establishing itself as one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1919 in Books
• Published on: 1992-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Bernard Hirsch, University of Kansas
"...superb.... The introduction and appendices are particularly valuable ... accessible and illuminating."

Craig Keating, Langara College
"far better than any [other edition] on the market today"

About the Author
Mary Shelley was born in 1797, only daughter of William Godwin the philosopher and writer and Mary Wollstonecraft, the radical author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Her mother died a few days after her birth. In 1814 she left England with Percy Bysshe Shelley, and married him in 1816 on the death of his wife. She returned to England inn 1823 after her husband's death. Shelley is best remembered as the author of Frankenstein, but she wrote several other works including novels, biographies and short stories. She died in 1851.

Customer Reviews

Forget your preconceptions and read a classic.
THE STORY:
An intelligent and promising young student indulges a moment of thoughtless scientific passion and creates life. Horrified at himself, Victor Frankenstein shuns the creature and attempts to continue his life without thinking about it. The creature, however, is lost in an unkind world and he never stops thinking about Frankenstein.

WHAT'S GOOD:
Forget square-heads and green make-up, forget that dreadful modern remake with Kenneth Branagh and Robert DeNiro sit down and read one of the most remarkable science fiction stories ever written. It is basically about two men, Frankenstein and 'the wretch', who are so consumed by passion and pride that they are drawn ever further from the redemption that at times is tantalisingly close. These two men are all too easy to empathise with; Victor being a scientific genius but also scared witless by the horror he feels he has unleashed upon mankind and 'the wretch' (I can't honestly call him monster) who wants only to be loved but is so pained by his loneliness that he lashes out at others. Perhaps my favourite element of the book is the fact that the wretch reads 'Paradise Lost' and, having no concept of fiction, takes it all as complete truth, subtley warping his perception of reality.

WHAT'S BAD:
As with a lot of 19th century literature, this book can be ponderous at times, seeming to deliberately avoid getting on with the story. Also, like a lot of 19th century literature, this book is incredibly depressing. By the time you've read it, you'll be in no doubt that you've read a masterpiece, but you'll also be as miserable as sin.

Evocative creation of a mood of bleak despair
This is primarily a novel that sets out to create an atmosphere of fear, horror and despair and succeeds admirably in so doing. Mary Shelley must have had an appalling dream but she brought it to life in wonderful, evocative language and at such a young age (only 19 when she wrote the book). The monster is so different from the monster of the films. Here he is no lumbering, stupid brute, but an agile, resourceful and calculating creature who can and does conduct a deep and thoughtful dialogue with his creator when explaining his background story. But at the same time the monster carries out horrible murders of Frankenstein's nearest and dearest and these deaths are shocking when they happen. The science is almost non-existent and we never find out how Frankenstein creates the monster nor indeed what the monster really looks like other than being repulsively hideous. But that is not the purpose of the book, which is to set a mood and raise philosophical questions about the purpose of scientific discovery. And Mary Shelley does this brilliantly.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein:
Yes, since the story was written a while ago, the language and slowness do tend to become tiresome at times. However, the actual meaning of the story is quite important (especially because of who wrote it and when SHE wrote it.) This is a story about a "monster," no, a story of a living thing, innately good, who is MADE into a monster by his creator and the society in general. I beg you not read the story as a horror story, but as a truth about human-kind.