Frankenstein

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Book Overview

This description may be from another edition of this product. Few creatures of horror have seized readers' imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster of Shelley's Frankenstein. The story of Victor Frankenstein's monstrous creation and the...

Customer Reviews

Must read for every teenager

I first read this book in high school and I fell in love. The story is cool it’s a story within a story within a story. It’s about how we treat each other and that what we say and what we do matters. The creature is not inherently a monster, but he struggles to fit in to society because of how he looks. Since no one shows him any kindness he becomes mean. As he says: If I cannot inspire love I will cause fear. The scariest part about the book is that it’s still relevant today. We still see people being terrible to each other and pushing people away because of the way they may look or their personality. This novel is well written and a must read for anyone in high school.

A classic novel exploring one man's psych and the meaning of being human

A classic of sy-fi, Frankenstein and his monster bring out everyone's good side and evil side. The book can be a bit hard to follow in the original old English, but nonetheless a great book. Victor Frankenstein is a complicated man and the lessons you'll gain from following him as he runs from his monster as well as the monster's hunt for humanity will keep you thinking days after.

great book...but why is it tagged in the 6-8yr old category??

Definitely a classic. I love this book. However, I am a little perplexed as to why it shows up on the first page of books when filtering for "Children's Classics" + "6-8yrs"

Gothic at its best

Mary Shelley was the daughter of the famous feminist and author, Mary Wollstonecraft, who is best known for her work The Vindication of the Rights of Women. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a young university student, Victor Frankenstein, obsesses with wanting to know the secret to life. He studies chemistry and natural philosophy with the goal of being able to create a human out of spare body parts. After months of constant work in his laboratory, Frankenstein attains his goal and brings his creation to life. Frankenstein is immediately overwrought by fear and remorse at the sight of his creation, a "monster." The next morning, he decides to destroy his creation but finds that the monster has escaped. The monster, unlike other humans, has no social preparation or education; thus, it is unequipped to take care of itself either physically or emotionally. The monster lives in the forest like an animal without knowledge of "self" or understanding of its surroundings. The monster happens upon a hut inhabited by a poor family and is able to find shelter in a shed adjacent to the hut. For several months, the monster starts to gain knowledge of human life by observing the daily life of the hut's inhabitants through a crack in the wall. The monster's education of language and letters begins when he listens to one of them learning the French language. During this period, the monster also learns of human society and comes to the realization that he is grotesque and alone in the world. Armed with his newfound ability to read, he reads three books that he found in a leather satchel in the woods. Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther, Milton's Paradise Lost, and a volume of Plutarch's Lives. The monster, not knowing any better, read these books thinking them to be facts about human history. From Plutarch's works, he learns of humankind's virtues. However, it is Paradise Lost that has a most interesting effect on the monster's understanding of self. The monster at first identifies with Adam, "I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence." The monster, armed only with his limited education, thought that he would introduce himself to the cottagers and depend on their virtue and benevolence; traits he believed from his readings that all humans possessed. However, soon after his first encounter with the cottagers, he is beaten and chased off because his ugliness frightens people. The monster is overwrought by a feeling of perplexity by this reaction, since he thought he would gain their trust and love, which he observed them generously give to each other on so many occasions. He receives further confirmation of how his ugliness repels people when, sometime later, he saves a young girl from drowning and the girl's father shoots at him because he is frightful to look at. The monster quickly realizes that the books really lied to him. He found no benevolence or virtue among humans, even from his creator. At every turn in his l

Very thorough look at Mary Shelley's original work.

This Norton Critical Edition makes an excellent value in literature. If you are a student of literature, this volume will help you gain a thorough knowledge of Mary Shelley's original text (lots of context and critical essays included), as well as editions that followed. It contains her original preface (supposedly much influenced by Percy) as well as her 1830 preface. If you do not know, Mary's monster is not the monster one finds in the movies, nor is Dr. Frankenstein. Further, if you have not read an edition other than the first, you don't know about the incest issue that is in the first edition, but not later editions. As you will find in reviews below, this is not a flawless novel, but it is a must read for any well-read person. What is rarely discussed is the influence of John Locke, whose Essay Concerning Human Understanding Mary Shelley read closely just prior to writing the novel. The influence of his work on hers is substantial. Read in the light of Romanticism's reaction to the Enlightenment and Locke et al gives one a completely different perspective for understanding the work. I think you'll find Mary's philosophy appropriately and interestingly feminine, without being feminist; another surprise, considering her lineage. Definitely a good read!

Classic Horror for Grown-ups

My wife and I listened to this unabridged recording on a long drive, and both of us enjoyed it. If your only exposure to Frankenstein is from the movies, this is a more adult horror/SF/morality tale. First there is no "Doctor" Frankenstein, no Igor, no castle, no electicity, no robbed evil brain, and the brute reads Milton. The "fiend" is sympathetic yet becomes truly wicked. Victor Frankenstein is painted in shades of gray too, and he almost deserves what he gets - although the rest of his family doesn't. The book starts and ends in the Arctic. Sounds like the movies?

praises for julian sands work

in my opinion julian sands did a superb job in making this audio tape, i admit i've been a great fan of his for a long time but he has a wonderful speaking voice and can really tell a story very very well. i highly recommend this audio tape to anyone who considers buying it.