Frankenstein

By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Book Overview

One of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World. Frankenstein is the most famous novel by Mary Shelley: a dark parable of science misused.

Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library, a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics bound in real cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. The novel is produced here in its original form and with an afterword by David Pinching.

Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but wayward scientist, builds a human from dead flesh. Horrified at what he has done, he abandons his creation. The hideous creature learns language and becomes civilized but society rejects him. Spurned, he seeks vengeance on his creator. So begins a cycle of destruction, with Frankenstein and his 'monster' pursuing each other to the extremes of nature until all vestiges of their humanity are lost. In 1831, Mary Shelley succumbed to conservative pressures and toned down elements of the work in a second version of the text, which is reproduced here.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1509827757
• ISBN13: 9781509827756
• Release Date: February 2017
• Publisher: MacMillan Collector's Library
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 3.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Still holds up

Just love this book, it truly speaks to how a toxic-male-dominated society can turn the kindest and gentlest creatures into evil, twisting their narratives out of their control.

Masterpiece

It’s hard to put into words how magnificent this story is. I found myself going back and forth between sympathy and scorn for Frankenstein while my heart breaks for the monster. Timeless classic

Not the Orignial

I was super dissapointed that this was not the original but more of a condensed children’s version. There’s nothing in the posting that would hint that this is not the original. I specifically typed in original unedited and to my surprise I was simply brought back to the book I had already bought. I will have to buy it from a separate website so I know that I’m getting the right one.

One of the best novels

If you’re reading Frankenstein, forget about the early films. Frankenstein’s man is an ocean of depth in an existential crisis. I find this book heartbreaking. Read it 3x and this novel has colored my thoughts from the first.

Frankenstein is a masterpiece

Frankenstein immediately became one of my favorite books of all time. Mary Shelley masterfully blurs the line of victim and villain. By the end I found my heart aching for the creature, wishing for him all that he was longing for. Simultaneously, we see Victor struggling mentally and emotionally with his creations existence. This book touches on so many important facets of human nature, good and bad.

Set the standard for what I consider to be a favorite

The writing style is so flowery and near poetic, reading Frankenstein felt like I was being serenaded by waves of emotions. Even if you "know" the ending or how events play out, this is a must read. Most reviews that I found online didn't have much depth compared to the book itself, mostly regarding that this book is solely a nature v nurture debate. If you read this in school PLEASE read it again as an adult with fresh eyes, I feel like a lot of details are not noticed or really understood by a still growing mind. This is easily my favorite book and I cannot even imagine a book that could be better than this. (Yes personal bias is very strong here)

To be born a monster

Frankenstein's greatest strength is the sympathy it pulls from you for its multiple characters, wether it's deserving or not.

a classic

cannot believe she was only 19 when she wrote. Literary genius.

Great story!

Read it back in school and it was so very interesting, read it again too.

Lovely!

The story itself is incredible but I’ll talk about the quality of the book. I received a charming little hardcover with crisp intact pages and even an attached ribbon bookmark. Mind wasn't precisely what the picture showed but I believe it to be an upgrade.

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