Frankenstein (Masterpiece Library Edition)

By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Book Overview

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has thrilled generations of readers for over two hundred years.

- Rediscover Mary Shelley's compelling masterwork in this elegant yet affordable Masterpiece Library Edition, honoring the Peter Pauper Press founders' tradition of publishing beautiful books.
- Deluxe, durably bound hardcover keepsake volume.
- Embossed cover with iridescent highlighting.
- Gold foil-stamped spine.
- Reinforced cloth quarter-binding for durability
- Premium acid-free archival-quality paper for longevity.
- Cream-color pages with font, type size, and line spacing chosen for a comfortable, luxurious reading experience, even under imperfect lighting.
- Comes with a matching satin ribbon bookmark with which to keep your place.
- A must-have for every home library.
- 220 pages.

English novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) wrote Frankenstein during a summer spent near Lake Geneva, Switzerland, with her betrothed, Percy Bysshe Shelley, her stepsister Claire Clairmont, poet George Gordon Byron, and Lord Byron's physician, John William Polidari. Inclement weather kept the group indoors and they challenged one another to create fantastic tales. Shelley's was the result of a haunting vision: ''I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together.''

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1441342133
• ISBN13: 9781441342133
• Release Date: September 2023
• Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
• Length: 219 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.9" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

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