Frankenstein (DK Classics)

By Mary Shelley

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, and a silk ribbon bookmark.

What you create can destroy you...

While navigating the Arctic, the captain of a ship rescues a man wandering near death across the ice caps. How the man got there reveals itself in a story of ambition, murder, and revenge. As a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein pushed moral boundaries in order to cross the final frontier and create life. But his creation is a monster stitched together from grave-plundered body parts who has no place in the world, and his existence can only lead to tragedy.

This hardback is part of DK CLASSICS, a luxurious series of classic titles, thoughtfully crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Each complete, unabridged book features sumptuous design and the highest quality finishes. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DYTB7KSJ
• ISBN13: 9798217136520
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

“Cursed, cursed creator!” - the Creature echoes

Victor grew up reading the works of Paracelsus, Agrippa, and Albertus Magnus, the alchemists of the time. Toss in a little natural philosophy (sciences) and you have the making of a monster. Or at least a being that, after being spurned for looking ugly, becomes ugly. So, for revenge, the creature decides that unless Victor makes another (female this time) creature, Victor will also suffer the loss of friends and relatives. What is Victor to do? Bow to the wishes and needs of his creation? Or challenge it to “the death”? What would you do? Although the concept of the monster is good, and the conflicts of the story are well thought out, Shelly suffers from the writing style of the time. Many people do not finish the book as the language is stilted and verbose, for example, when was the last time you said, "Little did I then expect the calamity that was in a few moments to overwhelm me and extinguish in horror and despair all fear of ignominy of death." Much of the book seems like filler for a travel log. More time is spent describing the surroundings of Europe than the reason for traveling or just traveling. Many writers use traveling to reflect time passing or the character growing in stature or knowledge. In this story, they just travel a lot. This book is worth plodding through for moviegoers. The record needs to be set straight. The first shock is that the creator is named Victor Frankenstein; the creature is referred to as a "monster", not Frankenstein. It is Victor who is backward, which enables him to do the impossible by not knowing any better. The monster is well-read in "Sorrows of a Young Werther," "Paradise Lost," and Plutarch's "Lives." The debate (mixed with a few murders) rages on as to whether the monster was doing evil because of his nature or because he was spurned.