Synopsis
A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator. Includes illustrated notes throughout the text explaining the historical background of the story.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-06-01 | | Edition Description: | Reissue |
| Size | | Height: | 7.0 in | | Width: | 4.3 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 4.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
"I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion." A summer evenings ghost stories, lonely insomnia in a moonlit Alpines room, and a runaway imagination--fired by philosophical discussions with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley about science, galvanism, and the origins of life--conspired to produce for Marry Shelley this haunting night specter. By morning, it had become the germ of her Romantic masterpiece, Frankenstein. Written in 1816 when she was only nineteen, Mary Shelley's novel of "The Modern Prometheus" chillingly dramatized the dangerous potential of life begotten upon a laboratory table. A frightening creation myth for our own time, Frankenstein remains one of the greatest horror stories ever written and is an undisputed classic of its kind.
At this challenge, Mary Shelley began work on the 'ghost story' that was to evolve into the most celebrated horror novel in literary history. Frankenstein was published the next year and become the rage of London. In the generations since, the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created has been read by millions all over the world. It has inspired hundreds of imitations, but it has never been equaled for its masterful manipulation of the elements of horror and suspense.
Industry Reviews
"Out of that vampire-laden fug of gruesomeness known as the English Gothic Romance, only the forbidding acrid name of Frankenstein remains in general usage....Mary Shelley had courage, she was inspired. 'Frankenstein' has entertained, delighted and harrowed generations of readers to this day."
"...[T]he creation of the monster is essentially one of the horrors of birth, as young Mary, whose mother had died giving birth to her, and who was pregnant with a third foetus as she wrote 'Frankenstein', may have come to conceive it."
London Review of Books (09/19/1996)
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