Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus

Publisher Marketing: Unabridged & Original version with all 362 pages Includes: 15 Illustrations and Biography Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley about the young student of science Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France in 1823. Shelley had travelled through Europe in 1814, journeying along the river Rhine in Germany with a stop in Gernsheim which is just 17 km (10 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where, two centuries before, an alchemist was engaged in experiments. Later, she travelled in the region of Geneva (Switzerland)-where much of the story takes place-and the topics of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband, Percy Shelley. Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the story within the novel. Frankenstein is infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. Brian Aldiss has argued that it should be considered the first true science fiction story, because unlike in previous stories with fantastical elements resembling those of later science fiction, the central character "makes a deliberate decision" and "turns to modern experiments in the laboratory" to achieve fantastic results. It has had a considerable influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films, and plays. Since publication of the novel, the name "Frankenstein" is often used to refer to the monster itself, as is done in the stage adaptation by Peggy Webling. This usage is sometimes considered erroneous, but usage commentators regard the monster sense of "Frankenstein" as well-established and an acceptable usage.] In the novel, the monster is identified via words such as "creature," "monster," "fiend," "wretch," "vile insect," "demon," "being," and "it." Speaking to Victor Frankenstein, the monster refers to himself as "the Adam of your labours," and elsewhere as someone who "would have" been "your Adam," but is instead "your fallen angel." Review Citations: New York Times 10/18/1998 pg. 30 (EAN 9780670878017, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1999 pg. 307 (EAN 9780670878017, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/1999 pg. 307 (EAN 9780670878017, Paperback) School Library Journal 10/01/1998 (EAN 9780670878017, Paperback) Booklist 09/01/1998 pg. 111 (EAN 9780670878000, Hardcover) School Library Journal 10/01/1998 pg. 146 (EAN 9780670878000, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1999 pg. 307 (EAN 9780670878000, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/1999 pg. 307 (EAN 9780670878000, Hardcover) Booklist 09/01/1998 pg. 120 (EAN 9780192790200, Board Books) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1998 pg. 322 (EAN 9780192790200, Board Books) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/1998 (EAN 9780192790200, Board Books) School Library Journal 03/01/2009 pg. 171 (EAN 9780764160578, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2009 pg. 82 (EAN 9780764160578, Hardcover) School Library Journal 05/01/2008 pg. 154 (EAN 9781602700598, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 10/01/2008 pg. 342 (EAN 9781602700598, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2008 pg. 342 (EAN 9781602700598, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 10/01/2008 pg. 347 (EAN 9781402743382, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2008 pg. 347 (EAN 9781402743382, Hardcover) Kliatt 11/01/2006 pg. 57 (EAN 9781594835520, Compact Disc) Booklist 03/15/2005 pg. 1304 (EAN 9780142404072, Paperback) Voice of Youth Advocates 08/01/2005 pg. 214 (EAN 9780142404072, Paperback) Kliatt 09/01/2005 pg. 30 (EAN 9780142404072, Paperback) School Library Journal 09/01/2005 pg. 241 (EAN 9780142404072, Paperback) Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2005 pg. 291 (EAN 9780142404072, Paperback) Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2009 pg. 411 (EAN 9780142404072, Paperback) School Library Journal 08/01/1998 (EAN 9781556855528, Analog Audio Cassette) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 845 (EAN 9780679409991, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 814 (EAN 9780679409991, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 835 (EAN 9780679409991, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 1055 (EAN 9780679409991, Hardcover) Booklist 01/01/2015 pg. 63 (EAN 9781496500090, Hardcover) Booklist 01/01/2015 pg. 63 (EAN 9781496500281, Paperback) School Library Journal 05/01/1999 (EAN 9781569945131, Analog Audio Cassette) Library Journal 11/15/1994 pg. 93 (EAN 9780451183774, Mass Market Paperbound) Publishers Weekly 01/02/2012 (EAN 9781843794493, Compact Disc) Library Journal 02/15/2012 pg. 67 (EAN 9781843794493, Compact Disc) - *Starred Review Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2006 pg. 64 (EAN 9780394848273, Paperback) Newsweek 09/14/2009 pg. 62 (EAN 9780394848273, Paperback) Entertainment Weekly 07/05/2013 pg. 102 (EAN 9780394848273, Paperback) New York Times Book Review 10/26/2008 pg. 12 (EAN 9780393964585, Paperback) Chronicle of Higher Education 11/07/2008 pg. 12 (EAN 9780393964585, Paperback) Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2010 (EAN 9789380028248, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2010 pg. 337 (EAN 9781602707054, Library Binding) Contributor Bio:  Shelley, Mary Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the only daughter of writers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, and wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, is the critically acclaimed author of Frankenstein, Valperga, and The Last Man, in addition to many other works. Mary Shelley s writings reflect and were influenced by a number of literary traditions including Gothic and Romantic ideals, and Frankenstein is widely regarded as the first modern work of science fiction. Today s scholarship of Mary Shelley s writings reveal her to be a political radical, as demonstrated though recurring themes of cooperation and sympathy, particularly among women, in her work, which are in direct conflict with the individual Romantic ideals of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.