Simplest-shop.comonline shopping, the simple way |
Welcome | Help  |
| Search for |
|
Home > Books > Subjects > Horror > Authors, A-Z > Frankenstein Penguin Classics
This website will be shutdown on 2008-04-01.
|
 Add to shopping cart |
Frankenstein (Penguin Classics) | |||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Penguin Classics Catalog: Book Release date: 2003-05-06 Media: Paperback Number of pages: 352 Ean: 9780141439471 Book Isbn: 0141439475  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
|
| |||||
| Top stores | Description | Price | Link to shop |
| amazon.com | Availability: in 24 hours | $8.00 | |
| used | 102 used offers, as low as... | $0.82 | see more used offers |
| all new | 67 thirdParty new offers, as low as... | $3.76 | see more ThirdParty new offers |
| collectible | 3 collectible offers, as low as... | $10.00 | see more collectible new offers |
| Professional Review: |
| Edited by Maurice Hindle. |
| User Reviews: |
 Written on February 28, 2007 Summary: One of the greatest stories ever told In Mary Shelley's novel, there are various statements about the use of science. The field of eugenics is brought into question. The issue of cloning is brought into perspective way before its time. Shelley's novel is prophetic in so many ways for revealing the debates and scientific issues of contemporary times. From the recent FDA consideration of livestock cloning to genetically engineered crops, these controversial issues have been compared to Frankenstein science. Other past scientific innovations such as the use of pesticides like DDT have led to failure and proved dangerous for human civilization. These too were once compared to Frankenstein science, yet humankind persisted on using these chemicals, all for reasons of convenience and capital ambition on the part of corporations involved. We may see Shelley's Frankenstein as the first great scientific warning to humans in an industrial world. It may also be seen as the beginning of environmental awareness. This awareness concerns humans within their own environments such as parent/child relationships and childhood influences, as well as human impact on nature. Written on January 31, 2007 Summary: A remarkably compelling novel. I was quite surprised at how much depth was really in this book. I had ideas of Frankenstein's monster from the movies and society, but those pathetic interpretations do not capture the true, sorrowful nature of the "daemon." I was genuinely moved by this tale: It is a story of light and dark; it is a story of gain and loss; it is a story of love and hate. When the creator becomes the hated, the created becomes the vengeful. I never expected this book to have such unique depth. Whatever you think you know about Frankenstein is just a poor transcription of this wonderful work by Mary Shelley. Written on December 16, 2006 Summary: 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 life, humans are judging him solely based on his looks. The monster soon realizes that it is not Adam, the perfect being enjoying the world, which he is most alike. Instead, he comes to realize that he most represents Satan. The monster is jealous of the happiness he sees humans enjoy that he has never attained for himself. The monster tells Frankenstein that he found his lab journal in his coat pocket and read it with increasing hate and despair as he came to understand what Frankenstein's intent was in creating him. The monster curses Frankenstein for making a creature so hideous that even his creator turned from him in disgust. Shelley's intent here is plain to see. "The fate of the monster suggests that proficiency in `the art of language' as he calls it, may not ensure one's position as a member of the `human kingdom." In a sense, she is showing that both her parents were mistaken when they advocated greater education reform for people. They thought education would make people better, which in turn would improve society for all. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein contradicts this belief. Starting with the full title of Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus one can instantly see that mythology was integral to her book. Lord Byron, poet and friend of the Shelley's was writing a poem entitled Prometheus, and Mary was reading the Prometheus legend in Aeschylus' works when she had a dream, which was the impetus for her book. The Greek god Prometheus, is known for two important tasks that he performed, he created man from clay, and he stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. The stealing of fire really angered Zeus because the giving of fire began an era of enlightenment for humankind. Zeus punished Prometheus by having him carried to a mountain, where an eagle would pick at his liver; it would grow back each day and the eagle would eat it again. The presence of fire and light in this gothic story helps to point to the similarities to Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the monster, in Shelley's book. The book uses light as a symbol of discovery, knowledge, and enlightenment. The natural world is full of hidden passages, and dark unknown scientific secrets; Victor's goal as a scientist is to grasp towards the light. Light is a by-product of fire that the monster learned quickly when he is living on his own. The monster experienced fires' duality when he first encountered it in an unattended fire in the woods. He is mesmerized by the fact that fire produces light in the darkness in the woods, but is shocked at the sensation of pain it gives him when he touches it. Victor is defiant of god in the same way that Prometheus was defiant of Zeus. Victor steals the secret of life from god and creates a human out of spare body parts. He does this out of an altruistic wish to spare humankind from the pain and suffering of death. Thus, Victor Frankenstein embodies both aspects of the Promethean myth creation and fire. Victor in a sense has the same experience with the fire of enlightenment similar to his monster; he is "burned" by the fire of enlightenment. Victor also suffers from the classic Greek tragic condition of hubris for his transgression against god and nature. The book also adopts two other great mythic legends. One is Adam from the Bible. Victor Frankenstein bears striking resemblance to Adam and his fall from grace for eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The other is Satan, a mythic figure that Shelley admired from her readings in Milton's book Paradise Lost. In an interesting juxtaposition of booth myths, she expands on the motif of the fall from grace in her book when she portrays the monster comparing himself to Adam; after he read, Milton's book Paradise Lost. The monster tells Victor, that he at first identifies with Adam God's first creation. "I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence." However, after several incidents of mistreatment that he suffered from the humans he encountered in his travels; the monster soon realized that it is not Adam, the perfect being enjoying the world, which he was most alike. Instead, he came to realize that he most represented Satan. The monster's feelings of hatred and despair stem from the fact that humans found him grotesque to look at and would not accept him as a member of human society. The monster cursed Victor for making a creature so hideous that even his creator turned from him in disgust. Thus, it is obvious for all to see that Shelley's Frankenstein is replete with mythological references and they are central to the plot. This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities. Recommended reading for anyone interested in history, psychology, philosophy, and literature. Written on November 21, 2006 Summary: Who is the real monster in this Book? I love this book! Frankenstein is created, and born into a world that cannot accept him. It is intelligently written, dark, and quick to read. Feeling compassion towards Frankenstein is a strange feeling....  Written on November 2, 2006 Summary: A "creative" novel! Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is recommended for anyone interested in contrasting the 'original' version of the story with the (mostly) better-known film versions from Universal and others. The novel is anything but a 'mad scientist' yarn, with a great deal of soul-searching from both the title character and his creation. As noted in other reviews, the language is the typically 'flowery' prose of the early 18th century, and there are several instance of paragraphs being restated just a few lines apart(presumably Shelley rewrote some paragraphs over the course of several years, without eliminating the originals). I thought there was a bit too much time spent on some of the minor supporting characters, all of whom seemed to have deep, complex backstories usually found in TV soap operas. Once Frankenstein and the monster finish their lengthy 'flashback sequence' storytelling, the action picks up, and the basic 'man vs. monster' conflict takes over, enhanced by each character trying to reconcile their actions with their own 'inner demons'. The scientific plausibility is questionable at best, and some may not like the less than clear-cut explanation behind Frankenstein's 'creative process'. I think the ambiguity can be set aside for the sake of an entertaining story. If you can make it through the middle chapters of the book(AKA, 'the bit with the family in the cottage'), you'll be won over by 'Frankenstein'. |
| Comparison map |
| Wondering how the book "Frankenstein (Penguin Classics)" relates to similar books? Find out at a glance here: |
| Price comparison |
 Frankenstein (Penguin Classics) |
 Dracula (Penguin Popular Classics) |
 Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) |
 Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library) |
 1984 (Signet Classics) |
 Brave New World |
| Our price | $8.00 | $3.72 | $4.95 | $5.99 | $9.99 | $11.16 |
| List price | $8.00 | $3.72 | $4.95 | $5.99 | $9.99 | $13.95 |
| Lowest used price | $0.82 | $0.50 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $1.95 | $4.75 |
| Lowest new price | $3.76 | $1.90 | $1.78 | $2.30 | $4.75 | $7.00 |
| Collectible price | $10.00 | - | $10.00 | $14.45 | $10.00 | $16.50 |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2003-05-06 | 2007-01-30 | 1983-12-01 | 2003-07-01 | 1961-01-01 | 2006-10-17 |
| Media | Paperback | Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Paperback |
| Number of pages | 352 | 448 | 352 | 272 | 268 | 288 |
| Ean | 9780141439471 | 9780140620634 | 9780553213102 | 9780743477109 | 9780451524935 | 9780060850524 |
| Book Isbn | 0141439475 | 014062063X | 0553213105 | 0743477103 | 0451524934 | 0060850523 |
| Link to shop* (opens in a new window) | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* |
| take one out? |
|
I am here: Home > Books > Subjects > Horror > Authors, A-Z > Frankenstein Penguin Classics
This website will be shutdown on 2008-04-01.
|
 E-mail this page |
|
About the Simplest Shop | Help | Term of Use | Privacy Policy
Home | Contact us | Bookmark us | get paid for writing |
|
Copyright Simplest-Shop.com 2004. All rights reserved |