Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

by Mary Shelley

No cover — Mary Shelley: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Paperback, 2022, Union Square & Co.)

Paperback, 220 pages

English language

Published May 15, 2022 by Union Square & Co..

ISBN:: 978-1-4351-7144-2
Goodreads:: 56976162

(7 reviews)

Dr. Victor Frankenstein never considers the consequences of his obsession. In his zeal to understand and harness the secret of life, he neglects his family and friends, isolates himself from the world, and ignores his own health. For years, he labors to create a new race of intelligent beings. He spends his nights scrounging human and animal body parts from graveyards, slaughterhouses, and hospital dissection rooms. By day he experiments in his secret laboratory, learning from his mistakes and perfecting the creature who, he believes, will worship him as a god. But this hubris is not his sin.

When he succeeds, Frankenstein is horrified by the ugly brutishness of the patchwork being he has brought to life. Rather than exult in his accomplishment, he runs from it, retreating to the comfort of long-neglected friends and family. Frankenstein has, indeed, created a monster not by animating dead flesh but by abandoning …

106 editions

el dang reviewed Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

An unexpected pleasure

5 stars

I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.

There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to …

bunnyhero reviewed The essential Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Review of 'The essential Frankenstein' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

last time i read frankenstein was probably 20 years ago. rereading it now, i still love it. this heavily-annotated edition is great for a reread, but i wouldn't recommend it for a first-time reading (too distracting, and too spoilery). i learned a lot more about mary shelley and the context in which the book was written.

also of possible interest is that this edition is based on the original 1818 version of frankenstein. the annotations make note of where the more-widely-read 1831 edition differs significantly.

i have to admit that one of the reasons i like this book so much is that both frankenstein and his creature are so tortured and angsty about the act of creation and about one's own monstrous nature... etc etc. i dig it.

lovmelovmycats reviewed Frankenstein (Watermill Classic) by Mary Shelley

Review of 'Frankenstein (Watermill Classic)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

So bad it's good. It kept me amused all the way through with its ridiculousness. So emo! Someone read their Rousseau!
LOL at "uninhabited" South America. <3 the Arctic pursuit.