Frankenstein, loved by many decades of readers and praised by such eminent literary critics as Harold Bloom, seems hardly to need a recommendation. If you haven't read it recently, though, you may not remember the sweeping force of the prose, the grotesque, surreal imagery, and the multilayered doppelgänger themes of Mary Shelley's masterpiece. As fantasy writer Jane Yolen writes of this (the reviewer's favorite) edition, "The strong black and whites of the main text [illustrations] are dark and brooding, with unremitting shadows and stark contrasts. But the central conversation with the monster--who owes nothing to the overused movie image … but is rather the novel's charnel-house composite--is where [Barry] Moser's illustrations show their greatest power ... The viewer can all but smell the powerful stench of the monster's breath as its words spill out across the page. Strong book-making for one of the world's strongest and most remarkable books." Includes an illuminating afterword by Joyce Carol Oates.


From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-Full-color drawings, photographs, and reproductions with extended captions have been added to the unedited text of Shelley's novel, thus placing the work in the context of the era in which it was written. The artwork faithfully represents the text and makes this edition appealing to reluctant readers. Unfortunately, many of the captions provide tangential information that, although interesting, interrupts the flow of the story. However, readers will quickly learn that it is not necessary to read every caption and appreciate this volume for its many quality illustrations.Michele Snyder, Chappaqua Public Library, NYCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
With so many poor adaptations of Mary Shelley's classic work in all forms of media, it's refreshing to come across a production that retains the quality, premise, and themes of the original book. As the title and principal character, Dr. Frankenstein has an affected voice that suits his tragically ambitious character. The supporting cast works well in a full range of emotions. The script and vocal characterizations de-emphasize Shelley's vision of an intelligent and cunning monster, but this is a quibble. This production is a boon for students new to the book, teachers looking for supplemental classroom materials, and fans of classic literature. A.F. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Gr. 8^-12. Part of the Whole Story series, this is the full text of Mary Shelley's classic gothic story, which was first published in 1818 and has been a wild success ever since. Philippe Munch's illustrations have none of the power of Barry Moser's unforgettable woodcuts that evoke the loneliness of the grotesque outsider (in the Pennyroyal edition published by the University of California Press in 1984). The design here is crowded, and the type is small. However, the many period prints and maps in color and in black and white, with long, detailed captions, do provide the historical setting for the story, its geography, customs, and ideas. Teens enthralled by pop versions of the myth as well as science fiction fans will be interested in going back to the full version of what has been called the first science fiction novel and learning about the circumstances under which it was written by a woman, just 18 years old, 170 years ago. Hazel Rochman


From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
After being rescued from an iceberg, Dr. Frankenstein relates his autobiography to the ship's captain, complete with vivid descriptions of his idyllic childhood and passionate cries of regret that not even his love for Elizabeth could control his fanatic ambition. Dr. Frankenstein has been consumed by his desire to create a fully-grown living creature. When he reaches his goal, he perceives his creation as a monster, immediately regrets his work, and promptly abandons it. We also hear the poignant voice of the monster as he describes the spurning and physical attacks he has endured because of his ugliness; his desolate pain and loneliness; how he learns to love; how he finally finds and tries, unsuccessfully, to make peace with his maker; how he learns to hate. A story within a story, Frankenstein is a subtle and ironic prophecy that raises the question of who exactly is the real monster in this story. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Shelley's classic hints in part at the possible dangers inherent in the pursuit of pure science; it also portrays the injustice of a society which persecutes outcasts such as the "Monster." Disturbing and profoundly moving, Frankenstein has become part of our own mythology.

ANNOTATION

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.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Frankenstein is a masterpiece of nineteenth-century Gothicism and the prototype of the twentieth-century science-fiction novel.

It was conceived in the Swiss Alps in mid-June 1816 after a conversation about bringing corpses to life provoked a nightmare, and was written over the next eleven months in largely morbid circumstances. Death and the terrors of childbirth--as much as Romanticism, a burgeoning awareness of unconscious drives, and contemporary ideas of atheism, the collapse of the social contract, and the corrupting influence of society on human nature--inform this story of a man (or monster) built by Dr. Victor Frankenstein and brought to life by electricity.

The monster's culpability for various horrific acts, his powerlessness in the face of his complete ostracism from society, and Dr. Frankenstein's lies, abdication of responsibility, and the pain he inflicts on his creation raised chilling questions that made the novel an immediate bestseller.

SYNOPSIS

Presents the text of the 1831 edition, the final version while Shelley still lived.

FROM THE CRITICS

James Hynes

. . .[T]he novel Frankenstein is quite a read. . . .It's highly Romantic, in the literary sense. . .[there is] a good deal of attractive torment and self-doubt, from both Victor Frankenstein and his creation. . . .If ever a book needed to be placed in context, it's Frankenstein. —The New York Times Book Review

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING