Monday, January 1, 2018

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein published 200 years ago

First posted 6/11/2020; updated 7/6/2020.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

First Publication: January 1, 1818


Category: novel/Gothic thriller


Sales: ?

Accolades (click on badges to see full lists):

About the Book:

“The great genius of Shelley's novel has often been overwhelmed by images of schlocky bolt-necked ‘Frankensteins,’” TG but “Few creatures of horror have seized readers’ imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster…The story of Victor Frankenstein’s terrible creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense.” AZ

It “began merely as a whim of Lord Byron’s. ‘We will each write a story,’ Byron announced to his next-door neighbors, Mary…and her lover Percy.” AZ The others “failed to complete their ghost stories” AZ but Shelley, only eighteen when she began writing, BN “rose supremely to the challenge…to create a story that, in her own words, ‘would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature,…curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart.’” AZ

Victor Frankenstein is a “committed science student…[who] assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature’s hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator.” BN

“At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science,” BN Frankenstein “also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature?” BN


Resources and Related Links:

In July 2018, I became the organizer of the Classic Novels Book Club. Check out the Book Club tab here or Meetup for more information. This is our November 2019 book.