Synopses & Reviews
Frankenstein ranks among the most enduring horror tales ever imagined. The groaning Monster, bolts erupting from his neck and stitches fastening his square brow, is famous worldwide. But the creature born in Mary Shelley's mind nearly two hundred years ago was far more complex: murderous and raging, but also articulate, lonely, and gravely misunderstood by the world into which he was thrust.
The story of Victor Frankenstein emerges in a series of letters penned by Walton, an English explorer icebound in the Arctic. While studying natural philosophy in Geneva, Frankenstein discovers how to give life to inanimate matter, and from dead flesh constructs a living being. His Monster possesses superhuman speed and strength, and learns of human emotion by studying Goethe, Plutarch, and Milton's Paradise Lost. But as the creature's mind and thoughts develop, his loneliness and misery build, and he acts out in deadly violence. When the scientist refuses to create a companion for him, the Monster lets loose his full wrath. Berserk, he murders Frankenstein's wife, then flees to the North Pole. Frankenstein follows, desperate to destroy his rampaging creation. Once there he meets Walton and confesses the horror that is drawing him deep into the Arctic wasteland.
Jeffery Deaver pours a suspense master's insight into his introduction, exploring the author's drive to thrill and terrify, and digging at the actual birthplace of Frankenstein's monster: Mary Shelley's mind. The author of sixteen novels, Deaver has appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His novel The Bone Collector was produced as a feature film by Universal Pictures starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, and his most recent novel, The Blue Nowhere, is being produced by Warner Brothers.
Review
"The select bibliography by M.K. Joseph is of benefit to our students."--Dr. Darlene J. Alberts,
Ohio Dominican CollegeReview
"The select bibliography by M.K. Joseph is of benefit to our students."--Dr. Darlene J. Alberts, Ohio Dominican College
Review
Ranked #24 in Newsweek's "Top 50 Books You Should Read to Understand the Way We Live Now"
"The select bibliography by M.K. Joseph is of benefit to our students."--Dr. Darlene J. Alberts, Ohio Dominican College
"This has proved ideal for my Freshman class...compact, inexpensive, clearly printed with margins big enough to scribble in!"--Hilary Kaplan, University of California and Los Angeles
"The best general edition of this classic text in terms of text, notes, and general design."--Barry M. Katz, Stanford University
"Indispensable for the study of Shelley's Frankenstein."--Eric Rabkin, University of Michigan
"Marilyn Butlers introduction was comprehensive and informative and provided a valuable background for my general intro to lit students. The inclusion of the apprndices was also useful and thought-provoking."--Stephanie Wardrop, Colorado State University
Synopsis
At this challenge, Mary Shelley began work on the 'ghost story' that was to evolve into the most celebrated horror novel in literary history. Frankenstein was published the next year and become the rage of London. In the generations since, the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created has been read by millions all over the world. It has inspired hundreds of imitations, but it has never been equaled for its masterful manipulation of the elements of horror and suspense.
Synopsis
Shelley's suspenseful and intellectually rich gothic tale confronts some of the most important and enduring themes in all of literture--the power of human imagination, the potential hubris of science, the gulf between appearance and essence, the effects of human cruelty, the desire for revenge and the need for forgiveness, and much more.
About the Author
Jeffery Wilds Deaver is the author of many bestselling novels, including
The Coffin Dancer, A Maiden's Grave, The Lesson of Her Death, and
The Bone Collector. He lives in Reston, Virginia.