Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus

By: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Narrated by: Simon Vance

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Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only 18. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein.

Obsessed with discovering "the cause of generation and life" and "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter", Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts. However, 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, Frankenstein.

Frankenstein, an instant best seller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science-fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story but 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? And how far can we go in tampering with Nature?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.Public Domain (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A novel which excites new reflections and untried sources of emotion." (Walter Scott, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine)

Not the movie monster, a wordy, worthy classic

Some books are classics because they were the first of their type, not because their literary value is really that great. Frankenstein is an entertaining enough book with a kernel of a story — Doctor Victor Frankenstein, overcome with hubris, figures out how to animate life from dead body parts — and creates a wrathful creature. There are also a number of interesting philosophical questions which Mary Shelley partially addresses through the medium of her characters' long, long soliloquies.

"You, who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have a knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes. But in the detail which he gave you of them he could not sum up the hours and months of misery which I endured wasting in impotent passions. For while I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires. They were forever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned. Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me? Why do you not hate Felix, who drove his friend from his door with contumely? Why do you not execrate the rustic who sought to destroy the saviour of his child? Nay, these are virtuous and immaculate beings! I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on. Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice."

Frankenstein's nameless monster is much more interesting than in the movies - he's more of reanimated superman than a shambling zombie, possessed of extraordinary eloquence. Every time he meets someone, he gives a long discursive speech, usually a self-justifying one. The monster is unfairly persecuted, denied the friendship it genuinely desires, and then betrayed by its creator. However, it also commits murders whenever it's aggrieved, then swears that it would never have done so if only people weren't so mean to it. So, you feel sorry for the creature, but it's hardly an innocent. Ultimately it's left to the reader to decide who is more responsible and who is the greater villain: Frankenstein or his monster?

That said, Frankenstein is really not a very well-developed novel; the characters all act in foolish, contrived manners, and none of them have any depth (the monster probably has the most complicated personality). The plot kind of plows along with foreshadowing a ten-year-old could see, and the prose is very, very purple even by 19th century standards. It's very much the sort of story you'd expect a clever, talented teenager with a vivid imagination to write, which is what Shelley was. Because she didn't have a lot of competition in 1818, especially in this genre, she got published.

Do I think this was a bad book? Well, I was never bored, and it is a classic. And it does make you think about how much the monster is to blame for its behavior. (I think Shelley's intended message, that Doctor Frankenstein's hubris brought about all the destruction, is a bit washed out by the more compelling question of free will.) I would recommend anyone to read the original story, but rather like Dracula, it can be a bit of a slog at times. I would recommend trying the audio version, as I did: a good narrator (like Simon Vance) can pull off the long, wordy monologues without sounding as stiff and absurd as they seem in print.

Timeless Classic!

Anyone who doesn't know the story of Frankenstein is either a) not from this country or b) has been living under a rock for the last century. A true classic in its own right that began the proliferation of many copy cats soon thereafter.

Wow .. I didn't know Mary Shelly wrote this novel at the tender age of 19. Geez. That's just mind boggling.

Narrator Vance gave an exemplary performance.

Get ready to be depressed!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I never realized Frankenstein's Monster (who is never given a name) was such an eloquent, well-spoken, thoughtful, sensitive and sympathetic character. Mind you, he's also a ruthless killer, but as the story unfolds you find out the reasons for his behaviour.

Any additional comments?

This is one of the most depressing books I have ever read/listened to.

Don't get me wrong: this book is a classic and should rightly be considered one of the greatest examples of English literature... but holy crap. If you have depressive tendencies or even if it's kinda gray outside and you're feeling a little blue - this book isn't gonna make you feel better.

Steven Vance is an excellent narrator - although I found myself "tuning him out" - not sure if that was because the story was so bleak and I needed to keep my sanity or if it was just his reading. Nevertheless, he does a good job with the voices of the different characters.

Not much in common with the movies

Worth a listen, if you never read the book. Writing is typical of the era. Spoiler alert: a bit wordy and repetitive and absolutely no exclamation of “It’s alive!”

A book for the ages

Ah, Frankenstein. Mary Shelley. Lord Byron. An island. Fireside stories. A competition. And! A novel is born. But not just any novel - a GOTHIC novel. Our first Science Fiction novel. A novel that struggles with medical ethics, morality and ultimately, what it means to be human. All of this is wrapped up in an epic struggle between two equally unlikeable characters but each of whom represents a part of humanity - one is a creator, an innovator, an explorer; the other is a creation who is desperately lonely, angry, confused and ultimately, abandoned. Each engages in behavior and makes choices that are reprehensible. But the triggers for their acts - what about those? Is each character morally excused from their bad acts due to the understandable chaos they face? These questions are current, real and unanswerable in a simple way. Stanford University, for the book's 100th anniversary, held a campus-wide celebration the entire academic year, with medical ethics talks at the Med school to reading and discussing this book in Another Book Club. I revisit this book annually in October, my Month of Horror, and conclude that this classic deserves to be considered and pondered carefully.

GREAT STORY

Would you listen to Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus again? Why?

NO, THE VOICE IS INTERESTING AT FIRST, BUT IT DRONES AFTER A WHILE. THIS BOOK WOULD BE BETTER READ BY TWO OR MORE NARRATORS.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus?

the killing of wife Elizabeth

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Good voice but it has the same tone throughout the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

What moves me most about this book is its language, the musicality of it and the vocabulary

Most know the story, few know the beauty

Almost everyone knows the surface details of this story, but I think very few know the intense sadness and beauty of the novel. I did not know until now that it is about the desperate need for love and acceptance that we all share.

A little disappointing and pretty depressing

Any additional comments?

I didn't know what to expect with this book. Most everyone has seen some version of the story through the numerous movies out there. I really didn't like the doctor at all. I felt a little sympathy for the monster at first, only to not like him either. Vengeance is the theme from both of the main characters which makes it hard to get behind anyone in the story which left me depressed.

The writing was just OK, to me; nothing special.

Simon Vance was good, not great. Maybe it was what he had to work with.

I'll stick with the Young Frankenstein version by Mel Brooks.

A good version of the classic

Would you listen to Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus again? Why?

No, this was purchased for a class. I enjoyed the story but i prefer horror.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus?

When the creatures female counterpart is dismembered and disposed of. It made me realize why on Hotel Transylvania the female had stitches all over her body.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I have not listened to other performances.

Who was the most memorable character of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus and why?

The creature. He is complex and at the end he just leaves and forgives his creator.

Any additional comments?

If you are trying to use this instead of the version with a cream frame on the front, DONT. They are not the same.

School assignment

It was great to get a chance to read this. I spent youth being fearful of this book. It was great to read as an adult with a different perspective.