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    Frankenstein
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    Frankenstein
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    Frankenstein
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    Frankenstein

    Written by Mary Shelley

    Narrated by Richard Pasco

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The epic battle between man and monster reaches its greatest pitch in the famous story of Frankenstein. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor himself to the very brink. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship …and horror.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 16, 2005
    ISBN9781429587228
    Author

    Mary Shelley

    Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born in 1797, the daughter of two of the leading radical writers of the age. Her mother died just days after her birth and she was educated at home by her father and encouraged in literary pursuits. She eloped with and subsequently married the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, but their life together was full of hardship. The couple were ruined by disapproving parents and Mary lost three of her four children. Although its subject matter was extremely dark, her first novel Frankenstein (1818) was an instant sensation. Subsequent works such as Mathilda (1819), Valperga (1823) and The Last Man (1826) were less successful but are now finally receiving the critical acclaim that they deserve.

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    Reviews for Frankenstein

    4/5

    215 ratings261 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The original novel by Mary Shelley is a very different beast than most of those that have made it to film or TV. There is, for example, no digging up of dead bodies, no talk of reanimation. Rather it would appear that the zealous young scientist has figured out how to animate a constructed being. The monster, or "demon" as he is often called in the book, was made bigger than a man to facilitate the finer aspects of his construction, but he is also represented as being faster, stronger, tougher, and perhaps smarter than most men. While he espouses high ideals, he sees no conflict between those high ideals and murdering of a human being.

      In religious terms, the demon is soulless. In psychological terms, he is a sociopath -- although one could argue that his creator did absolutely nothing to nurture him, love him, or inculcate social mores into him. In philosophical terms, he is a terrifying example of man's arrogance and his abrogation of natural law.

      This is a remarkable novel for a 19- to 21-year-old woman to have penned. Some argue that, relying on the idea of scientific experimentation, it is the first science fiction novel. If it is a horror story, it is horror in the old-fashioned sense of someone defying moral laws or decency and being repaid with an appropriate (and ghastly) comeuppance.

      The writing doesn't include the kind of whiz-bang pseudo-scientific detail that informs so much of modern science fiction, and at times the writing falls prey to that 19th-century tendency toward purple prose. For some readers, however, that may be a plus.

      It's also important as a major contribution to Western literature from a woman's pen. The first edition of the book, I have read, was published anonymously (another example of that saying that "Anonymous was a woman"), but in later editions, Shelley listed herself as its author.
    • 3/5
      Too much romanticism. And I think the pressure to look at the creature sympathetically pissed me off more than it should.
    • 1/5
      I really did not like this book.I thought that it was just way too depressing and blown out of proportion and I hated the style of writing, with the story within a story within a story deal. I just didn't think it was all that great. I think that there were other ways that that could've been done. Mary Shelley must not have had a happy life to write a story like this.
    • 5/5
      Those of you who have preconceived notions about this story because you've seen the Hollywood film versions, read this book. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I guarantee it. This is nothing like the film and so much better. Shelley, in her brilliance, offers the hideous creature as the one to pity here. Not Frankenstein, not the townspeople, but the creature. A sad victim of his creator's selfish ambitions and the prejudices of a naive populace. In a way, a neglected and abused child, driven to acts of violence and rage as the only release from the agonizing rejection and isolation. His only real crime was his consuming need for acceptance...a friend...to love and be loved. This book was so ahead of its time when it was written. I highly recommend it. One of my favorites.
    • 4/5
      I'm sorry, but I don't understand how on earth this book could be considered boring. I had to read it in school and I finished it before the rest of my class and then I went and bought my own copy. She clearly shows the character's pain that he felt with playing God. It tore him apart the fact that he created this poor creature and he didn't consider how it would survive, if it needed companionship, and especially how society would accept him. Frankenstein's ambition for knowledge ruined his life when he created the monster, and he was made to suffer when he lost his cousin. For me, these elements cannot be considered boring or a let down.
    • 2/5
      I found this book to be a little boring and extremely predictable. This is obviously because of our culture and knowledge of Frankenstein and not the books fault whatsoever. Considering it was the first true story of Frankenstein, I consider it a good classic. I also love that it came from a woman as a competition amongst a few of her friends. The story is exactly what you expect it to be, very sad and long and a little weird.
    • 4/5
      What a classic. I've read it several times and every time find something new to admire. And at the heart, that great message that the real monster lies within.
    • 1/5
      I really did not like this book.I thought that it was just way too depressing and blown out of proportion and I hated the style of writing, with the story within a story within a story deal. I just didn't think it was all that great. I think that there were other ways that that could've been done. Mary Shelley must not have had a happy life to write a story like this.
    • 3/5
      Too much romanticism. And I think the pressure to look at the creature sympathetically pissed me off more than it should.
    • 5/5
      Those of you who have preconceived notions about this story because you've seen the Hollywood film versions, read this book. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I guarantee it. This is nothing like the film and so much better. Shelley, in her brilliance, offers the hideous creature as the one to pity here. Not Frankenstein, not the townspeople, but the creature. A sad victim of his creator's selfish ambitions and the prejudices of a naive populace. In a way, a neglected and abused child, driven to acts of violence and rage as the only release from the agonizing rejection and isolation. His only real crime was his consuming need for acceptance...a friend...to love and be loved. This book was so ahead of its time when it was written. I highly recommend it. One of my favorites.
    • 4/5
      This was such a great and actually chilling tale. The setting and nature of the book truly allowed for the suspense of a horror story but without anything ever jumping out and saying boo. Each character at one point or another was my favorite character then another would claim the title. This ranged from major characters such as the graceful Elizabeth to the tough Felix.I don't know if the moral was to not tempt nature, or nurture vs. nature, or that running from responsibilities cause great harm and sorrow. The English teacher inside me says it is all this and more, but the Mary Shelley in me speaks of one main theme. One that, I think, has to do with human nature and the faults that are instilled in us at birth. But like I said GREATNESS!
    • 5/5
      Quite different from the classic movie... The monster is actually fairly articulate and, despite his horrible deeds, a tragic figure (IMO more so than Dr. Frankenstein).
    • 3/5
      At this point, everyone should know what Frankenstein is about. Seriously. Did anyone else find Victor Frankenstein incredibly annoying and whiny?
    • 2/5
      This was a tough one for me to get through. Not only was it completely lacking in horror, it was fairly dry of emotion in general. Oh, they were feeling emotion, all right - most of the book is breathlessly melodramatic correspondence and conversation between various characters - but very little of it made its way off the page to me. It didn't help that Victor Frankenstein was an emo-riddled, maudlin, whining, constantly fainting idiot. (Were men really like this in the late 18th century? The guy gets the vapors for months at a time.) Much of the plot of the book hinges on him doing foolish things, keeping impossible secrets, and continually failing to grasp the situation; I couldn't help but wonder how differently the book might have turned out if someone had grabbed Frankenstein by the collar halfway through Act II and said "He just told you, in so many words, that HE IS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE, and he means it!" We might have been spared 150 pages of Victor's family and friends being picked off one by one like counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. Nothing kills my suspension of disbelief faster than a plot that only works if the characters keep doing stupid things.

      I was also frustrated with Shelley's pre-Victorian squeamishness about action and violence. I'm not a bloodthirsty reader (I don't think!), but I got really tired of Frankenstein arriving on the scene to find yet another person dead "with the monster's hand print on [his/her] neck." Maybe it's my desensitized 20th/21st century sensibilities, but I come from the generation that grew up on Stephen King; I can handle someone dying onstage, and if you want me to feel terror, you'll probably need them to die onstage. In addition, Shelley glosses over the actual creation and animation of the monster so quickly that I had to flip back and make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped a page. Everything popular culture associates with Frankenstein's monster - stitching, bolt neck, Igor, even electricity - it's all been added after the fact. It's shocking how sparsely described he is, especially in light of how exhaustively described everything else is (but more on that later).

      The one saving grace of the book was the monster himself - he was the only character with a believable motivation and conflict, and the story he tells of his short life is truly sad and moving. To me, the conversations between Frankenstein and his creation are the most readable parts of the book.

      In spite of all these things, I would have given this book three stars for its significance and influence, except for one simple fact: it was a chore for me to read. I admit I haven't read very much pre-Victorian literature, but the language was like a wet blanket thrown over the story. Mary Shelley takes five sentences to convey what a modern writer would get across in two, and Mary's sentences too often look like this 48-word jawbreaker: My father observed with pain the alteration perceptible in my disposition and habits and endeavoured by arguments deduced from the feelings of his serene conscience and guiltless life to inspire me with fortitude and awaken in me the courage to dispel the dark cloud which brooded over me. Sure, I understood what she meant, but it's so needlessly wordy that any feeling is squeezed out. It made the book boring and annoying when it could have been pretty entertaining. Another jarring problem is that everyone in this story talks EXACTLY THE SAME: everyone from the supposedly spottily self-educated ship's captain, to the very well-educated Frankenstein and his family, to a house full of peasants, to the monster who only learned to talk a year ago, speaks and writes with the same eloquent vocabulary and deeply nested compound/complex sentences. It made for a suffocating, dreary read, and not in a good way.

      I haven't read any of Mary Shelley's other work, but at this point in her career I simply don't think she was a very good writer. I know that much is made of the fact that she was 19 when she wrote this, but I think it shows: she has an outstanding vocabulary, but just doesn't know when to scale it back and let her story breathe.
    • 3/5
      Although I normally love classics, I found this one hard to get into. Victor spends a lot of time whining about how no human has been been half as miserable as he is/was, but not a lot of time actually doing anything about it. This got especially irritating to me when it became clear that more horrible things were just around the corner, and he let them happen because he was too self-involved to stop or foresee them. However, near the end he does finally get that needed motivation, and there are some legitimately creepy scenes, although this section doesn't last very long compared to the whining parts. But I'm glad I read it and know the story now--which is completely different than I expected!
    • 3/5
      The creature when in rage was evil, while Frankenstein was a martyr. God gave us persons to love and cherish, but that was not the case for Frankenstein's creation.
    • 5/5
      Victor Frankensteins's tale. The short-sightedness of man turns achievement and nobleness into sin and savagery.
    • 5/5
      Reading this whole book i never felt anytime boring.It is a great and must read book i think.
    • 4/5
      He began writing Frankenstein when she was 18 years old. At the same time a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein committed student. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and providing animation on the subject without life, Frankenstein assembles a human being of stolen body parts but; to bring it to life, he recoils in horror at the horror of the creature. Haunted by the isolation and loneliness, the innocent creature once becomes evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous vengeance against his creator, Frankenstein.
    • 2/5
      Okay, so it's taken me almost six months to finish this one, and part of the motivation to wrap it up is that it's due at the public library this week, and the online system wouldn't let me renew it again!! I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad I'm done with it. It was okay, but I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped.
    • 4/5
      To put it simply, the gist of the story is "don't mess with Mother Nature" because playing God is never going to do you any good. Poor Victor Frankenstein learned this lesson the hard way when he creates the "monster" who, because of his feelings of alienation from his "creator" goes about killing all of Victor's closest and dearest friends and relations. A depressing story overall and quite a lengthy lead in, but interesting philosophically on the theme of responsibility of the creator of what he "creates". A classic I'd never read before. On audio, narrated by Simon Vance who did a nice accent for Victor, and a very good monster.
    • 3/5
      Being familiar with some of the different Frankenstein movies, not to mention the TV show, The Munsters, I was definitely surprised by this book. Rather than simply creating an evil monster who must be destroyed before he threatens mankind, Victor Frankenstein has played God and created a being with a conscience and a sense of right and wrong. In some ways, the book is a much more complex and interesting story to discuss and debate. There are no clear villains in this story. However, after recently finishing Dracula, I didn't find this story as engaging or fun. Still a good classic to read. The audiobook has a strong cast of performers including Stefan Rudnicki as the monster.
    • 4/5
      Who doesn't know the plot of Frankdenstein? A scientist constructs a huge man and imbues him with the life force. The construct becomes a monster and turns on his creator. At least that's what I knew of the plot. Having finally listened to this audiobook I found that there was more to the story. At times I thought the level of detail was too much but I do admit that for the time of its writing it would have been ground-breaking.One of the things that I didn't know about the story is that the tale of the monster is told aboard a ship immured in the ice of the Arctic Ocean. An Englishman has followed his dream to explore the north. His ship is hailed by a man on an ice floe and they take him aboard. The man is Frankenstein, a Swiss scientist. He tells his tale of how he came to be on the ice. Having created a man who had become a monster he was determined to do battle with his creation until death, either his or the monster's. We learn how the monster had killed Frankenstein's brother, best friend and wife in revenge for being created as a thinking but loathsome creature. According to the monster he did not start out as a violent person. Instead he wanted to love and have friends but everyone who saw him was so repulsed by his looks that he grew to hate his creator. It does make one feel sorry for the monster.Frankenstein does merit a place on the 1001 list since it was the forerunner of the horror genre. Read it in that frame of mind and you will probably appreciate it.
    • 4/5
      Written with just as much melodrama as you'll see in every film adaptation, Shelly's novel is nonetheless still quite powerful. Frankenstein still allows parallels to be drawn with our times despite being originally published nearly 200 years ago. For all its symbolism it remains a very human story.
    • 5/5
      I thought I had read this years ago, probably as a teenager. If so, I had apparently lost all memory of it, as my memories appear to have been of the events as depicted in the old flickering black and white films. The book itself is wonderful, the narrative lines complex, the prose dark and brooding. Lots of very modern themes here--fear of what technology can bring, the need for responsible science, prejudice and fear of the unknown. But also very character driven--even though Frankenstein's "monster" does horrific things, we sympathize with his plight. Highly recommended.4 1/2 stars
    • 4/5
      When I first read Frankenstein as a teenager I found it incredibly boring. But, thankfully I decided to re-read it after having found this edition and could not put it down. Great story, in a way timeless. I will seek out the "uncensored" 1818 version and compare. Fully worth the time it took to read.
    • 4/5
      In "Frankenstein", Victor Frankenstein, a student who attended a science university, discovers how to animate dead flesh. After many months of Victor's tedious work, his monster opens its hideous, yellow eyes. It sickens Victor, who then flees to his home town, Geneva. The creature, noticing he had been abandoned by his creator, seeks revenge by destroying everything that Frankenstein loves. The creature killed Victor's brother, William. A friend,Justine, is convicted for the murder and is executed. The creature being abhorred by everyone, needs a partner to love. He finds Victor and tells him to create another one. He agrees. After starting the gruesome work, he can no longer take it. The monster coming to this knowledge, confronts and tells him and that he will be with him on his wedding night. On the night of his marriage, in a villa by the lake, Victor hears a shill then a dreadful scream, rushing to Elizabeth, he finds her dead and a disfigured human form running on the shore. Victor followed this menace into the Arctic where it was spring and the ice was fragile. Both having a sled and dogs, tread onto the frozen ocean. The heavy monster fell through the ice which was cracked due to an earthquake, but he survived. Victor died on a boat going to England. The demon killed himself when Frankenstein died. This book was interesting and "terroriffic". I would call it historical fiction. I liked this book because I can connect to the places I've been to that were mentioned in this book. I have always wanted to read this book because people said the movie wasn't the same. I liked the way the author gave human emotions to the creature. On the other hand, it was a little bit too long and drawn out. I would recommend this to someone that likes to read suspenseful books.
    • 3/5
      So i've heard a lot about Frankenstein, we all know the moaning green monstrous man that has bolts in his neck and the top of his head sewed on right? Wrong! This book is nothing like the film, i was completely surprised to find that firstly the monster isn't even called Frankenstein, that was his creator but the monster him self is never referred to by that name, secondly he isn't green and neither is he described as the figure we are all familiar with. Very surprising! Despite the 3/5 i did really enjoy this book, the problem i found was probably more so the time of year that i've read it. Its a very depressing read, all throughout the character is mostly in a state of devastation, regret and in an ill state of mind. His depression got a tiny bit tedious to read when its nearly christmas and supposed to be a happy festive time, because it was pretty much relentless. There wasnt exactly a happy ending either. I read a 1900's version of the book and have to say i really love the elaborate style of writing, whilst it took longer to read i do occasionally enjoy a book that has some age about it. All in all a good read but not one for such a festive time of year
    • 3/5
      Fascinating. Having finally read this classic novel for the first time, I found it interesting how the actual novel differs significantly from the popular culture renditions of it. Frankenstein's monster is a much more complex figure than the typical portrayal allows him to be. I certainly sympathize with the monster's feelings - driven by the horror others felt when seeing his appearance - but many of his actions were also horrifying as well. Frankenstein I felt much less sympathy for, mostly because he created a new being and then left the creature to fend for himself in an unfamiliar world. He fails to take full responsibility for his actions until his own friends and family begin to suffer consequences. Overall, a good read and very different from the modern films and TV shows on Frankenstein.
    • 4/5
      I really thought I had read Frankenstein before, but once I started reading it became obvious that I hadn't, since both the frame story of Frankenstein telling his story to Captain Walton, and the monster's story of the French family he had spied on for so long, were completely new to me. I'm not going to write a full review, but I will just mention a couple of things that struck me. Victor Frankenstein must be one of the most self-centred characters in literature, and whenever he should be facing up to his own behaviour, he conveniently lapses into fever and madness. Elizabeth must have been madly in love with him to want to marry him after all that had happened, but there is no sign of that in the way Victor talks about her. The monster and Robert Walton come to life as characters since they are describing themselves, and the monster's descriptions of the De Lacey bring them to life too, but Victor's family are two-dimensional in comparison since all he is interested in is how events affect him. I'm not going to write a long review, since such an old and well-known book has plenty already, so I'll finish by mentioning a couple of places that I though t the plot creaked. The Monster must have been incredibly intelligent to be able to learn to both speak and read by watching and listening to Safie's French lessons through a crack in a wall of the De Laceys' cottage, and Frankenstein's choice of the island in the Orkneys for making his monster's mate is incomprehensible. He had already mentioned that he obtained the raw materials for his creations from the dissecting room and the slaughterhouse, and such an isolated place with only five inhabitants would be sorely lacking in fresh corpses and slaughtered animals.