Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics) (original 1818; edition 2018)

by Mary Shelley (Author)

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Classic Literature. Fiction. Horror. Science Fiction. HTML:Mary Shelley�s classic novel, presented in its original 1818 text, with an introduction from National Book Critics Circle award-winner Charlotte Gordon Nominated as one of America�s best-loved novels by PBS�s The Great American Read The original 1818 text of Frankenstein preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley�s original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley�s relationship with her mother�trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman�and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother�s ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. This edition includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by National Book Critics Circle award-winner and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon, and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson. Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	bridget1996
Title:	Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)
Authors:	Mary Shelley (Author)
Info:	Penguin Classics (2018), 288 pages
Collections:	To read
Rating:
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Work Information

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley (1818)

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English (73) Portuguese (Brazil) (1) All languages (74)

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Showing 1-5 of 73 (next | show all)

Scientist Victor Frankenstein creates the Creature and all hell breaks loose. The first part of the story is told from Victor’s perspective, allowing you to empathize with him before the Creature is able to show his perspective later on in the story, and you realize there’s more than one side to a story.

I first read this as a pre-teen and it quickly became my favorite book. Years later, I read it in college class, and I still really love it.

An intelligent, beautiful masterpiece. (

)

quirkx | Jan 6, 2025 |

Frankenstein as god and mother monster is satan wondering in the abyss of isolation (

)

Sri-Hari-Palacio-MEd | Dec 21, 2024 |

Very different from the movie. Recommended. (

)

casey2962 | Dec 16, 2024 |

Finally I've read the original sci-fi that had inspired so many of my favorites. And though this is a different flavor of sci-fi/horror than you might expect, it's perfect anyway. There is a very present dread that hangs over the whole story, the monster's parts are so sad, Frankenstein's parts are gloomy and eerie. Facing what you've created, seeking belonging and finding none, so many great themes here. It's an old book, so your quick plot beats aren't here, but it's excellent just the same. (

)

KallieGrace | Oct 30, 2024 |

Book 24 - Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

Perhaps the most surprising part of both this and Dracula are how similar the methods are in which both tales are told.

Both are written in the form of letters, diaries and other personal documents. It is astonishing just how different this story is to the one I thought I knew.

Victor Frankenstein’s mental state deteriorates as the mounting death toll around him pushes him further and further to the edge of sanity .The original sympathy we had for the creature soon dissipates as its horrific agenda reveals itself.

It is easy to see why this novel has become one of the most adapted in celluloid history. (

)

Jason-StrangeTimes | Oct 9, 2024 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Mary Shelley	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Gordon, Charlotte	—	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Moser, Barry	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Is contained in

Frankenstein (Everyman's Library) by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein and the Critics (Illustrated. Includes full text of 'Frankenstein 1818.') by Sir Walter Scott

Frankenstein (Norton Critical Editions) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

The Complete Frankenstein: 200-year Edition: Including both the 1818 and 1831 Versions, and Bonus Chapter: Farewell, Dear Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Has the adaptation

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake

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Canonical title

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1818

People/Characters

Victor Frankenstein

Frankenstein's Monster

Elizabeth Lavenza

Robert Walton

Alphonse Frankenstein

(show all 7 items)

Important places

Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Arctic Regions

Orkney, Scotland, UK

Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany

Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

(show all 6 items)

Important events

Related movies

Frankenstein (1931)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

To Mrs. Saville, England

ST. PETERSBURGH, Dec. 11, 17--.

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Original 1818 text

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

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▾Book descriptions

Classic Literature. Fiction. Horror. Science Fiction. HTML:Mary Shelley�s classic novel, presented in its original 1818 text, with an introduction from National Book Critics Circle award-winner Charlotte Gordon

Nominated as one of America�s best-loved novels by PBS�s The Great American Read

The original 1818 text of Frankenstein preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley�s original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley�s relationship with her mother�trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman�and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother�s ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.

This edition includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by National Book Critics Circle award-winner and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon, and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

▾Library descriptions

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf’s edition of Frankenstein has been widely acclaimed as an outstanding edition of the novel―for the general reader and the student as much as for the scholar. The editors use as their copy-text the original 1818 version, and detail in an appendix all of Shelley’s later revisions. They also include a range of contemporary documents that shed light on the historical context from which this unique masterpiece emerged.

New to this edition is a discussion of Percy Shelley’s role in contributing to the first draft of the novel. Recent scholarship has provoked considerable interest in the degree to which Percy Shelley contributed to Mary Shelley’s original text, and this edition’s updated introduction discusses this scholarship. A new appendix also includes Lord Byron’s “A Fragment” and John William Polidori’s The Vampyre, works that are engaging in their own right and that also add further insights into the literary context of Frankenstein.

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