Frankenstein Paperback – January 10, 2014

There have been four different editions of FRANKENSTEIN with Wrightson art, and unfortunately this is the smallest-sized (6x9 inches) and most expensive ($29.95) edition with lackluster printing of the artwork (see photo). Obviously, if you just want the book for its text, there are dozens of other choices, and far cheaper. But the publisher, in its sales copy, is careful to make the distinction that this edition has the Wrightson art, which is its main selling point. Therefore, wouldn't you think they'd give us a proper showcase, with coated matte paper, like the IDW edition (the best of the four), instead of printing this on inexpensive, highly absorbent, standard book stock (55-pound or 70-pound, at most)?The result is a book that simply isn't a good value for the money. If you want an edition of FRANKENSTEIN with the art gorgeously reproduced, in a large format, on coated semi-matte paper and exquisite reproduction, you'll have to buy one on the secondary market, because that edition, from Dark Horse, is long out of print. Go seek it out. Oh, my lord, it's such a beautiful book in every way, right down to its satin ribbon.As a former book marketing director, while I applaud S&S for getting the book back in print, they are best advised to sell out the remaining inventory and go back to the drawing board, just as the late Bernie Wrightson did when he realized it was high time for the art to match the book with classic art. Bernie poured his heart and soul into illustrating what is unquestionably his masterpiece.Perhaps the second time around the publisher will get a copy of the IDW edition and say: "How can we improve on this?" (Well, for starters, reprint Joyce Carol Oates' essay on the book, and add an appreciation of Wrightson himself, and add an additional gallery of the unused Wrightson artwork that appeared in a separate book, from a small press, titled THE LOST FRANKENSTEIN PAGES.) Then they'll have a book for the ages, which will make money for them for many years to come, which is what Bernie Wrightson's art richly deserves, and his wife Elizabeth also deserves, and what we, as readers, will buy.Note: I have posted two photos of the Dark Horse edition, which I highly recommend.

This book was one of the biggest surprises for me! Absolutely NOTHING what I expected. When someone says word "Frankenstein", you think about a lab, a mad proffesor, some lightning buzzing into the bolts inside monster's head. Drop all this imagination! This classical book had nothing of it! :O Maybe that's why I was so amazed. If I didn't have all those expectations, maybe my rating would be lower, but now, damn, I liked it a lot! Since I have so much to say, I'll just drop it into a list, of good and bad things :)1) It's awesome that Amazon is giving free ebooks for classical literature like this! Thanks, Amazon! And what a surprise it was for me, that this Kindle edition is the real original "Frankenstein", but audiobook narrated by George Guidhall is of a later edition (which was edited by the author herself, when her book became famous). So reading those two books where more like reading two separate books for me - one ebook and one audiobook, with quite a lot of changes, even so major as who Elizabeth was to Victor - a real cousin, or just a girl taken from street! :O2) As I said, I have expected this book to be absolutely different! A horror story, about making a man from different body parts. Actually this only took a few pages of the book. All the book was Victor's thoughts about what he had done, creatures thoughts about humankind, and 3) a lot a lot A LOT of words misery, wretchedness and countenance :D My oh my, I have never read so many same QQing thoughts in my life! :D This book could be a good 5 star if Victor's thoughts weren't so TERRIBLY repetitive. He said he feels misery/is miserable/life's misery at least 135 times (just did a search in my Kindle). I won't even count other of his cryings. I should be ashamed of making fun of his inner tortures. Victor Frankenstein had a really difficult life, but I'm not if it was a good idea by the author to write it in such a repetitive way! but on the other hand - it was an absolutely different style from the books I usually read, so also a good thing.4) Never ever don't you dear call a man-made-man a "Frankenstein"! He didn't have a name! Frankenstein was his creator. But the creature was just that - a creature. And what a surprise he was! All my life I thought of Frankenstein's creature to be a mindless monster, with bolts in his head, making ugly sounds and walking like a zombie. That's what those movies show! But this was such a mistake of mine! :O Creature was one of the most intelligent characters in the story! His ability to deduct, to learn, to feel... he was amazing! The story creature told about his first year of life was so heartgripping that I felt so fond of him, so sorry for him... Sadly later he changed.. Loniness makes people (and other creatures) do bad things... :( But still.. he was not a mindless zombie. He was extremely sensitive being.. With emotions on extremities - both good and bad. But wouldn't we be like that, if we didn't have parents and comfort of other people to learn from?I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to read some intricate English language, but who has enough patience to suffer though all characters' repetitive sufferings (pun intended).This book is emotional, but not in a romantic way. It makes You think about creators responsibility against the creation. And most of all, it shows how Your decisions can change Your whole life!

I am disappointed in the quality of this book, which has a cover that looks like a copy of a copy printed up on someone’s cheap home printer and has more than a few ink splotches evident throughout the text. I am also puzzled by the numbering of the chapters, some of which are in roman numerals while others are in modern numbers, and the one blurry reproduction inside. Why even bother? As for the actual novel, I have to bring home my copy of the Norton version I own, but this one has only 146 pages, which seems off, considering the other copy I own is closer to 500. Of course, a number of those pages could be the foreward and a few critiques, but I doubt that it is three hundred pages worth. I should have known I was taking a chance with this version, especially when the cover illustration is clearly of the 1950s version of The Creature.

Shelley’s novel is transgressive in its content, and more transgressive in its nature – written by a female (at age 19!) under a pseudonym to penetrate the public approval. This novel explores human emotions, good and bad, in response to the ‘Other’ in true gothic fashion. The grunting, green-faced, bolt-bearing monster depicted by film and media is a pale imitation of Shelley’s masterpiece – but the original is a 'blue-print' for all monster creations. Despite being a cautionary tale on how nature, which is essentially good, can be corrupted by ill treatment – contemporary depictions have departed from the original characterization of an extremely well-spoken monster with immense speed and grace.PLOT (4.5/5)An intelligent and ambitious young student indulges a moment of thoughtless scientific passion and creates life. Horrified at his creation, Victor Frankenstein shuns the creature and attempts to discard it from his life and thoughts. The creature, however, is lost in an unkind world and seeks affection, and upon rejection then seeks revenge.STUDENT NOTES (5/5)+ Although many reviewers note The York Notes version usefulness at GCSE, I found in instrumental at helping me receive an A* at A-Level as well:a) The (character, theme and quotation) analysis is brilliant, clear and precise.b) The exam questions, key quotations and chapter summaries were invaluablec) The responses to the text, both modern and those from Shelley's contemporaries are invaluable (especially the feminist and psychoanalytical essays).CHARACTERS (5/5)+ Both main characters are easy to empathise with despite being completely at heads – both Victor (the ambitious scientist who realises his overreach and attempts to redeem himself) and the monster (whose fragile psyche is birthed from rejection)STYLE (4/5)+ The original, but nevertheless still one of the most remarkable science fiction stories ever written, its relevance persists today as scientific discovery journeys further than before into ethical ambiguity (GM food, AI, cloning) and discrimination still exists in all its forms.+ Typically Romantic and beautifully descriptive prose, particularly regarding the natural world.- The book begins very slowly with excessive detail, and the epistolary form makes it hard to convey any sense of suspense. But if you persist despite this you will be drawn in to Shelley's world.

It’s over 200 years since Frankenstein was first published in 1818 and it is a remarkable achievement that we’re still reading this book today, in a genre that has mushroomed. Certainly one of the greatest monster stories of all time and credited for creating the mad scientist and the first science fiction story.The story starts with a number of letters written by Robert Walton to his sister Margaret telling of his exploration, his ambition in the frozen Arctic circle and the glory he could acclaim with illustrious recognition. From the outset, however, he reflects that he does not have a companion and seems to report desperation for a male friend“… when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection.”Caught in a freezing sea, Robert and the ship’s crew spot a man in the distance travelling at speed being pulled on a sledge by a number of dogs. The following day they come across another man needing rescuing as he has lost his pack of dogs and his sledge. This stranger needs care and during his rehabilitation tells Robert his life story and why he was chasing the man from the previous day.We know the main story of Victor Frankenstein, the scientist that played God and undertook his scientific research to create a human being, only to realise he created a monster.“I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this, I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”There have been many adaptions of the story over the years and although Mary Shelley’s version didn’t have him pitted against werewolves and vampires, the re-animation of a dead being remains a fundamental element.What is interesting is how different readers will find context and meaning running as deeper themes and I often wonder if Mary Shelley realised the depth of the story beyond a horror story or was it her intuitive talent. For example, I feel that the main psychological theme that underpins the main characters is one of loneliness. Robert Walton desperate for a friend, Victor Frankenstein separated from his loving family and alone in his work, and the monster, a freak, so fatally different and doomed to isolation. The sense of segregation and seclusion pervades the atmosphere throughout the novel.The prose and structure of the novel certainly have a style associated with that period and I find this a personal choice. The writing often settles on anxious thoughts and dilemmas from Robert or Frankenstein, and in telling the story I felt this a little labour-some at times.

This version is not compatible with the penguin edition of the book and many pieces of the text is summarised, skipped or altered which of course takes away from the actual meaning of the text. The reading in itself is of good quality and is comfortable to listen to but that means very little when what is being read is not in accordance with the original text. If you just want to read Frankenstein for the pleasure of it I suppose it will do but I would argue having listened to this version you cannot really claim to actually have read Frankenstein as it is so lacking in content that I wouldn't bother.Still waiting for someone to do a full text reading of the book but for now I'll just have to read it out loud to myself.

'Frankenstein' has been one of my favourite books since childhood. Unfortunately cinema and pop culture have changed the story so much that many readers will expect a horror story. I see it more as a drama. Possibly a thriller although it's slower paced than most thrillers.Spoilers ahead...Victor Frankenstein creates a being who he should have loved as a child, but instead abandons his creation. The being, who is never given a name, is left to fend for himself. He discovers the beauty of nature, becomes fairly well-educated, and appears to be the hero of the story, although we later see that this story doesn't really have a hero. The being is alone and depressed by this. Every time he tries to help or befriend someone he is met with the worst of humanity. Abused and rejected by all of humanity this being vows his revenge.This is a story that asks the reader to think about cause and effect. And I think ultimately asks us to think about what we can do to make others happy or, at least to avoid increasing their misfortune and misery.

NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE 2020 EDITION OF "FRANKENSTEIN" WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BERNIE WRIGHTSON, AND DOES NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER EDITIONBernie Wrightson could well be Exhibit 1 if you were making the case for the history of American comics as being characterised by the enormous superiority of their artists over the stories they illustrated. Thankfully, in producing illustrations for "Frankenstein", the foundational text for most modern horror and science fiction, he found a project commensurate with his talents. The illustrations he produced were stunning, and all recognisably Wrightson: stylish, imaginative, atmospheric, simultaneously modern and yet consistent with the period (1818) when the novel first appeared, and technically superb.There have apparently been four editions of Bernie Wrightson's "Frankenstein", including this one. The consensus seems to be that the previous editions were all superior to this, due to substantially larger page size and better print quality. Unfortunately, they're all out of print, almost impossible to find, and command eye-watering prizes.For those of us who missed out on the previous editions, this one will have to do for now. And, despite what other reviews say, it's not a BAD book. It just could have been better. It's obvious the illustrations would look better at a larger scale, and some detail is clearly lost in the reproduction, a situation reflects poorly on the publisher. But the greatness of the illustrations is still apparent, and they are, even in this reduced and impaired format, an absolute joy to look at. I would love to have them in a better quality edition, but I'd also rather have them in this edition than not have them at all, and, until I can find an acceptably priced copy of an earlier edition, this will suffice. And I'm not holding my breath over that acceptably priced copy turning up.As well as the full text of the novel (including Mary Shelley's introduction to the 1831 edition), this edition contains an amusing but unenlightening preface by Stephen King, and some general notes on the early 19th century which could have been cribbed from a GCSE crammer. The production values are good, with a robust hard binding and good quality white paper. For what you get - notwithstanding things could and should have been better - the price isn't excessive.So I'm hanging on to it for now. But I'll be like a greyhound out of the traps the second I catch sight of a superior edition at a reasonable price.