Frankenstein

Part of Alma Classics Evergreens series, this new edition of Frankenstein contains pictures and an extensive section on Shelley's life and works. Since it was first published in 1818, Mary Shelley's seminal novel has generated countless print, stage and screen adaptations, but none has ever matched the power and philosophical resonance of the original. Composed as part of a challenge with Byron and Shelley to conjure up the most terrifying ghost story, Frankenstein narrates the chilling tale of a being created by a bright young scientist and the catastrophic consequences that ensue. Considered by many to be the first science-fiction novel, the tragic tale of Victor Frankenstein and the tortured creation he rejects is a classic fable about the pursuit of knowledge, the nature of beauty and the monstrosity inherent to man.

If you enjoyed Frankenstein, you might like reading Transformation, a chilling gothic tale available in Alma Classics 101 Pages series.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Alma Evergreens is a series of popular classics. All the titles in the series are provided with an extensive critical apparatus, extra reading material including a section of photographs and notes. The texts are based on the most authoritative edition (or collated from the most authoritative editions or manuscripts) and edited using a fresh, intelligent editorial approach. With an emphasis on the production, editorial and typographical values of a book, Alma Classics aspires to revitalize the whole experience of reading the classics.

Review

The first novel of the scientific revolution and, incidentally, the first novel of science fiction. --Brian Aldiss

Frankenstein appeals to something very primal, but it's also about profound things, the very nature of life and death and birth. --Kenneth Branagh

How many fictional characters have made the great leap from literature to mythology; how many creatures of sheer language have stepped from the rhythms of their author's idiosyncratic voices into what might be called a collective cultural consciousness? --Joyce Carol Oates

About the Author

Although Frankenstein dominates the legacy of Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851), she was a prolific author of novels, stories, articles and political writings, which left a lasting impression on nineteenth-century thought.