Frankenstein - Softcover

Mary Shelley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593080050 ISBN 13: 9781593080051

Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003

Synopsis

&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RFrankenstein&&L/I&&R, by &&LSTRONG&&RMary Shelley&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R

• New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences―biographical, historical, and literary―to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&R&&L/B&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LB&&RMary Shelley&&L/B&&R began writing &&LI&&RFrankenstein&&L/I&&R when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, &&LI&&RFrankenstein&&L/I&&R 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 but; 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.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&LI&&RFrankenstein&&L/I&&R, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises rofound, 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? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever. &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LB&&RKaren Karbiener &&L/B&&Rreceived a Ph.D. from Columbia University and currently teaches literature at New York University.&&L/P&&R

About this title

Review:

Frankenstein, loved by many decades of readers and praised by such eminent literary critics as Harold Bloom, seems hardly to need a recommendation. If you haven't read it recently, though, you may not remember the sweeping force of the prose, the grotesque, surreal imagery, and the multilayered doppelgänger themes of Mary Shelley's masterpiece. As fantasy writer Jane Yolen writes of this (the reviewer's favorite) edition, "The strong black and whites of the main text [illustrations] are dark and brooding, with unremitting shadows and stark contrasts. But the central conversation with the monster--who owes nothing to the overused movie image ... but is rather the novel's charnel-house composite--is where [Barry] Moser's illustrations show their greatest power ... The viewer can all but smell the powerful stench of the monster's breath as its words spill out across the page. Strong book-making for one of the world's strongest and most remarkable books." Includes an illuminating afterword by Joyce Carol Oates.

Book Description:

A collection of literature anthologies and reference books for Key Stage 3 onwards.

About this edition

• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1593080050
• ISBN 13: 9781593080051
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 288