Frankenstein: Level 3

Written by Mary Shelley

Narrated by Iman

Victor Frankenstein is a talented scientist who creates what he sometimes refers to as a monster. The monster is a large creature made from human parts and comes to life, but feels rejected by his creator Victor, as well as most of the people with whom he comes in contact with.

He winds up killing certain people in Victor's circle of family and friends, so Victor eventually pursues the monster to kill him, but is he himself killed in the process. The ultimate fate of the monster is unknown.

This audio classic novel has been carefully abridged and adapted into 10 short easy to understand chapters. This format enables listeners of all ages and English language abilities to understand and enjoy the story. Composition includes original custom back ground music.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EDCON Publishing
• Release date: Jul 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780848113292

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.

Reviews for Frankenstein

[csweder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic.

[ranger1_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A classic tale. It's a very good story.

[ltmanning · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Two stars for the fact that this author was a product of her time. Long, long, long book. Interesting use of first person...with three different narrators.Actually like the old movie version better.But that's just me.I actually feel sorry for the kids who have to read this as a school assignment. I would have died. Or read the SparkNotes instead.

[joles_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is a reason this book is a classic! There really isn't much that can be said for the book that hasn't been already. The book is far superior to any movie version I've seen. (The closest would be the Kenneth Branagh film.) It is insightful and really gets one thinking philosophically.

[ladypembroke · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have thought, but this being a classic piece of literature, I'm not going to write them down for posterity. That never served me well in lit classes, and I don't foresee it going well on the internet.

[dalepeters_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Disappointing, especially for such a highly regarded "classic". 5% action, 95% describing how everyone *feels* about what just happened.

[jguidry-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story was not quite what I expected when I began to read it at first. I think I would have enjoyed the print version more than I enjoyed the audio version. The narrator would get too breathy sometimes and it was distracting from the story. I did like how the monster appeared quickly in the tale and the description of Frankenstein's reaction to him. Shelley did a great job of describing how humanity made him into a monster. The story dragged in parts, but again I think that was the narrator's interpretation more than the actual story itself. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure I'd read it again.

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is another one I'd just never gotten around to reading. The story is far from what popular culture has made of it (I confess I was most familiar with the Young Frankenstein version) The monster is much more vocal and interesting. Victor is kind of a weenie and it's all a bit overwrought. I listened to the audiobook from the classic tales podcast and the narrator was pretty good, obviously enjoying all the "begone!s" and "wretchs"

[russell7alynn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you haven't read this book, you should! Movies about the Frankenstein monster don't do him justice. When you read this book you will definitely understand a lot of the monster's actions and sympathize with him.

[maddi-815887 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's a wonderful, intense and superbly written novel.Don't be afraid to read it even if you don't like the genre.

[mrs2starbucks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written, especially for its time! I loathe Dracula (or at least the style in which it was written), so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed Frankenstein as much as I did. Some of the dynamics between the monster and Frankenstein seem a bit strange from a modern perspective, but television etc. has inured most of us to carnage and monsters. Although the monster was always supposed to evoke a degree of sympathy, I think these days we are much less able to commiserate with Frankenstein himself. I found myself almost angry with him at times. In any case, I highly recommend it!

[atoponce-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is fantastic. Shelley brings the emotions of betrayal, grief, joy, love, hatred, loneliness, companionship, and so much more to center stage. It's less of a horror, and more of a tragedy. She draws parallels of God and Adam, man and creation, Satan and abandonment. For a book that is over 200 years old, it is very much relevant today.

[akblanchard_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For a novel that is almost 200 years old, Frankenstein holds up remarkably well. There's no need to summarize the plot; even those who haven't read the book are familiar with the guilt-plagued scientist Frankenstein and his oversized, ugly, yet sensitive and misunderstood, creation. I thought the novel would be scary, but the overall tone is more melancholy than frightening. I'm glad I finally read it.

[hlselz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Forget every movie you've ever seen about Frankenstein. Read the book, its fabulous. About the advantages/disadvantages of technology, and the ways in which we deal with them. Also about human mortality, and about the responsibilities of creating life.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

never saw any movie and never knew really the story, just had this idea about the monster Frankenstein. Turns out that the monster has no name and the creator is called Frankenstein. Very surprising book. Story very different than expected. Good and quick read.

[bookworm546 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

a good book tended to drag on a bit in some places very opposite from the movie perception of frakenstein

[abbeyhar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This guy thinks with his dick a lot.

[ptdilloway-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked the monster better than Frankenstein. Frankenstein was such a whiny, solipsistic dork. All he does he go on and on about himself and how put upon he is by everything. Well jerk, maybe you shouldn't have created life and then ran away! Or next time make one that's prettier. Idiot.

[sarahlou2709 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

total classic book, one of the best books i have ever read and one of my favourite. when i read this i got goosebumps and shivers down my spine it terrified me but i could not put it down. brilliant book. must read for any horror lover.

[misirlou_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What happens to a society's outsiders? Do those on the fringes of civility revel in their differences or are they forced to wonder why they were made mentally or physically deficient in one way. No matter how superior they can make themselves do they ever feel that they were created equal? Frankstein isn't a horror story, it's a conversation with God from the lips of anyone who's been made to feel like an abomination.The monster tells his story with eloquence and ultimately explains his actions in a way that seem more lonely than vicious. It's also no coincidence that the book begins and ends on the ship the Milton. As the author of Paradise Lost, the struggle between an angel created for the purpose of being a demon and his creator, between man deciding whether to take advantage of the tool of free will granted to him or live in subservience, the struggle between action and cosequence are as apt to Milton's work as they are in the struggles between the characters of this novel. Each symbol in this book are deftly placed to support a somewhat sacriligous inquiry of whether a creator has much control over his creation. Those looking for the stout green-faced monster and angry mobs of the movies will be surprised that neither are present in this novel. Loneliness, purpose, and atonement are the harrowing aspects of Frankenstein. This is a novel of ice and emptiness; a severe cold which is responsible for chilling readers to the bone.

[khrystibooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was excellently written and very philosophical, and way depressing. It's also very worth reading.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Story of a monster. Shelley create this story during an evening spent with friends. The literary device would be "projecting the perils of man seeking to play God." (Foster). The real monster is the creator in this story. This book projects the period of the nineteenth century of the dual nature of man, that we are both good and evil.

[alcracka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This and Anna Karenina are as close as I know to perfect. The only thing that holds Frankenstein back is the writing style; at times you're reminded that Shelley was only 18 when she wrote it. The plot and pacing are perfect, and the scenes are terrific - particularly the exquisite first bit of the monster's story - but there are sometimes some minor rough patches in the sentences.

It's a warning, of course, about creating things we don't understand. Everyone knows that. What I'm interested by, though, and where I think some people misinterpret Frankenstein, is that Frankenstein's monster isn't a flawed creation. Some people think the warning is that we overreach and create...well, monsters, right? But Frankenstein's creation is instinctively good. He's smart, rational and kind, until he's irrevocably alienated. It's not in the creation that Frankenstein fails; it's in the raising of it.

So if Shelley is warning us against playing God, it's not because she thinks we can't create something wonderful. It's that she doesn't trust us to know what to do with it.

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel tears me up every time I read it--not because it is frightening, but because I find Frankenstein's monster so terribly heartbreathing and Frankenstein himself so terribly selfish. Certainly the ultimate gothic novel, although a bit heavy-handed at times.

[coralsiren · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought I knew quite a bit about this story, but it wasn't really what I expected after all (which was a pleasant surprise). Overall, I thought the book was okay, but it was hard to keep moving forward at times. Also, sometimes it seems like main events are barely even mentioned, while descriptions of 'less important' things and details go on forever.Glad I read it once, but probably won't re-read.

[dsdragon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had to read this in less than a day, because no one had told me that there was homework due the first day of AP English during my senior year of high school. I enjoyed it a lot, even though I was rushed.

[gazzy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Who knew the romanitcs adn their idealized view of the past would lead to sci-fi (i.e. idealization of the future) masterpiece as this? Iconic elements of the story are created by clashing the Romance of the 18th Century meets the Industrial revolution of the 19th century. (P.S. Fans of Karloff will be dissapointed.)

[karenj113 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I do not think everyone knows the true story of Frankenstein, and it should be read since this is a classic.

[hglotzbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed rereading this classic Gothic tale!

[boes0106 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm glad i finally took the time to read this fairly short classic. Shelley has a gift for narration. She did a great job of both building and destroying sympathy for both frankenstein and his monster. The paradise lost refrences were the only part I would have rather done without.