Customer Rating: 
Summary: This is a classic???
Comment: 3 Words best describe this book: wordy, contrived, and melodramatic. I LOVE reading classics, but this one consistently disappoints. A lot of classics are wordy, and a lot of Gothic tales are contrived and melodramatic, but at least the pay-off is worth the effort. Sadly, I cannot say the same for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Hollywood does a better job with the story than the original author.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Pusuit of Greatness
Comment: Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist in pursuit of greatness. His goal is to create a human out of sewn together parts of corpses. When the creature comes to life Victor instantly regrets his progress. His creation is a hideous monster that Frankenstein fears. The remainder of the book documents Victor's exploits in trying to capture the monster and conquer his fear and depression. Throughout the book the reader gets to hear the story from several different perspectives: a captain of a ship on a voyage to the North Pole who runs across Victor on the ice, Victor himself, and even the monster's side of the story. The end of the book is quite bleak and very depressing, but the idea discussed is one to think about: When does science go beyond morals and ethics into cruel punishment?
There was everything I love to be in a book in this book: mystery, a little bit of romance, and a great adventure. I love the way Mary Shelley keeps her audience reading by not revealing anything until the right time. The reader begins to question what is about to happen in the story and reviews all the possible outcomes of the situation.
The only drawback with this book is that the vocabulary of the characters is very sophisticated. The book is beautifully written, but some parts are difficult to understand because of the language used.
This book is a great piece of literature with action, adventure and suspense. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure.
Elizabeth Edmondson
Landrum High School
Landrum, SC
Customer Rating:
Summary: Forever and a Day
Comment: What can I say about Mary Shelly's story of Frankenstein? How about BORING! I mean sure the concept of the book is cool but only two out of so may parts were the only interesting part. Wait, I take that back, three. The part in the letter where Walden first saw the monster, the part when Frankenstein was making the monster, and the part when the monster was killing people. The rest was just unwanted details. That book literally put me to sleep and it's about a monster! Frankenstein's suppose to be an exciting Halloween story gives little kids nightmares! Instead it's a bed time story for a caffeine addict.
I thought it would be cool to finally know how the monster really came to life, but I didn't even get that much out of the book. It doesn't say how it was created, or even what happened to him after he left.
If you've ever read the book you know that long 50 page story of when the monster was stocking those people in the cottage. Instead of that how about this. After scaring a man out of his home, the monster finds a hole in the wall, looks through it and sees people. He watches them 24 7 while he learns more words, gets more food, and evidently, learns how to read. After so long he decides to meet and actually talk to them, but does it the wrong way so they beat him up and throw him out. Then he runs away ashamed of himself. Wow, that was so hard.
The book would be great with a little work. Okay, lots of work. But, you can't save them all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: frankenstein
Comment: came next day in perfect condition my sister needed it for school and she was very pleased thank you
Customer Rating:
Summary: Prometheus
Comment: On my recent travels, I finished reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Written in the Gothic style, it's also written as one would tell a ghost story: minimalist in its descriptions of setting, focusing on character and action more than anything else. It's written in the first person, with varying narrators allowing for varied points of view. Despite the threadbare descriptions of setting, Shelley does a good job of conveying with those few words key aspects of the setting, giving her story great atmosphere.
Gothic stories always are high on emotion, and not high on reasoning thought, and this is no exception. I am still left wondering how folks can consider this a work of science fiction. It is more fantasy than science fiction: man takes on the role of God, man's creation, like God's, goes awry, and the pair are locked in a monumental struggle. Fantasy's themes often go to the nature of characters trying to choose between right and wrong, while science fiction's themes go towards the consequences of technology and science, without the necessity of morality, and Frankenstein tends towards fantasy under that line of thinking...hence, the alternate title, "The Modern Prometheus".
All in all, an entertaining, and quick read.
Summary: This is a classic???
Comment: 3 Words best describe this book: wordy, contrived, and melodramatic. I LOVE reading classics, but this one consistently disappoints. A lot of classics are wordy, and a lot of Gothic tales are contrived and melodramatic, but at least the pay-off is worth the effort. Sadly, I cannot say the same for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Hollywood does a better job with the story than the original author.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Pusuit of Greatness
Comment: Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist in pursuit of greatness. His goal is to create a human out of sewn together parts of corpses. When the creature comes to life Victor instantly regrets his progress. His creation is a hideous monster that Frankenstein fears. The remainder of the book documents Victor's exploits in trying to capture the monster and conquer his fear and depression. Throughout the book the reader gets to hear the story from several different perspectives: a captain of a ship on a voyage to the North Pole who runs across Victor on the ice, Victor himself, and even the monster's side of the story. The end of the book is quite bleak and very depressing, but the idea discussed is one to think about: When does science go beyond morals and ethics into cruel punishment?
There was everything I love to be in a book in this book: mystery, a little bit of romance, and a great adventure. I love the way Mary Shelley keeps her audience reading by not revealing anything until the right time. The reader begins to question what is about to happen in the story and reviews all the possible outcomes of the situation.
The only drawback with this book is that the vocabulary of the characters is very sophisticated. The book is beautifully written, but some parts are difficult to understand because of the language used.
This book is a great piece of literature with action, adventure and suspense. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure.
Elizabeth Edmondson
Landrum High School
Landrum, SC
Customer Rating:
Summary: Forever and a Day
Comment: What can I say about Mary Shelly's story of Frankenstein? How about BORING! I mean sure the concept of the book is cool but only two out of so may parts were the only interesting part. Wait, I take that back, three. The part in the letter where Walden first saw the monster, the part when Frankenstein was making the monster, and the part when the monster was killing people. The rest was just unwanted details. That book literally put me to sleep and it's about a monster! Frankenstein's suppose to be an exciting Halloween story gives little kids nightmares! Instead it's a bed time story for a caffeine addict.
I thought it would be cool to finally know how the monster really came to life, but I didn't even get that much out of the book. It doesn't say how it was created, or even what happened to him after he left.
If you've ever read the book you know that long 50 page story of when the monster was stocking those people in the cottage. Instead of that how about this. After scaring a man out of his home, the monster finds a hole in the wall, looks through it and sees people. He watches them 24 7 while he learns more words, gets more food, and evidently, learns how to read. After so long he decides to meet and actually talk to them, but does it the wrong way so they beat him up and throw him out. Then he runs away ashamed of himself. Wow, that was so hard.
The book would be great with a little work. Okay, lots of work. But, you can't save them all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: frankenstein
Comment: came next day in perfect condition my sister needed it for school and she was very pleased thank you
Customer Rating:
Summary: Prometheus
Comment: On my recent travels, I finished reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Written in the Gothic style, it's also written as one would tell a ghost story: minimalist in its descriptions of setting, focusing on character and action more than anything else. It's written in the first person, with varying narrators allowing for varied points of view. Despite the threadbare descriptions of setting, Shelley does a good job of conveying with those few words key aspects of the setting, giving her story great atmosphere.
Gothic stories always are high on emotion, and not high on reasoning thought, and this is no exception. I am still left wondering how folks can consider this a work of science fiction. It is more fantasy than science fiction: man takes on the role of God, man's creation, like God's, goes awry, and the pair are locked in a monumental struggle. Fantasy's themes often go to the nature of characters trying to choose between right and wrong, while science fiction's themes go towards the consequences of technology and science, without the necessity of morality, and Frankenstein tends towards fantasy under that line of thinking...hence, the alternate title, "The Modern Prometheus".
All in all, an entertaining, and quick read.