Frankenstein

Escrito por Mary Shelley

Narrado por Fabio Camero

Mary Shelley, recien salida de la adolescencia fue la companera del celebre poeta ingles Percy Shelley, con quien se fugo a Suiza, a pesar de estar el casado. Cuando su esposa se suicido, los dos amantes contrajeron matrimonio. En una reunion, a la que asistio Byron, este ultimo propuso que cada uno escribiera una historia de horror y la joven sorprendio a todos cuando llego con la historia de "Frankenstein, o el moderno Prometeo", un clasico de la literatura de horror. Contra lo que muchos creen, Frankenstein no es el monstruo creado de trozos de cadaveres, sino el doctor que hace esa horrenda creacion, que como en tantas leyendas, acaba volviéndose contra su creador. Ese personaje ha fascinado a generaciones de lectores y sus versiones cinematograficas, han tenido un merecido exito de publico.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: YOYO USA
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 1 ene 2001
• ISBN: 9781611552690

Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley (1797-1851) was an English novelist. Born the daughter of William Godwin, a novelist and anarchist philosopher, and Mary Wollstonecraft, a political philosopher and pioneering feminist, Shelley was raised and educated by Godwin following the death of Wollstonecraft shortly after her birth. In 1814, she began her relationship with Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she would later marry following the death of his first wife, Harriet. In 1816, the Shelleys, joined by Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont, physician and writer John William Polidori, and poet Lord Byron, vacationed at the Villa Diodati near Geneva, Switzerland. They spent the unusually rainy summer writing and sharing stories and poems, and the event is now seen as a landmark moment in Romanticism. During their stay, Shelley composed her novel Frankenstein (1818), Byron continued his work on Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-1818), and Polidori wrote “The Vampyre” (1819), now recognized as the first modern vampire story to be published in English. In 1818, the Shelleys traveled to Italy, where their two young children died and Mary gave birth to Percy Florence Shelley, the only one of her children to survive into adulthood. Following Percy Bysshe Shelley’s drowning death in 1822, Mary returned to England to raise her son and establish herself as a professional writer. Over the next several decades, she wrote the historical novel Valperga (1923), the dystopian novel The Last Man (1826), and numerous other works of fiction and nonfiction. Recognized as one of the core figures of English Romanticism, Shelley is remembered as a woman whose tragic life and determined individualism enabled her to produce essential works of literature which continue to inform, shape, and inspire the horror and science fiction genres to this day.

Comentarios para Frankenstein

[collingsruth · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Too much romanticism. And I think the pressure to look at the creature sympathetically pissed me off more than it should.

[tess_w · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

This is a great version of the classic. It is so much better written than the classic Dracula. Victor Frankenstein creates a hideous being from corpses. This monster, after failing to receive acceptance because of his appearance, kills those beloved by its creator. His demand is that Frankenstein build a mate for him. Frankenstein refuses and the monster then destroys everything the Dr. loves. He also destroys Frankenstein’s sanity. It’s obvious that the author was well-educated because her choice of words was superior to most other writers that one reads.

[flechasiete · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Pequeña historia que va in crescendo con emociones indescriptibles, muertes que son crestas de una música tenebrosa que sobrecogen el corazón... épico final... es una muy penosa representación de muchos de nosotros...
Gracias...

[arkrayder · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

When I first read Frankenstein as a teenager I found it incredibly boring. But, thankfully I decided to re-read it after having found this edition and could not put it down. Great story, in a way timeless. I will seek out the "uncensored" 1818 version and compare. Fully worth the time it took to read.

[pixelette · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The storyline of this was very surprising! From all the pop culture references to the story, I thought that it was going to be completely different. I also found it quite absorbing. A great read, especially lovely that you can pick it up for free and pop it on your e-reader and then enjoy the whole thing instantly. Magic!

[bibleblaster · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Not the story you'd expect from the late-night "creature features. With the power of myth, Shelley tells the story of Dr. Frankenstein, the life he creates, and the lives he destroys. Makes me wonder about her other novels and what themes she tackled...Seeming only to gain in relevancy to the human condition with each passing year, this story will be with us for a long time.

[matthew.ducmanas · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Written with just as much melodrama as you'll see in every film adaptation, Shelly's novel is nonetheless still quite powerful. Frankenstein still allows parallels to be drawn with our times despite being originally published nearly 200 years ago. For all its symbolism it remains a very human story.

[katy89williams · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand how on earth this book could be considered boring. I had to read it in school and I finished it before the rest of my class and then I went and bought my own copy. She clearly shows the character's pain that he felt with playing God. It tore him apart the fact that he created this poor creature and he didn't consider how it would survive, if it needed companionship, and especially how society would accept him. Frankenstein's ambition for knowledge ruined his life when he created the monster, and he was made to suffer when he lost his cousin. For me, these elements cannot be considered boring or a let down.

[oldflame_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Too much romanticism. And I think the pressure to look at the creature sympathetically pissed me off more than it should.

[lreinardy08 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

A good story really about the cruelty of man. The horror story about the big bad monster isn't really what I consider this book. The creation of Frankenstein is a horrid sight that he regretted instantly, but could have been a perfectly happy, respectable "human being" had he been given the chance. The pain and destruction that man causes is far more overwhelming than that of Frankenstein's creation, and it is easily seen in the book. A good read, gets slow at times, especially the end... but a pretty good read non-the-less.

[msaucier818 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This book was not what I expected at all. I have seen various television and movie productions of Frankenstein, and none of them are accurate to the story at all outside of the creation of a "monster" out of dead human parts. The course of the story was very unexpected, and there is not nearly as much sympathy for the monster as I would have expected going into the book. The intellectual side of me very much enjoyed this book as it brings up many good philosophical questions about the meaning of life. It also even has a hint of science fiction in the sense that it looks the question of how would a creature such as this develop into an intelligent being.

I am glad I read this and am surprised that it took me so long to get to it. Recommended for all.

[Fanny Psiquiatra · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Todo un clásico, muy bien narrado. Lo recomiendo mucho

[Israel Ontiveros · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Esperaba que fuera espeluznante pero no fue así. Supongo que para la época que en que fue publicado sí lo era.

[ra_scrittore · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Those of you who have preconceived notions about this story because you've seen the Hollywood film versions, read this book. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I guarantee it. This is nothing like the film and so much better. Shelley, in her brilliance, offers the hideous creature as the one to pity here. Not Frankenstein, not the townspeople, but the creature. A sad victim of his creator's selfish ambitions and the prejudices of a naive populace. In a way, a neglected and abused child, driven to acts of violence and rage as the only release from the agonizing rejection and isolation. His only real crime was his consuming need for acceptance...a friend...to love and be loved. This book was so ahead of its time when it was written. I highly recommend it. One of my favorites.

[jamesmscott-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

A classic with a long legacy, and absolutely worth reading. Themes of loneliness and exile stand out to me. The backstory - Mary Shelley's age at writing, her incredibly smart parentage, the Lord Byron connection - is almost as tantalizing as the story. I will never imagine Frankenstein's unnamed "fiend, abhorred devil!" as the green, bolted machine portrayed in film. The true monster was more hideous, and much more pitiable.

[bonniemarjorie · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The summer of 1816 was named the “Year Without a Summer” after the eruption of Mount Tambora caused a long and dreary Volcanic Winter. With everyone keeping to the indoors, Mary, her future husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori all entertained themselves by telling ghost stories and then inevitably it was suggested they each come up with their own type of horror story. It was during this very summer that Mary Shelley, at the age of eighteen, came up with the initial concept of Frankenstein.‘After days and night of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.’Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a man that through experiementation in both science and alchemy devised a way to combine pieces of human corpses and give them new life. Frankenstein is a legendary story and has become a pivotal part of our cultural understanding of the supernatural world, however, the novel is actually nothing like the classic movies involving lightning, screaming and Frankenstein actually being excited at his accomplishments.His shock and awe quickly transforms into a horrific realization at what he was capable of and he ran away in terror, leaving the monster alone. We’re told Frankenstein’s story first and the steps that led to the monsters creation and the subsequent events as well. Frankenstein depicts him as a monster, thus the reason he is never given an actual name, but when we are finally given the story via the monsters point of view we realize this ‘monster’ is quite possibly anything but. His is a story of complete despondency that easily garners your compassion regardless of the pain and suffering he has wreaked. He may be a creation but is he still not a person? Is his creators ensuing abandonment to blame for his conduct because Frankenstein had a duty beyond just his creation? I believe it is. Without his creator there to teach him the ways of the world, he was forced to observe, learn and interpret on his own. So then it was his observances of society what transformed him into who he came to be? A matter of circumstance? He became an outcast of society because of his appearance and after a time became lonely and craved a companion. He sought out his creator so as to force him to duplicate his work.This is my first read of the classic and I must say it’s nothing like I was expecting. It ended up being a strange and eclectic blend of genres. It was science fiction, with the creation of a man from pieces of corpses, and it was gothic and horror, the dead coming back to life and wreaking havoc on the world. Neither of those were the sole purpose or point of this story; it only set the scene. At the heart of this story are the revolutionary and intellectual questions about life, death and existence. About scientific possibilities and how far is too far. And it’s about compassion and lack of it in this world. Was Frankenstein’s monster truly an outcast only because of his appearance, because initially he showed the utmost caring towards individuals and even saved a drowning girl at one point. Society saw the monster and judged him harshly based off that alone, never giving him the benefit of the doubt. It’s a fictional accounting of a harsh world but it’s a rather truthful and distressing accounting. This is Gothic literature at its very finest and I’m so glad I finally conquered this incredible piece of work.‘Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of unfolding. I was nourished with high thoughts of honour and devotion. But now crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal. No guilt, no mischief, no malignity, no misery, can be found comparable to mine. When I run over the frightful catalogue of my sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness.’

[umamh12 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Knowing the real story of the writer, Mary Shelley, you can relate to the dilemma of whether to bring back a loved one back from the dead or not. The consequences of knowing it may not be someone you recognize.

[Masha Lagonell · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Hermosa narración. Lo disfruté muchísimo. Narración súper poética y bella de Mary Shelley. La historia, genial.

[santadoesnotexist · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Qué triste final me ha hecho llorar. Un clásico hecho por una erudita

[atoponce-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

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.

[hodosano · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Best-ever illustrated version of Frankenstein.

[tess_schoolmarm · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

This is a great version of the classic. It is so much better written than the classic Dracula. Victor Frankenstein creates a hideous being from corpses. This monster, after failing to receive acceptance because of his appearance, kills those beloved by its creator. His demand is that Frankenstein build a mate for him. Frankenstein refuses and the monster then destroys everything the Dr. loves. He also destroys Frankenstein’s sanity. It’s obvious that the author was well-educated because her choice of words was superior to most other writers that one reads.

[soniaandree_1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

The critical edition includes the 1818 edition of Frankenstein, plus annotations and critical articles (primary sources and secondary sources). In general, it is aimed at undergraduate students of English and Literature. Also, it is highly useful for writing essais and for writing thematic index cards.

[glennbell_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

An interesting, well written, and entertaining story. The story has some fatal flaws that render it less than it could have been. It is just unreasonable that Victor would not forsee the creature's desire to kill his wife. There is no attempt to explain how the creature obtains giant stature. The creature's explanation of his increase in knowledge is too fast and illogical. Alternatively, a brain from a dead person would perhaps retain some knowledge from it's prior life. This appears not to be the case. I also find it unlikely that the creature would commit suicide based on the described personality traits.

[rontyler-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Why did I wait so long to read this? An excellent novel and highly recommended. Wonderful.

[truncoxx · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

I found this book to be a little boring and extremely predictable. This is obviously because of our culture and knowledge of Frankenstein and not the books fault whatsoever. Considering it was the first true story of Frankenstein, I consider it a good classic. I also love that it came from a woman as a competition amongst a few of her friends. The story is exactly what you expect it to be, very sad and long and a little weird.

[jasonpettus · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not they deserve the labelEssay #36: Frankenstein (1818), by Mary ShelleyThe story in a nutshell:To truly understand why Mary Shelley's 1818 Frankenstein first had the impact that it did, it's of crucial importance to understand the times in which it was written -- namely, the transitional years between the end of the Enlightenment and the beginning of Romanticism (also known as the "Victorian Age," in that its span largely matches the long reign of England's Queen Victoria), a period in which for the first time, huge amounts of people were starting to question the validity of trying to live one's life through the long-held tenets of rationality, scientific distance and atheism, especially after the disaster known as the French Revolution that had just occurred two decades previous. Certainly this is the main idea driving Shelley's story, the tale of a young aspiring medical student in rural Switzerland, who for lack of knowing better grows up studying and believing in the ideas of the "natural philosophers" and "alchemists" of the 1600s, back when it was sincerely believed that man would eventually figure out a way to turn lead into gold and bring the dead back to life. Even after he gets into a decent university, then, young Victor Frankenstein still can't give up on his dreams of one day creating artificial life out of a collection of spare parts; and indeed, by his twenties he actually succeeds at such a thing, although having to build his particular human much larger than the norm so that he's able to grip all the tiny little pieces involved.But watching his creature move and speak for the first time, Frankenstein becomes horrified by the monstrous abomination against God he's made; and so in typical undergraduate fashion, he simply runs away and tries to pretend that the whole thing never happened, leaving the creature in the woods to fend for itself and just assuming that it'll soon be dead. But surprisingly, the creature ends up thriving as a survivalist, first learning how to speak by loitering on the edges of a rural village, then eavesdropping on the villagers' conversations to realize just how different he is than them. Despondent, the creature eventually tracks Frankenstein down and demands that he build a similarly oversized companion for him, which at first Frankenstein agrees to but then destroys halfway through, queasy at the thought of what kind of damage two such creatures could wreak; and it's at this point that the creature declares a lifelong program of vengeance against Frankenstein for so coldly abandoning him, eventually not only killing half a dozen of the student's acquaintances (including his brother, his father and his wife), but even framing Frankenstein for one of the murders. Incensed, Frankenstein decides to hunt down the creature for his own revenge; this then leads them on a globetrotting chase culminating in a final showdown near the north pole, witnessed by a crew of exploratory sailors which is why it is that we supposedly know of the tale today.The argument for it being a classic:Well, to begin with, there's the simple argument of what a huge influence this has had on popular culture at large, with there now existing thousands of projects that in one way or another riff on either Frankenstein's monster itself or Shelley's general concept of the "mad scientist." (Of course, let's not forget that the vast majority of these are actually riffs on James Whale's infamous 1931 film adaptation, which in reality has very little to do with the book itself -- for example, just look at the differing ways the book and movie deal with one of the story's most famous scenes... BOOK: "One day, when I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects." MOVIE: "Fire bad! FIRE BAD!!!") Perhaps the more compelling argument, then, is that it's a perfect record of a very important time in history, a story that very cleverly references not only the events that led to the era before it but also the reasons why that era was eventually rejected; because for those who don't know, the Great Age of Reason initially started with these so-called natural philosophers of the 1600s, who did nothing but observe and replicate the way God worked out in nature, but by the 1800s had evolved into "scientists" who were actively attempting to manipulate and change this natural environment, which more and more people began to see as a mockery of God instead of an exaltation of Him. Although trashed by Enlightenment-trained critics when first coming out, Frankenstein was eagerly eaten up by the gothic-obsessed public at large, making it as powerful a reflection of its time as The DaVinci Code is of ours.The argument against:Not much these days, although for a long time it was argued that Frankenstein is nothing more than a simple piece of lurid entertainment designed for overly dramatic housewives, and not fit for being debated as a piece of literature to begin with. (In fact, I think it telling that when the book was first published anonymously, criticism tended to focus on its actual quality, while after the author's identity became known it was roundly dismissed altogether as "the work of a girl.") But of course, as with all literature, time has a way of profoundly changing our opinion of what constitutes artistic "worth," making this not much of a valid argument anymore.My verdict:As you can imagine, today I quite solidly fall on the side of Frankenstein's fans, although I should give fair warning that this book is very much a product of its early-1800s times, and has a tendency during huge sections to ramble on and on in a kind of flowery prose style that modern ears are not used to. In fact, for those trying to learn more these days about artistic history, I think it's no coincidence that this book was published just a year after the death of Jane Austen, who many consider the last great Enlightenment author; in this respect, then, you can see Shelley as the first of the great Romantic authors, and the 1810s and '20s as the grand changing of the guard among mainstream society between the former age and the latter. The fact is that Romanticism was always as much about one's attitude and lifestyle as it was about the finished works themselves, the age that first posited the idea of the artist as a passionate, tortured soul, traits which Shelley possessed in spades; because for those who don't know, she was not only married to scandalous poet Percy Shelley and kept company with such infamous libertines as Lord Byron (inspiration for the Victorian Age's "Byronic hero"), but even the story itself was apparently inspired by a nightmare after a raucous evening of drugs and medieval German fairytales*, about as Romantic as Romanticism gets. (And let's not even get started on the the autobiographical elements this book supposedly contains, including the argument that the whole thing is a scathing criticism of the way Percy dealt with the miscarriage of their first child.) Creepy, supernatural, concerned mostly with the pouty emotions of moody geniuses, Frankenstein is literally a textbook example of the finest early Romanticism has to offer, and its passionate embrace by the general public was a sign of the sea-change society was to start experiencing just twenty years later.Is it a classic? Yes*And by the way, for a creepily fantastic look at what that night of drugs and fairytales might've looked like, do make sure to check out Ken Russell's 1986 Gothic, one of my absolutely favorite movies when I was a teen.

[shanaqui_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I really didn't think much of this the first time, but I think that's partly due to the way culture prepares us for the figure of Frankenstein's monster. He's taken hold of the imagination almost as much as Dracula, but while the two stories share elements of the gothic, and form some basis for the horror genre, I think Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is quite different. It's a work often full of the poetry of the landscape, of nature, and the central questions are philosophical ones. There is no question in the reader's mind about Dracula's monstrosity; but Frankenstein's monster, on the other hand...I'm still not an immense fan of this, but I definitely appreciated it more this time. Considering Mary Shelley's mother, you'd have expected more significant female roles in this, but they're all the ministering angel type. It's interesting to think about why that should be, and if that in itself is actually significant to the story. What could have happened, if Victor had treated Elizabeth as an equal and told her the full story? Perhaps she could find a way to deal with the monster, or find it in her heart to befriend him...I think I know what my essay (for my Coursera SF/F class) will be about, at least. There are so many parallels with Biblical stories, with Milton's Paradise Lost; I think I've noticed one people talk less about.

[futuremrsjoshgroban · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Beautiful writing, hated the story.

[mattries37315 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley described how Victor Frankenstein achieved the seemingly impossible in creating life and how afterwards both he and his creation hurtled into a downward spiral. “Frankenstein” was the first piece of literature that would later become part of the science fiction genre through its protagonist’s use of science, but it is also the ethical and moral issues in the said use as well.The central moment story is well-known thanks to films and other popular adaptations, though the details are different. Victor Frankenstein, the supreme student of science, forms a creature over two years through obsessive work but only upon bringing it to life does he realize how monstrous he has formed it. The shock of his actions cause his health to fail him and he never truly recovers as his creation ever continues to plague both his mental and physical health until he dies of exhaustion. Yet, Frankenstein’s creature is equal shocked, first at his own existence and then with the realization that he is not human and monstrously so.The unnamed creature’s struggle towards humanity, achieving language and in-depth thought, is rendered in the end useless without the added element of social involvement with a humanity that shuns him including his own creator. Without the connection to humanity, the creature turns against it and begins taking his revenge the members of the human race most treasured by his creature. After Frankenstein’s rejection to give his creature a female counterpart to share his life, the creature deprives his creator of his new wife. Yet after the death of his creator, the creature seems to realize how human he had become with his utter disregard for life that many real people achieve on their own.While the book is from a different time and standard of literature that make it strange when compared to current books, “Frankenstein” has an element that keeps it as relevant today as it did back when Mary Shelley wrote it. The ethical and moral dilemmas that not only science but everyday life presents to us can take us down many different paths that include the flawed creator or a monster amongst them.