Frankenstein

by Bob Blaisdell (Adapter), Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

With his debut nearly two centuries ago, Dr. Frankenstein's monster captured the popular imagination and never let go, haunting even those who have never read this classic of horror fiction. This specially adapted children's edition retains all of the excitement of the original version yet makes the enduring Gothic fable accessible to youngsters.
The brilliant scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein indulges his curiosity about the hidden laws of nature when he happens upon the secret to the animation of lifeless matter. Piecing together the detritus of butcher shops and dissecting rooms, the doctor fashions an eight-foot-tall creature whose loathsome appearance fills even his creator with repulsion. Abandoned by his maker, rejected with fear and disgust by everyone he encounters, the enraged and embittered monster goes on a murderous rampage, determined to destroy Frankenstein by striking at those closest to him.
Since its 1817 publication, this incredible and imaginative fantasy has held generations of readers spellbound. This new, specially abridged edition, enhanced with illustrations by Thea Kliros, will satisfy young readers' appetites for gripping suspense and ghoulish thrills.

Genres: Fiction, Classics

96 pages, Paperback

Published July 3, 1997

About the author

Bob Blaisdell is a published adapter, author, editor, and an illustrator of children's books and young adult books. He teaches English in Brooklyn at Kingsborough Community College. He is a reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and Christian Science Monitor and the editor of more than three dozen anthologies for Dover Publications. Email him at Robert.Blaisdell@Kingsborough.edu

Reviews

[Caree Sessions · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it a second time...or more accurately, listened to it. It was much better as an audiobook. It was easier to follow which character was saying what, and I actually really enjoyed it and it really made me think.

[Helynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Shelley's classic, written in 1816 at the height of her controversial marriage to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (he abandoned his first wife and two children to run off with teen-aged Mary), is a hallmark of the Romantic movement. Furthermore, the monster the misguided Dr. Frankenstine creates in his medical lab in the Swiss countryside, is nothing like the mindless Hollywood creations we are all used to seeing and screaming at. Shelley's monster is fearsome, of course, and he does become homocidal. However, Shelley conceived him as a sort of Romantic hero--highly intelligent, but lonely, isolated, misunderstood, and incapable of any human relationship because he is, by necessity, so very different. When the monster turns violent and vindictive, it is out of frustration over the sheer, unbearable intensity of his own personal sorrow. Dr. Frankenstein himself is basically a sympathetic character as are Elizabeth, his ill-fated fiancee, and his other family members and the local townspeople. It is their inability or unwillingness to show compassion to a misfit that is their undoing. This is a must-read for people who think they know the legend of Frankenstein through the various film versions. And please don't think the Kenneth Branagh film entitled Mary Shelley's Frankensteinis a faithful recreation of the book. It starts out with good intentions, then deteriorates into a bunch of nonsense that was obviously thrown in for the sake of special effects and better ratings. Stay with the book. It has earned its status as a classic.

[Luisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My little ones and I read this together to get us ready for the Halloween spirit. This is a story you can find interesting/entertaining at any age.

Dr. Frankenstein brings life to a being of his own creation. The creature, or monster as it often referred as, finds that it is in a world where humanity fears and hates him because of how hideous and monstrous he looks. The main conflict the doctor faces is whether he should make a companion for the monster so he'll leave in peace, or if in doing so he'll create an even more devilish creature than before.

I enjoyed it because of the themes and symbolism. My little one enjoyed it simply because it was a story about a monster. I recommend this version of "Frankenstein" to children ages 10-14.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than the movie adeptations lead me to beleive it would be. Mary Shelley does a remarkable job of making her characters rich and well-rounded. The monster was by far the most sypmathetic character in the book. A lost soul looking for love and acceptance. Something his creator - Frankenstein - coudl not or would not give. Who is the real moster?

[Gwen]

What a great book!

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good read. A little letdown by having all the movies say "It's alive!" and never reading those words.

[Kt4000 · Rating 5 out of 5]

not scary but super sad. makes me cry.

[Jenny Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soo..this book is kinda depressing, because everyone dies in it (literally, everyone but one), but it is really good and plus, it's a classic, so you have to read it.