Frankenstein

By: Mary Shelley

Narrated by: Dan Stevens

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Solo Narration - Male, 2013

Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2013

Narrator Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) presents an uncanny performance of Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel, an epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.

Public Domain (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

so much yes!

great performance of the classic horror story. Dan Stevens is a great reader! highly recommend

Found it lacking while trying to overcompensate:

I’m sure at the time this book was a winner. The very idea of a man having the audacity to play God would undoubtedly have struck fear into the average person. How fitting then that such actions led to a horribly disfigured creature who’s actions only cause the creator grief and heartache. The callback to “Paradise Lost” was a nice touch to even further he actions of our main character taking on the role of God and his creator one of Adam.

My biggest issue with this book is this: it feels mighty descriptive, there seem to be a lot of adjectives, yet I feel as though I’m left wanting in the most vital parts. Don’t get me wrong- there’s a whole lot of things that I deeply appreciated from this book, but in those essential moments I didn’t feel like I was getting what I thought the author capable of.This quite possibly comes from over exposure to media in general which I fully understand that the author did not have at the time, so I’m willing to let that pass.

I realize that this was meant to be more of a debate on reviving life after one has died and having that ability then an actual horror story so the dialogue was necessary in her mind. I found it somewhat cumbersome at times, though it was moving and filled with passion.

Captivating

Saw the movie abt Mary Shelley, which was intriguing. Made me want to read or listen to the book. Richly poetic, tragic, interesting. It kept my attention much better than classics usually do. Definitely evokes a range of complex emotions. If you cam get past the first few chapters, the “letters” —which is a vehicle for relaying the story—it gets much more compelling.

Great story and great narration

I really enjoyed this story and narration. Great use of language and what a cool story!

Amazing

This was an amazing narrator performance by Dan Stevens. He made you feel the tragedy of this book. This book is not the horror I expected but more a powerful tragedy that makes you really think. I am so happy I decided to give it a shot.

Ducking wow

It’s never Ducking. Vocabulary stretching , self evaluation inducing, captivating caricature of madness. Lovely self destruction.

Beautiful despair

Beautifully written with emotional imagery, while narrated perfectly. I’m glad I finally got around to reading this original by Mary Shelly, written in 1818 but will forever in my eyes be a classic to be read at any time.

I cannot recommend this enough and look forward to hearing more books read by Dan Stevens.

Nothing like what I expected

I didn't think I needed to read this book and I'd seen many movies over the years and thought I knew this story. As a result of reading Dracula, and being surprised how different it was from what I expected, I decided to read this as well. Much different story than any of the movies. Worth the read. Performance is very good. While the story is good, it's not quite at the level of Bram Stoker's Dracula. If you like the genre, you'll enjoy this.

read it long ago

still a great story.
would recommend it to anybody wish there had been audio books when I was in school.

first time reading it

The narrator was excellent! I never read the book and was very pleased with the story as well.