Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus

By: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

SPECIAL OFFER: Get the full text of this classic novel as an eBook when you purchase the audio. You'll receive an e-mail with a link to download the eBook after your purchase is confirmed. Having the novel in convenient Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format will allow you to read along with the audio, perform a "cover to cover" search for your favorite passages, and more.

Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only 18. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein.

Obsessed with discovering "the cause of generation and life" and "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter", Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts. However, upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness.

Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Frankenstein, an instant best seller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science-fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? And how far can we go in tampering with Nature?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A novel which excites new reflections and untried sources of emotion." (Walter Scott, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine)

An excellent book and performance

Don’t shy away from this book thinking that because you understand the reference, or have seen a play, you understand. This is a classic with a moral which is still relevant today (perhaps more so) and a story just an engaging as the moral is relevant.

Perfectly read

Not a dramatic reading, but enough characterization to each voice that you can keep track of who is narrating. I was afraid to read this book but what a wonderful book it is. And Simon Vance is a great reader.

Too wordy...

Reader was excellent!!!!
Story was good
Writing was unnecessarily wordy.
Yes the author created a well written novel. I can't argue that. Just not my style. Annoying to listen to the wordiness...

Truest well written and well performed

A great story. It was interesting because I had not read it in 45 years. My mind had muddled it with the movies. Much better, great morality play.

A surprising reflection on humanity

Suspenseful and thought-provoking. So much more than a silly B movie. I highly recommend this look in the mirror of humanity and monsters.

Frankenstein

The book is so much more than the movies or the stage productions. Isn't that true 99% of the time? Simon Vance brings Dr. Frankenstein and his monster to life. Great reading of a great book.

Exceptional writing and fantastic narration.

Classic, superb, and brimming with themes. A must read for High School aged young adults as well as adults. Chilling and agonizing in its narrative.

what to say

I loved the book, but I am disappointed in the ending. I feel that it should be more there, in some way it just stopped like the aouter got tired of here story. And I can see that I might be a bit out on a lim there, but I want there to be more. A conclusion to the last problem and maybe some help to the narrater of the story of Frankenstein.

It is alive. The story, that is.

I was numb with two centuries of retellings of this story. But the spoken word performance by Simon Vance brought the story alive. I can see it's one of the first and one of the most perfect novels written. The myth will be around for millennia, long after the monster gets around to being done with himself in an artic fire.

Pleasure to listen to

Always a pleasure to reread this story. I enjoyed the performance very much; it was animated and the varying characters brought to life.