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95 of 101 people found the following review helpful. and one of the best; and best-written horror stories in literatureBy mka33If youre reading this review; you only have one question. Youre not looking for a book review; you already know its a classic. You already know this is the most original; and one of the best; and best-written horror stories in literature. You may or may not like the story; but thats a matter of personal taste. A lot of people dont like Shakespeare; but no one questions whether he was a good writer or not. If you dont like the writing style; its because you arent familiar with the English of this period. Nearly eighty years before Stokers "Dracula" ( an idea stolen from Polidoris "The Vampyre"; which was an idea stolen from LeFanus "Carmilla"); this most-original horror masterpiece was born. So; your only question is; "Is this really the uncensored 1818 version? Because Ive only seen one other verified version; and its over twenty dollars in paperback. All the others claiming to be the 1818 version have been disproved." YES; as far as I can tell; it is. The only preface is Shelleys own original. There is no introduction; no commentary or editorial credits whatsoever. There are no illustrations; and the spelling and language have not been edited. Have a good thesaurus handy. So; here it is; the authors original script; no frills; for a bargain price. Which is exactly what I was looking for.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The monster "had" a heartBy George C. KingThere are several good reasons for reading FRANKENSTEIN; by Mary Shelley.First; its an excellent example of literature of the English Romantic period. It has the Gothic element as exemplified by its eerie monster; the detailed appreciation of nature with its descriptions of lakes; mountains; forests; and ice floes; and the idealization of the common man in its central characterization of the humble DeLaceys; who are at first so much admired by the monster.Second; it is the first example of science fiction in English literature; as science is used to create human life in the laboratory. Some may argue that the third voyage of GULLIVERS TRAVELS is also science fiction with its flying island; thus making FRANKENSTEIN the first complete novel in this genre.Third; the plot of the novel is an intricate frame story that contains not one; not two; but three narratives. The outside frame consists of the epistolary technique--a series of letters exchanged between Captain Robert Walton and his sister; Margaret. Walton is exploring the North Pole region on his ship when he sights first a giant who is fleeing across the ice and then shortly afterward Victor Frankenstein in a physically diminished state. Walton rescues Frankenstein; who was pursuing the nameless; eight-foot tall creature. Frankenstein then proceeds to tell his life story in an extended flashback.A brilliant student; Frankensteins reach exceeds his grasp when he makes the decision to play God. Using recycled body parts of humans and animals and his knowledge of chemistry; he creates a monster with yellow eyes and yellow; almost transparent skin; so hideous looking that Frankenstein abandons his creation as soon as the thing opens its watery eyes. The monster disappears; and Frankenstein himself is ill for a period of time. Eventually he learns of the death of his young brother; supposedly killed by his caretaker; who is subsequently tried and executed. Frankenstein suspects otherwise and eventually confronts his ghastly creation; who confesses.This confession; which is the third narrative; will wring the heart of the reader; and this account is the finest part of Shelleys novel. The monster has frightening encounters with humans and so eventually hides near the cottage of the DeLacey family. He watches them; falls in love with their humble lifestyle; and does farm chores for them at night in secret. By listening to them; he learns to speak and by borrowing their books; again at night; he learns to read. Thus he becomes the educated creature confessing to Victor Frankenstein. Finally; the monster gets up the courage to reveal himself; first to the blind DeLacey grandfather; but when he is discovered by the adult children; all hell literally breaks loose.I cannot emphasize enough how poignant and heart-breaking this section of the novel is. After his rejection by the DeLaceys; the monster burns down their cottage and eventually murders his creators brother. Now he asks Victor Frankenstein to have mercy on him--by creating a mate for him! It will be a new Eve for the new Adam; and Frankenstein reluctantly agrees. However; when the time comes to do the deed; he cannot bring himself to bring another monster into the world.What follows is a continuation of Victors story and then Waltons--it is a tale of madness; mayhem; and murder that eventually ends in self-destruction on the ice floes of the North Pole.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Therersquo;s a reason why itrsquo;s a classic!By RamFirst off; I have to be honest in saying that I was actually very surprised that the storymdash;the original textmdash;is nothing like the stories we have today about Frankenstein. First being that Frankenstein wasnrsquo;t even the name of the that freaky dude. He was actually called the creature or the monster in the book and came to be the Frankenstein monster but he wasnrsquo;t actually called that sohellip;tough call for any families actually named Frankenstein during those days.Second; this book is terrifying! Itrsquo;s more than the image of this monster thatrsquo;s scary because in reality; therersquo;s not even much of description of the creature except he was yellow skin; had big eyes; like 8 ft tall; and had black lips. No really; therersquo;s barely a paragraph of him. So I donrsquo;t know where the green colored Herman Munster comes from really. But back to what I was sayinghellip;ah yes; the terror! Because therersquo;s so much background of this doctor Victor Frankenstein itrsquo;s scary to imagine what goes inside his psychotic little head. The description of what he does and what he thinks is so detailed; the story seems to be like a big fat foreshadow. And therersquo;s so much death! Caroline; William; Henry; etchellip; Any character besides Vic barely lasts a few chapters.If you havenrsquo;t read it; I would definitely suggest it. Usually classics are either a strong no or yes but this is a strong yes for me! Itrsquo;s completely worth it and if you ever consider watching the ridiculous movie adaptations then read the book first! The movies are ridiculous; specially the one with Robert De Niro in it.Overall Rating: Well; who am I to rate it? Except that I really did like it; for a horror book. Itrsquo;s definitely up there with Stephen King; actually way better than SK; so I would definitely give it a 5/5.