Frankenstein

The debut book of an author who was only 19 years old at the time of its publication rarely becomes an event in national and even world literature. However, the novel by the English writer Mary Shelley “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus” (1818) awaited just such a fate. Conceived and begun during a creative competition in writing scary stories initiated by Lord Byron, this novel became one of the masterpieces of Romantic Gothic and at the same time the starting point of the science fiction tradition in modern prose. Referring by its very name to the ancient myth of Prometheus, M. Shelley’s book in less than two centuries has spawned its own mythology, growing with new characters and meanings in countless imitations, adaptations and film adaptations. The tragic and terrible plot of the novel turned out to be open to all kinds of interpretations, and the name and personality of the Swiss experimental scientist Victor Frankenstein are firmly connected in the modern consciousness with the image of the monster he created into a dual symbol of daring hopes and mortal dangers that accompany scientific quests and outstanding discoveries. In addition to the novel, this edition includes the story “Metamorphosis” by M. Shelley, as well as detailed behind-the-text comments.