Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Publisher: DigiCat

Summary

Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" navigates the complex interplay between human ambition and ethical responsibility, delving deep into the ramifications of unrestrained scientific exploration. The novel unfolds through a frame narrative, employing epistolary elements that enhance its gothic style, while richly depicting the early 19th-century tensions between Romantic ideals and Enlightenment rationality. Shelley's prose is both lyrical and harrowing, inviting readers to grapple with the moral quandaries posed by Victor Frankenstein's quest to create life, ultimately examining the darker facets of creation and the profound loneliness of existence. Born to renowned thinkers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, Shelley's lineage undoubtedly shaped her exploration of radical ideas and the nature of humanity. The narrative emerged during a time when advancements in science sparked fervent discussions about ethics and the human condition. Shelley's personal experiences, including the loss of loved ones and her radical upbringing, imbue the text with a haunting emotional depth, reflecting her concerns over unchecked ambition and the human psyche. "Frankenstein" is essential reading for anyone intrigued by the moral implications of scientific discovery and the pursuit of knowledge. Shelley's profound insights have ensured the book's relevance, making it a timeless exploration of the boundaries of creation and the vulnerabilities that accompany the human experience.

Available since: 11/13/2022.

Print length: 219 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Top 10 Short Stories The -...

D H Lawrence, Nikolai Gogol,...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume our author’s pens turn to tales of sadness. This distressing feeling can arrive at a moment’s notice or gradually build and overwhelm. Within these stories Anton Chekhov, Sherwood Anderson, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Katherine Mansfield and many others explore and reveal the consequences.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - Sadness - An Introduction
2 - Odour of Chrysanthemums by D H Lawrence
3 - The Cloak by Nikolai Gogol also known as 'The Overcoat'
4 - Life of Ma Parker by Katherine Mansfield
5 - Paul's Case by Willa Cather
6 - Silence by Leonid Andreyev
7 - The Stones of the Village by Alice Dunbar Nelson
8 - Hide And Seek or Pliatki by Fyodor Sologub
9 - Hands by Sherwood Anderson
10 - Vanka by Anton Chekhov
11 - A Dark Brown Dog by Stephen Crane

Show book

The Luft Bad

Katherine Mansfield

The Luft Bad is a short story by Katherine Mansfield: I think it must be the umbrellas which make us look ridiculous. – When I was admitted into the enclosure for the first time, and saw my fellow-bathers walking about very nearly “in their nakeds,” it struck me that the umbrellas gave a distinctly “Little Black Sambo” touch...

Show book

The Life and Adventures of Santa...

L. Frank Baum

"The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" by L. Frank Baum offers a whimsical and imaginative look into the origins of the beloved figure, Santa Claus. From his infancy raised by the nymph Necile in the magical Forest of Burzee, to his journey of spreading joy through gift-giving, Baum crafts an enchanting narrative. The tale reveals Claus's transformations into a legend, detailing his triumphs over adversity, friendships with mystical beings, and the establishment of cherished Christmas traditions. This heartwarming story enriches the mythology of Santa Claus with creativity and charm.

Show book

Russian Short Story The - Volume...

Maxim Gorky, Ivan Bunin,...

The Russian novel has a reputation that is immense, both in narrative and in length.  Unquestionably though the ideas, themes and characters make many novels rightly revered as world class, as icons of literature. 
 
Perhaps an easier way to enjoy a wider selection of the Russian heritage, with its varied and glorious literary talents, is with the short story.  These gems sparkle and beguile the mind with their characters and narrative, exploring facets of society and the human condition that more Western authors somehow find more difficult to navigate, or to explore, explain and relate to.   
 
The Russian short story is, in many respects, in a genre of its own.  It is at its captivating best whether it’s an exploration of real-life experiences, through fantasy and fables and on to total absurdity. 
 
In a land so vast it is unsurprising that it is a world almost unto itself. Cultures and landscapes of differing hues are packed together bound only by the wilful bonds and force of Empire. 
 
The stories in this collection traverse the decades where one might be a serf under an absolute monarch, and the reality of that was pretty near to slavery, into an emancipation of sorts in the fields, or towns under the despotic will of landowners and the rich into the upheavals of Empire and then the overthrow of the ruling class and its replacement by the communists, who promised equality for all and delivered a society where the down-trodden remained the lowest yet vital cog of the state machine and its will.  
 
Whilst Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Chekhov are a given in any Russian collection we also explore and include Andreyev, Korolenko, Turgenev, Blavatsky and many others to create a world rich and dense across a sprawling landscape of diverse people, riddled with the class and unfairness in perhaps some of the most turbulent times that Russia has ever experienced. 
 
01 - The Russian Short Story - Volume 5 - An Introduction 
02 - About Love by Anton Chekhov 
03 - Vanka by Anton Chekhov 
04 - Hide And Seek or Pliatki by Fyodor Sologub 
05 - In The Steppe by Maxim Gorky 
06 - Chelkash - Part 1 by Maxim Gorky 
07 - Chelkash - Part 2 by Maxim Gorky 
08 - Chelkash - Part 3 by Maxim Gorky 
09 - Twenty-Six Men and a Girl by Maxim Gorky 
10 - One Autumn Night by Maxim Gorky 
11 - Her Lover by Maxim Gorky 
12 - The Servant by S T Semyonov 
13 - Son by Ivan Bunin 
14 - Kasimir Stanislavovitch by Ivan Bunin 
15 - Gentle Breathing by Ivan Bunin 
16 - The Outrage by Alexander Kuprin 
17 - The Park of Kings by Alexander Kuprin

Show book

The House of the Wolfings

William Morris

William Morris was a British textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he played a significant role propagating the early socialist movement in Britain. Morris was born in Walthamstow, Essex to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying Classics at Oxford University, there joining the Birmingham Set. After university, he trained as an architect, married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb.

Show book

Roger Malvin's Burial

Nathaniel Hawthorne

There are stories that stay quiet, even after you finish them. Roger Malvin's Burial is one of those. It's not about war, though it begins there. It's about what a man carries when no one's watching—what he tells no one, not even himself. Hawthorne doesn't accuse. He simply opens a door and lets us stand in the silence. This story doesn't resolve. It echoes.

Show book