Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Small paperback, spine creasing, sides starting to yellow

"With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs."

Ambitious, knowledge-hungry student Victor Frankenstein lights upon the secret of breathing life into inanimate objects. After gathering a collection of body parts, he embarks on a macabre construction exercise, endowing the fruits of his labours with the life force. Having succeeded in his aim, Frankenstein recoils in horror at the “demoniacal corpse” he has created. He abandons the monster, who inspires fear and loathing in those he meets. Craving acceptance and affection but facing unrelenting rejection, the monster wreaks his revenge on his creator, who finds that playing God is a dangerous game: that with power comes responsibility.