{"title":"Mary Shelley","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"frankenstein","title":"Frankenstein","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published anonymously in 1818, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e emerged from Mary Shelley’s extraordinary imagination at the intersection of Gothic romance, scientific speculation and philosophical inquiry. The novel follows Victor Frankenstein, a young Swiss scientist whose ambition to penetrate the secrets of life leads him to create a living being, only to recoil from the consequences of his experiment. Abandoned by his creator, the Creature confronts a world that responds to his appearance with fear and rejection, setting in motion a tragic pursuit shaped by loneliness, vengeance and the desire for human companionship.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMore than a Gothic tale of scientific transgression, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrankenstein\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e asks who bears responsibility for the life one brings into the world, and how cruelty and exclusion can shape the very violence they seek to prevent. Written when Shelley was still a teenager and revised for its 1831 edition, the novel became a foundational work of science fiction while retaining the atmosphere of Romanticism and the Gothic tradition. Its enduring power lies in the moral ambiguity it gives both creator and creation, and in its unsettling vision of knowledge pursued without compassion.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Mary Shelley, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrankenstein\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrankenstein\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The most wonderful work to have been written at the age of eighteen that I have ever heard of.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Walter Scott, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64071413236042,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-last-man","title":"The Last Man","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1826, Mary Shelley’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a haunting work of speculative fiction set in a future world gradually devastated by a mysterious plague. Beginning in the late twenty-first century, the novel follows Lionel Verney and a circle of friends whose private hopes and political ambitions unfold against the collapse of civilisation. Among them are Adrian, a principled and idealistic statesman, and Raymond, a charismatic figure drawn towards power and military glory; their intertwined lives lend the narrative both the intimacy of personal tragedy and the scale of historical catastrophe.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlending Romantic idealism, political reflection and apocalyptic vision, Shelley’s novel explores mortality, isolation, the fragility of human institutions and the limits of progress. Its imagined future becomes a means of contemplating the anxieties of her own age, while the emotional force of the narrative is deepened by its meditation on friendship, grief and the persistence of memory. Long overshadowed by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrankenstein\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is now recognised as a pioneering work of apocalyptic literature and one of Shelley’s most ambitious examinations of humanity confronting its own possible extinction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“We are all alike the children of a woman, and the same fate awaits us all.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Mary Shelley, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The Last Man is an important prototype for the post-apocalyptic genre.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Scholarly commentary on Mary Shelley’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Last Man\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64071440138570,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/mary-shelley.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}