DiscoverThe LRB PodcastClose Readings: ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley
Close Readings: ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley

Close Readings: ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley

Update: 2025-07-30
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Born from grief, exile, intellectual ferment and the ‘year
without a summer’, Frankenstein is a creation myth with its own creation
myth. Mary Shelley’s novel is a foundational work of science fiction, horror
and trauma narrative, and continues to spark reinvention and reinterpretation.


In their fourth conversation together, Adam Thirlwell and Marina Warner explore Shelley’s treatment of birth, death, monstrosity and the limits of science. They discuss Frankenstein’s philosophical and personal undercurrents, and how the creature and his creator have broken free from the book.


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Close Readings: ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley

Close Readings: ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley

The London Review of Books