Mary Shelley (n茅e Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher . She was the daughter of the political philosopher and the writer, philosopher, and feminist .
Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.
The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.
The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.
El romanticismo de Mary Shelley es maravilloso. En este cuento confluyen el amor, el orgullo y el titanismo byroniano en un amante dispuesto a todo por lograr el coraz贸n de Juliet. Tambi茅n contiene la tem谩tica del doble. Es profundamente agradable leer a Mary Shelley...
- 鈥淢etamorfosi 鈥�(Transformation 1831) 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙 - "Il mortale immortale" (The Mortal Immortal) 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙 - "Il malocchio" (The Evil Eye) 猸愨瓙猸�
Tre declinazioni in cui il soprannaturale s鈥檌nsinua nella vita degli uomini. Mary Shelley ai miei occhi si riconferma maestra nel dipingere le atmosfere e gli animi umani sconvolti da eventi pi霉 che insoliti.
Dall鈥檃rrogante sete di vendetta di cui rimane vittima Guido protagonista del primo racconto, attraverso il gesto impulsivo di Winzy che pagher脿 con una tormentosa eternit脿 fino al personaggio di Dmitri che, nell鈥檜ltimo racconto, traslato in altre terre (Albania) e in altre situazioni concentra forse l鈥檈ssenza degli altri due (peccato che abbia trovato pi霉 contorta la narrazione).
I primi due racconti sono narrati in prima persona dagli stessi protagonisti bisognosi di lasciare testimonianza delle loro avventura:
鈥� Ho sentito dire che quando a un essere umano 猫 occorsa una qualsivoglia avventura strana, soprannaturale, negromantica, quell鈥檈ssere umano, per quanto desideroso di occultarla possa essere, si sente in certi periodi lacerato, per cos矛 dire, da un terremoto intellettuale, ed 猫 costretto a denudare le profondit脿 pi霉 intime del suo spirito con qualcun altro.鈥�
L鈥檜ltimo racconto, invece, 猫 frutto del narratore onnisciente, quasi un modo di prendere distanza dagli eventi seguendoli con un occhio esterno.
Le storie macabre portano alla luce questioni essenziali: il valore del proprio corpo, del tempo e della propria identit脿. Possiamo perdere tutto e un gesto compiuto in un attimo pu貌 essere la condanna di sempre.
"芦Vieni, vieni, non aver paura, amico禄, disse lo sciagurato: 芦sono bonario quando sono contento; e anche se sembri un po鈥� afflitto, nel tuo corpo ben proporzionato e nel tuo bel viso c鈥櫭� qualcosa che mi piace. Tu hai vissuto un naufragio terrestre - io, uno marino. Forse potr貌 calmare la tempesta delle tue fortune cos矛 come ho calmato la mia. Vogliamo essere amici?禄"
Bueno la historia trata de Guido, un joven genov茅s muy atractivo y millonario que sin embargo en el transcurso de su vida se arruinar谩 debido a gastos y disipaciones, algo por entonces quiz谩s muy frecuente entre la aristocracia antigua, pues este cuento est谩 ambientado en el siglo XV. Par铆s ser谩 la fuente de perdici贸n para este joven (los escritores ingleses siempre con su tema contra Francia). Guido nos cuenta c贸mo el orgullo fue una fuerza que nunca pudo resistir a lo largo de su vida, por lo menos as铆 lo dice, siempre el "hacer lo que quiera" fue su impulso y t贸tem para m谩s bien arruinar su vida, claro, en realidad, eso oculta todos los vicios y dem谩s conductas injustificables, pero por lo menos Guido pretende al parecer que esa "libertad" fue la que siempre lo llev贸 a no esperar nada de nadie y no obedecer a los consejos m谩s prudentes de sus allegados. Sin embargo esto no es lo principal en esta trama ya que en un momento el protagonista se hallar谩 ante un ser sobrenatural que aparte de inspirarle un miedo terrible le propondr谩 un buen trato. Interesante y f谩cil de leer.
I spotted the slim Alma 101 edition of Mary Shelley's Transformation and Other Stories in the library. I was unaware of these tales beforehand, and thus wrestled the tiny book out from the very packed-full shelf accordingly. I adore Frankenstein, and have been so keen to pick up more of Shelley's work for years, but rarely find it.
The three stories collected here are great. They are science-fiction-esque; normally, this is a genre which I do not enjoy, but Shelley does it so well. Her tales are highly inventive and clever, and were nowhere near as creepy as I was expecting. Engrossing, beautifully written, and so well formed, Transformation would be an excellent choice for anyone to pick up.
I鈥檝e been trying to find more of Mary Shelley鈥檚 stories and this collection was excellent. If there is one thing we can say about it is that she had a wild and quirky imagination. All three stories are well developed and have some interesting plot twists.
鈥滺e encontrado una cana. 隆Est煤pido! 驴Me lamento por ello? As铆 es.鈥�
Si alguien sabe de alguna buena biograf铆a de Mary Shelley, com茅ntenla. Entre m谩s les daba vueltas a las tres historias de esta peque帽a colecci贸n mas me abrumaba que todas trataran con la perdida de algo. Y aunque las tres entran en el g茅nero de ciencia ficci贸n o fantas铆a, en realidad lo que mas resalta son las emociones contradictorias de los personajes ya que pasamos mas tiempo en sus cabezas que fuera de ellas.
El Mortal Inmortal siendo mi favorito tambi茅n es el mas existencial, ligeramente depresivo incluso. Sobre alguien que ha vivido mucho y ha llevado una miserable existencia como textualmente dice la historia. En verdad ocupo una biograf铆a de MS ya de ya
Lo que me llevo de esta colecci贸n es como la autora crea toda una atmosfera para la soledad de sus personajes. Se que tiene m谩s escritos por ah铆 y aunque sean algo dif铆ciles de encontrar de a poco en poco los ir茅 adquiriendo.
Di Mary Shelley avevo letto solo Frankenstein; e molto colpevolmente, perch茅 猫 davvero un'autrice da scoprire anche nelle altre sue opere. Di questi tre racconti ho apprezzato particolarmente i primi due, con le loro atmosfere gotiche e cupe. Il terzo non ha uno stile molto diverso ma nonostante la brevit脿 ha cos矛 tanti personaggi che diventa un po' confusionario. Ottima questa edizione col testo originale a fronte.
This is a good little book: just three stories collected together, but they're all interesting.
The first two are in the Gothic tradition: the title story, Transformation is a story of the squandering of youth's potential, of decadence and selfishness. A morality tale, but not overbearingly so. The scene of Guido on the desolate shore, meeting with the dwarf cast up from the stormy sea is very effective.
The second story, The Mortal Immortal tells of the growing loneliness and despair felt by Winzy (who considers himself to be a young immortal, being only 323 years old) as all that he knows and loves passes away. This is a take on the Sorcerer's Apprentice motif and the most tragic in tone of the three stories.
The last story, The Evil Eye, is not Gothic, but would, I'm sure, have been received as rather exotic at the time of its original publication (1829). Set in Albania and Greece, this is a tale of sibling rivalry, vengeance and treachery, piracy, banditry and abduction. The unlikely coincidences are forgiveable in such an engagingly-told story.
I liked the way Shelley switched the focus on characters as you're not at first sure where your sympathies should lie. I think it's good when authors skew your expectations and don't immediately give you everything on a plate.
Mary Shelley is best known for "Frankenstein" and, to a lesser extent, her end-of-days novel "The Last Man". However, apart from a number of other novels, she also wrote several short stories, often with a supernatural or fantastic theme. Three of these are included in this attractive paperback edition published by Hesperus Classics. The title piece - "Transformation" - describes the narrator's Faustian pact with a devilish dwarf, and is rich in Gothic tropes. "The Mortal Immortal" features a hapless protagonist who drinks an elixir of life and eventually discovers that immortality is more of a bane than a blessing. "The Evil Eye" is a tale of warring tribes and family feuds set in the Balkans. Despite its title, its subject is not overtly supernatural but, in its exoticism and unexpected plot twists it recalls respectively the "Oriental Gothic" and the then budding genre of "sensation literature". All three stories are finely crafted and reveal an active imagination at work. "Frankenstein" was certainly no one-off.
La transformaci贸n precisa de Guido, quien, guiado por el orgullo y enajenaci贸n, se ve desbocado hac铆a un abismo de lo m谩s imp铆o e insano, y, como es natural aqu铆 en la vida moral y digna, pierde absolutamente todo.
Y ahora, 驴Qu茅 ser谩 lo que le depara a este ser desdichado y sufriente? El despotismo implantado en su alma clama venganza, y la tendr谩.
Qu茅 fascinante me ha parecido este relato g贸tico de Shelley, que ha pesar de ser tan corto, los elementos que plasma en 茅l convergen en sinton铆a tal que lo he sentido como una composici贸n musical completa e id贸nea.
Another small book containing more short tales from Mary Shelley. I was reading something a while ago about the loss Mary suffered in her life, and her later works actually mirror her grief, notably in The Last Man and the collection of short stories in both The Pilgrims and here, in Transformation. Themes of loss, love, despair and sorrow are all too frequent in these books. She also had a heritage to live up to, both being the child of the radical philosopher William Godwin as well as the archetypal Feminist - Mary Wollstonecraft. Not only that, but she mixed with the radical elite of the day, such as Lord Byron, Keats and she married Percy Shelley, the famous and talented poet, both of whom died relatively young.
I love reading about this era, the changing world, the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, the wide-sweeping political French Revolution and later Napoleonic Wars as well as the Romantic movement in art during those late 18thC and early 19thC years. Mary and her coterie were a major part of this period - and when we do for instance think of the Romantic Poets at the very least, Shelley, Keats and William Blake come to mind. Anyway, a nice little collection of stories contained here, worth a perusal if you be a fan of Mary.
I did wonder why the publishers decided to publish two such short short story collections instead of combing them into one reasonable sized books. I must say I prefered the stories in the Pilgrims, if only for having more women characters. I enjoyed the first two stories which were nice melancohly gothic tales but not so much the third which was more of a standard historical story. The first story as about a man who swapped bodies with a hideous dward, the second about a man who had unwittingly drunk a potion of immortality thinking it would free him from his obsession with love when it just made him sadder. I do really like Mary Shelly's writing and am glad I have a few more things to read by her.
This book contains three stories that vary greatly in standard. The first (and by far and away the best) of the stories is Transformation - this story is worth reading (I would rate this 4 star). The second, The Mortal Immortal, is interesting, but not a real page turner, I would rate this 3 stars. I found the last story, The Evil Eye, to be disappointing, I would only give this 1 star.
Libros recomendados: 鈥樷€橪a transformaci贸鈥欌€�, de Mary Shelley. Catal谩n. L鈥橝rt de la Mem貌ria Edicions. Relato breve. Leyendas, aprendizaje, misterio鈥� En pocas p谩ginas y con ese narrar arcaico y folcl贸rico, nos encontramos con una lecci贸n m谩s que doble: c贸mo alguien que se ha cre铆do el ser supremo, puede convertirse en lo contrario a sus creencias. Una tempestad traer谩 consigo un ser que har谩 una propuesta de la que depende tu vida: por dentro y por fuera鈥� 驴Hasta qu茅 punto puede aprender el hombre?, 驴hasta qu茅 punto puede enga帽arnos la vista? Quiz谩s veamos lo que se ha aprendido hasta ahora; aunque no tengo mucha fe鈥�
El libro en papel me cost贸 caro para las p谩ginas que son. Y esperaba algo m谩s 鈥榥ovedoso鈥�; aunque una lecci贸n breve es m谩s sencilla de aprender, 驴no? La foto est谩 tomada antes de la cuarentena, creo que en enero, cuando me le铆 el relato鈥�
Luin "Transformationin", "Mortal Immortalin" ja alun "The Evil Eyesta", mutta en kovin hyvin盲 voinut n盲it盲 pit盲盲. Saattaa kyll盲 vaikuttaa teosten ik盲, ehk盲 esim. kertomus miehest盲, jolle kuolemattomuus on kirous, ei ollut kamala klisee kirjoitusaikana.
I picked this up in a swap at my local used bookstore. I'd never heard of these short stories so I was intrigued. They really weren't developed and never rose to the exquisite beauty of Frankenstein.
Transformation (1831) was a kind of simplistic morality tale, though I did enjoy her comparing the noise of the sea to kids getting out of school: "What a noise this ocean makes. Schoolboys bursting from their prison are not louder than these waves set free" (p. 14). Things never change. The Mortal Immortal (1833) was okay, reminding me a bit of the Highlander series of movies. I didn't enjoy The Evil Eye (1829), mostly skimming it.
Tre storie, tre diverse metamorfosi (il titolo italiano credo sia Metamorfosi, almeno il mio ebook cos矛 si chiamava). Non capisco perch茅 la Shelley debba esser ricordata solo per il suo Prometeo moderno- Frankenstein, e che non vengano rese note anche le sue altre opere, 猫 una scrittrice valida, anche se romantica. :/ Debbo dire che non sono molto capace di apprezzare il romanticismo, davvero, almeno non la parte che cerca con la natura di riallacciarsi all'assoluto, il romanzo gotico mi piace invece. Ma lasciamo perdere certi sofismi, io non studio lettere, non sono degna di parlarne.
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku, though this is definitely one of those cases when I really wish I could have had just one more syllable at my disposal:
"Pride in the moment Distorts, so that looking back You're your own villain."
鈥淚 will not go, here where you have been, where your memory glides like some heaven-visiting ghost, I will pass the long hours till we meet, never, my Juliet, again, day or night, to part.鈥�
A darker love story with parts Romeo and Juliet as well as Cyrano de Bergerac.
Alma Classics 2019. Greetings to all creatures that lurk in the dark, or in the light! Croatia to the world; do we have a signal? Please help us to get out from the cryptosocialist octopus called EU! But let us leave that aside, we shall not discuss that tonight. When I write reviews in Croatian I usually start by analyzing the language, but how to analyze a book written in a foreign language? What do I actually mean by that? In my vast and mistic mind there is a light given to me by the great Viktor 艩klovski, or how you anglophone weirdows would write-Viktor Shklowsky, to be precise, his idea of defamiliarization. Defamiliarization in language means that pieces of literature do not use every day, mundane, utilitarian language, a language used in the courts, laws, schools, your talking with your neighbour about the weather, about Obamacare or his lawn. Defamiliarization means that the language in literary works becomes strange, unique, it must not be written as a letter, or a law, or as your Tweet. Metaphors must be new, fresh, vivid, rich, sweet, tasty... In that sense to every native speaker a foreign language is by default strange, defamiliarized. That is also why when you hear a song in some foreign language, foreign to you, that song seems better than a song in your own language. Because it is not mundane, it creates a newness, a novelity in your mind, in your being. It is a sharp difference from what you read or hear usually. That is art in literature, the art of language. Not that I do not speak English, even as I know English very well, still, it is not my native Croatian, I can not fully grasp the core of it. I think that only native speakers can understood defamiliarization in their language, in it s fullness. What I can say about the language of this particular novella is that it is very simple, but still it contains some very atmospheric parts which build strong scenes in the novella. There are many archaic elements in this novella, especially the old, no longer used, forms of pronouns. That itself creates defamiliarization just by the passing of time. It may seem paradoxical but old language in that way is new, archaic forms are defamiliarized when read in contemporary time, defamiliarized for the native speaker who sees them strange, odd, cool, not mundane and dull. Regarding the content of the novella I can say that you encounter the topos of the Wandering Jew. Like everywhere else there is a blurred difference between the figure of the Wandering Jew and the figure of Satan. They can change their form, they do not have a home, they trick the main protagonist. Altough in this novella the figure of the Wandering Jew is not called the Wandering Jew, he is presented as some kind of a goblin, but the main character mentions the Wandering Jew in his thoughts. Usually the Wandering Jew is a handsome man, charismatic as Sean Connery, but in this novella he is as ugly as Miley Cyrus. He tricks the protagonist to have an exchange of bodies. How does that finish? See for yourselves you lazy mobsters! 隆Hasta luego mis murcielagos! Si alguien habla espa帽ol, por favor salva me de esos weones norte帽os y de ladrones de Croacia... Nos vemos en el proxima rese帽a!