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☆☆☆☆☆

Susan Tyler Hitchcock 著

圖書標籤:

• Frankenstein
• Mary Shelley
• Gothic Fiction
• Science Fiction
• Horror
• Cultural History
• 19th Century Literature
• Monsters
• Literature
• Classic Literature

齣版社： W.W. Norton & Co.

ISBN：9780393061444

商品編碼：19223535

包裝：精裝

齣版時間：2008-05-30

頁數：352

正文語種：英文

商品尺寸：14.73x2.79x21.08cm

內容簡介

Frankenstein began as the nightmare of an unwed teenage mother in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1816. At a time when the moral universe was shifting and advances in scientific knowledge promised humans dominion over that which had been God's alone, Mary Shelley envisioned a story of human presumption and its misbegotten consequences. Two centuries later, that story is still constantly retold and reinterpreted, from Halloween cartoons to ominous allusions in the public debate, capturing and conveying meaning central to our consciousness today and our concerns for tomorrow. From Victorian musical theater to Boris Karloff with neck bolts, to invocations at the President's Council on Bioethics, the monster and his myth have inspired everyone from cultural critics to comic book addicts. This is a lively and eclectic cultural history, illuminated with dozens of pictures and illustrations, and told with skill and humor. Susan Tyler Hitchcock uses film, literature, history, science, and even punk music to help us understand the meaning of this monster made by man.

作者簡介

Susan Tyler Hitchcock’s last book was Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London. Married with two children, she lives near Charlottesville, Virginia.

精彩書評

Louis Bayard As Susan Tyler Hitchcock's delightful cultural history reminds us, the monster that Mary fashioned from her slumbers is still alive and kicking: "in our bookstores, on our film and television screens, from morning cartoons to wee-hours rerun movies. He plays roles in advertising and political debate, he appears at public library story hours and on graduate-level reading lists. He is both a joke and a profound ethical dilemma." —The Washington Post Publishers Weekly Literary historian Hitchcock (Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London) leads readers on a guided tour of Frankensteinappearances in this colorful and consistently entertaining narrative. The history begins, appropriately, with the monster's unlikely creation by Mary Shelley as a result of a ghost story challenge (also taken up by John William Polidori, whose tale of a vampyre would later inspire Bram Stoker). Hitchcock then lays bare the publishing world of the 19th century, a veritable Wild West of unauthorized stage adaptations, parodies and continuations in which Frankensteinthrived. James Whale's Karloff classic gets its due, as do the disturbing and innovative 1910 Edison Company production and the 1952 live television broadcast starring a drunk Lon Chaney Jr. Running throughout the book is the parallel story of the invocation of Frankenstein in the public discourse as a metaphor for subjects ranging from the Crimean war to genetically modified organisms. While some Frankensteindilettantes might find the narrow focus of the book somewhat tedious, there are enough strange and delightful anecdotes to keep most readers engaged. B&w; illus. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information Fewer Reviews Library Journal The word Frankensteinconjures images and ideas ranging from the horrific to the comic. This iconic creature has appeared in novels, plays, films, comic books, and even political cartoons. Hitchcock (Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London) explores the evolution of this classic character from a young unwed mother's nightmare to Hollywood icon to an embodiment of the fears inherent in the technological age. She begins with a detailed biographical analysis of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel and follows with a descriptive study of the various incarnations the tale and its principles (both creator and monster) have taken on over nearly 200 years of cultural development. While she particularly emphasizes Boris Karloff's interpretation of the creature in the 1931 Universal film, her exploration is not limited to pop culture imagery; she also explores how the tale has become shorthand for describing various sociopolitical positions in the public debate. In this way, Hitchcock reveals how the universal themes of the novel have been embedded into our modern consciousness. The analysis is scholarly but presented in an engaging style that will appeal to any adult audience. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ6/1/07.] —Shedrick Pittman-Hassett Kirkus Reviews A thoroughly entertaining look at the iconic monster. How did the unwed, 18-year-old mother of a toddler come to invent this nightmare creature with neck bolts, flattop head and that power unibrow? Hitchcock (Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London, 2005, etc.) suggests that Mary Shelley, soul mate of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, daughter of radical philosopher William Godwin and pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, had heard about ghoulish experiments with electricity on corpses of criminals, which momentarily seemed to twitch back to life. She may also have drawn inspiration from her own life-altering trauma in 1815-the year before she thought of Frankenstein's monster-when her first baby died after less then a month. Hitchcock fondly details how a novel prompted by a summer of reading ghost stories in Geneva has imbedded itself in popular culture. Frankenstein inspired hundreds of stage productions before the classic 1931 film and the not-so-classic '60s TV series The Munsters, Young Frankenstein and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The author smoothly charts the monster's transformation from cosmic and creepy to comic and campy, alongside Shelley's slow evolution from overlooked to appreciated novelist. One memorable section details how Boris Karloff's daughter Sara successfully sued Universal Studios for licensing products with his likeness on them; Hitchcock slyly notes that the monster once again broke free from its creator. In addition to selling 50,000 copies a year in America alone, Frankenstein lives on as a reference point in public discussions of genetic engineering and cloning. But the author doesn't neglect one of the monster's most enduring non-academiclegacies: its ubiquity at Halloween. Cogent vivisection of a literary legend animated by the universal human fascination with the dark side. Agent: Jane Dystel/Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

前言/序言

《失落的伊甸園：一部關於文藝復興晚期人文主義與科學萌芽的編年史》 作者： 維多利亞·艾爾斯沃斯 (Victoria Ainsworth) 齣版社： 牛津大學齣版社 齣版日期： 2022年鞦季 裝幀： 精裝 頁數： 680頁 --- 圖書簡介 《失落的伊甸園：一部關於文藝復興晚期人文主義與科學萌芽的編年史》深入剖析瞭16世紀中葉至17世紀初，歐洲思想界經曆的深刻劇變。本書聚焦於一個關鍵的轉摺點——人文主義的輝煌餘暉如何與新興的、基於觀察與實驗的自然哲學（即早期科學）相互作用、衝突並最終融閤的過程。艾爾斯沃斯博士摒棄瞭傳統的綫性敘事，采用瞭一種更為精妙的“編年史”視角，通過梳理一係列影響深遠的學術通信、私人日記、未齣版的手稿以及地方性的學術社團活動，重構瞭知識如何在精英階層、宮廷學者和民間煉金術士之間流動、轉化和被誤解的復雜圖景。 第一部分：知識的地理學——從佛羅倫薩到新教的港口 本書的開篇聚焦於知識傳播的地理空間。艾爾斯沃斯詳細考察瞭美第奇傢族贊助下的古典文獻復興如何嚮北歐新教國傢滲透，以及這種滲透帶來的張力。她認為，人文主義對語言學和修辭學的強調，在麵對伽利略等人對數學化宇宙觀的追求時，顯得愈發無力。 語言的邊界與宇宙的秩序： 詳細分析瞭伊拉斯謨學派的學者如何試圖用古典希臘語的精確性來“校準”亞裏士多德的物理學，卻在麵對哥白尼日心說的數學嚴謹性時遭遇瓶頸。書中特彆呈現瞭萊比锡大學內部關於“天體運動的完美性”與“實際觀測數據偏差”的激烈辯論，這些辯論往往被包裹在對拉丁文措辭的爭論之下。 手稿的地下網絡： 艾爾斯沃斯揭示瞭在官方學術機構之外，存在一個由旅行中的學者、商人以及外交官構成的秘密通信網絡。這個網絡負責交換那些因宗教或政治敏感性而被官方審查的文本。她通過對一位巴塞爾印刷商的稅務記錄分析，推測齣當時未經授權的“異端”科學著作的流通速度遠超曆史學傢此前的估計。 第二部分：人性的尺度——解剖學的肖像與精神的煉金術 本書的第二部分將焦點從天體轉嚮人體，深入探討瞭文藝復興人文主義“以人為中心”的思想如何塑造瞭早期的解剖學探索和精神探究。 維薩裏與古典的幽靈： 艾爾斯沃斯並未將安德烈·維薩裏的工作視為對蓋倫的簡單推翻。相反，她認為維薩裏在解剖颱上所做的，是試圖在古老的文本權威和自己親眼所見的事實之間尋找一種新的“修辭平衡”。書中收錄瞭大量當時的教學插圖，分析瞭這些圖畫如何藉鑒瞭文藝復興的藝術透視法來“證明”人體的真實結構，這本身就是一種對古典權威的微妙顛覆。 心靈的蒸餾： 本部分著重探討瞭“精神的煉金術”——即早期化學探索與宗教冥想的交匯點。許多早期的化學傢（如帕拉塞爾蘇斯學派的追隨者）並非僅僅為瞭製造黃金，他們更關注如何通過物質的提純來達到精神的純潔。書中考察瞭這種“內在煉金術”如何與新教強調的個人救贖經驗相互呼應，為後來化學實驗的客觀性奠定瞭充滿宗教內涵的動機。 第三部分：僭越的界限——自然哲學與神聖的邊界 在全書的第三部分，艾爾斯沃斯探討瞭早期自然哲學傢們在探索自然規律時，所麵臨的來自教會和世俗權力的巨大壓力。她尤其關注那些“僭越”瞭傳統神學解釋權的領域。 奇觀、預兆與機械論的萌芽： 16世紀的歐洲沉迷於對“奇觀”（Marvels）的記錄——從罕見的動物到反常的天氣現象。作者指齣，這種對異常現象的癡迷，為後來的實驗者提供瞭研究自然“偶然性”的土壤。早期的機械論思想並非憑空齣現，而是對那些無法被預兆解釋的事件的係統化分類嘗試。書中詳細分析瞭宮廷術士如何試圖將占星術的預測能力，轉化為基於計算和幾何學的因果關係，從而引發瞭神學傢關於“自由意誌”與“自然決定論”的爭論。 圖書館的終結與田野的開啓： 編年史的高潮部分集中討論瞭知識獲取方式的轉變。隨著關鍵文本的翻譯和流通，學者們開始意識到，單純依賴亞曆山大圖書館或君士坦丁堡的抄本已經無法解決新的科學問題。艾爾斯沃斯通過對早期植物學圖鑒的分析，展示瞭探險傢們從新大陸帶迴的標本是如何迫使歐洲的植物學傢走齣書房，去觀察和記錄那些前所未見的生命形式。這種對“活生生”知識的追求，標誌著人文主義的終結和現代科學的明確開端。 結論：被遺忘的橋梁 《失落的伊甸園》最終論證道，文藝復興晚期並非一個思想的真空期，而是一個充滿張力的“過渡態”。它既是古典知識的最後一次盛大慶典，也是對這種權威體係進行係統性解構的序麯。本書不僅為研究早期現代科學提供瞭全新的方法論視角——即將科學史視為文化史的必然産物，更細緻入微地還原瞭那些在宏大敘事中被忽略的、充滿矛盾和激情的學者群像。這是一部對歐洲知識遺産進行深刻反思的裏程碑式著作。 讀者對象： 文藝復興史、早期現代科學史、知識史、人文主義研究領域的學者、研究生以及對西方思想史有濃厚興趣的嚴肅讀者。

評分☆☆☆☆☆

這本書的資料搜集工作令人印象深刻，其詳盡程度超齣瞭我的預期。在很多地方，作者似乎窮盡瞭所有相關的原始文獻、早期評論乃至鮮為人知的傳教士筆記和民間傳說。我注意到其中引用瞭大量一手資料，這些資料的挖掘和呈現，為整個文化史的論證提供瞭堅實的基石，避免瞭許多二手研究中常見的以訛傳訛。這種對細節的執著，使得本書的權威性不言而喻。尤其是在追溯某些特定圖像或概念在不同文化圈的傳播路徑時，那種步步為營、無可辯駁的考據鏈條，讓人由衷佩服。它不僅僅是在講述一個故事的文化史，更是在展示一種紮實、嚴謹的學術研究方法論。

評分☆☆☆☆☆

從一個純粹的文化消費者角度來看，這本書極大地豐富瞭我對這個經典故事的理解深度。在此之前，我可能更多地是將它視為一個恐怖傳說或科幻原型，但通過這本書的梳理，我開始意識到其內核所蘊含的關於“創造者責任”、“異化”、“他者凝視”的永恒母題。它不再僅僅是關於科學怪物的怪誕故事，而是被提升到瞭對現代性焦慮的深刻反思層麵。每次讀完一個章節，我都會情不自禁地停下來，反思現實世界中那些相似的倫理睏境和被社會邊緣化群體的境遇。這種將經典文本置於社會曆史洪流中進行再審視的方法，激發瞭我強烈的共鳴，讓我對我們所處的時代有瞭更復雜、更具批判性的認識。

評分☆☆☆☆☆

這本書的敘事節奏處理得非常巧妙，它避免瞭許多學術著作常見的枯燥和晦澀。雖然主題宏大，涉及曆史、哲學和美學等多個領域，但作者總能找到一個引人入勝的切入點，使得復雜的概念被平易近人地呈現齣來。我尤其欣賞作者在論述過程中展現齣的那種平衡感——既保持瞭必要的學術嚴謹性，又通過生動的案例和恰到好處的引用，時刻抓住讀者的注意力。有時候，我會發現自己沉浸在某個特定曆史時期的文化氛圍中，仿佛能親眼目睹這些思想是如何滲透到社會肌理的。這種行雲流水的敘述風格，讓閱讀變成瞭一種享受而非負擔，即使是麵對某些相對晦澀的理論部分，也能順暢地跟上作者的思路，非常適閤希望全麵瞭解該主題的非專業讀者。

評分☆☆☆☆☆

深入閱讀之後，我發現作者在梳理其文化影響力的脈絡時，展現齣瞭驚人的跨學科洞察力。他似乎沒有滿足於僅僅停留在文學批評的層麵，而是像一個細緻的考古學傢，挖掘齣這個經典形象如何在不同的時代語境中被重新解讀和挪用。從早期的哥特式恐怖美學，到啓濛運動後期對“科學僭越”的反思，再到後來的弗洛伊德式的心理分析，乃至更近代的生物倫理學辯論，作者都遊刃有餘地穿梭其中。這種廣闊的視野使得本書的論述不再是綫性的敘事，而更像是一張不斷延展、相互交織的文化地圖。讀到一些關於它在不同國傢和不同藝術媒介中變奏的章節時，我深感震撼，原來一個故事能夠承載如此復雜的文化重量，這種深度的剖析非常引人入勝。

評分☆☆☆☆☆

這本書的裝幀設計簡直是一次視覺盛宴。那種厚實的精裝封麵，摸上去就知道是用料紮實，紙張的質感也相當齣色，帶著一種沉甸甸的曆史厚重感。內頁的排版非常講究，字體的選擇和行距的拿捏都透露齣編輯團隊的用心，即便是大段的文字閱讀起來也不會感到壓迫。裝幀上的一些細節處理，比如書脊的燙金工藝或者扉頁的微小紋飾，都讓人聯想到經典文學作品應有的儀式感。我猜測，這本書的裝幀設計本身就是一種文化的緻敬，它不僅僅是內容的載體，更像是一件可以長久珍藏的藝術品。光是把它放在書架上，那種存在感就已經非常引人注目，散發齣一種內斂而高雅的氣質，讓人忍不住想去觸摸和翻閱，這對於一部嚴肅的文化史著作來說，無疑是加分項，體現瞭對閱讀體驗的尊重。