Customer Reviews

Dracula (Case Study in Contemporary Criticism)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Stoker's Dracula has been the most influential horror novel for a number of reasons - it is incredibly full of creativity, backed with incredible realism, and in very believable 'voices.'

I read it for the second time in my life as an adult over the Halloween season, and I can not recommend this enough. Though it was written at the end of the 1800s, it is very easy to read while providing an atypical sense of surroundings and realism. Few books, let alone horror books, are as well conceived, and modern horrors seems 'crap' compared to this.

The biggest reason to hesitate is that you have already been exposed to so many versions of vampires and even of dracula that you may think you will fail to find new entertainment here. That may be true, but I found that I had forgotten most of the details and surprised with the amount by which I got into each character's perspective.

Put down the King and Koontz! That is, at least until you have read this one from one of the original masters.

This is now one of my favourite books! It was great. I liked how suspenseful it was, even if the story got a bit slow between the important parts. Bram Stoker does a great job at descriptions with lots of nice details. It was pretty creepy. It didn't think it would be, but it was.
Something else I liked was how the women in the book weren't all...flimsy. It's a nice change how Mina actually plays a big part in the story and she's a strong character.
Great book! Love it! I definately reccomend it!

Count Dracula from Transylvania is probably one of the most--if not THE most--popular character to come out of fiction due, in large part, to his continual reinvention by Hollywood over the last century. While Bram Stoker is to be credited for his invention, I have to say that I have mixed feelings regarding its execution.

The first third of the book, which contains the account of Jonathan Harker's visit to and escape from Castle Dracula, is easily the best, with a high creepiness factor. (In one part, Dracula delivers a sack to the three female vampires that reside with him. The sack has a whimpering child inside it. Pretty intense stuff for the fiction of 1895, perhaps even for today.) Harker interacts with Dracula often and, when not doing so, observes the strange behavior of his host or explores the castle he's been locked within. So far, so good.

Once Dracula departs for England, the novel nearly slams on its own brakes. After the wreck of the Demeter (the ship that transports the count [while in his coffin]) and Dracula's subsequent escape, the novel plods along and, after that, plods some more. Sadly, this is due to narration that is far too drawn out plus the near-absence of Dracula himself throughout the rest of the venture. Sure he's around, but there are only one or two scenes of direct interaction between him and the humans of the tale. Most of the time, he's slinking around the countryside or Dr. Seward's sanitarium, leaving evidence of his presence. The second part of the book amounts to Mina Harker's friend Lucy being fed upon until and transfused, then fed upon and transfused, etc., until, well, you know. . . .

The third section involves the hunt for Dracula in England and elsewhere. While it's somewhat more interesting than part II, it fails to live up to part I's narrative style and enjoyability. Plus you'll still be reeling from Part II and its rather two-dimensional characters, all of whom are cookie-cutter representations of fine, upstanding good people who neither fight with each other nor say anything antagonistic to anyone.

While you might wish to read this to find out who Bram Stoker's Dracula really is (as I did), don't set your expectations too high. Frankly, John Badham's version of "Dracula" (circa 1979) starring Frank Langella does a far better job with the story (Dracula).

While I didn't think Stoker's "Dracula" was terribly enjoyable, I would recommend his The Jewel of Seven Stars (Penguin Classics), which I have also reviewed.

While not typically driven to review, I was puzzled by the other reviews for this book. There is an overwhelming amount of, not just good but, great reviews for this book and an average rating of 4-1/2 stars. Actually, the only reason I looked at the reviews for this book at all is that I found it to be the most disappointing book I've ever read. Like a few of the other 1 star reviewers, I actually liked the first few chapters. Stoker develops a nice gothic atmosphere until the story moves west. To each their own but when I read the reviews that claim this to be the best gothic story ever written, riveting, exciting, and any other description that wouldn't apply to watching paint dry or grass grow I wonder if we read the same book at all.

my oh my, some of the books that pass for classics! i have read compulsively for around 26 years, but this sort of book could make me give up the activity. i so deeply regret the loss of the six evenings that i wasted slogging through the pages of this ridiculous thing. the characters are annoying flat caricatures, and the plot/action is simply silly beyond belief. if this book can be considered a classic, then anything is possible. maybe in a hundred years Brittany Spears will be considered on par with Bach and Beethoven in the history of "classic" music? could happen, i guess.