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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some Familiar Territory, Some Novel Ideas. Always Lucid and Insightful.,
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This review is from: Dracula: The Novel and the Legend (Hardcover)
As its sub-subtitle implies, "Dracula: The Novel and the Legend" is "a study of Bram Stoker's Gothic Masterpiece" for the student or interested reader who wants to delve further into the history, characters, and allegory of "Dracula". Clive Leatherdale is one of "Dracula"'s foremost scholars, having edited the most comprehensively annotated edition of the novel, and a publisher himself of Bram Stoker's other works. The 2001 edition of "The Novel and the Legend" is the 3rd edition, revised to incorporate new scholarship. The first edition was published in 1985, when there was a dearth of "Dracula" scholarship, and the novel was only beginning to acquire a following in academia.
"The Novel and the Legend" contains 13 chapters, five of which are dedicated to the historical and literary genesis of the novel: the origins of the vampire, the vampire in Christian Eastern Europe since the late Middle Ages, the vampire in literature in Western Europe during the Age of Reason, the life and works of Bram Stoker, and the cultural, folkloric, literary, and historical origins of the novel. Three chapters focus on character analyses. And the final five chapters explore a variety of allegorical interpretations of the work: the sexual imagery, a Freudian analysis, Christian allegory and Darwinian determinism, symbolism reflecting the Major Arcana in Tarot cards, and social, political, and racial perspectives on the novel, including 20th century interpretations. Clive Leatherdale is a good writer who excels particularly in writing about Bram Stoker, about whom he is as much of an expert as anyone is going to get. I have read a lot of books that offer analysis of "Dracula"'s origins and allegories. Though the discussions of Eastern European folklore and 19th century vampire literature will not be new to "Dracula" aficionados, Leatherdale is especially insightful. The Major Arcana analysis is entirely new to me; I haven't seen it in any other book or article. "The Novel and the Legend" is an excellent companion volume for fans or students of "Dracula". It could not possibly be comprehensive, but it does hit the major points in "Dracula" studies with insight, sharp prose, and Clive Leatherdale's characteristic wit.
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