Dracula

Were it not for audiobooks, I don't think I'd have read any classics in the last two years. This is a great way to slowly slog through the ones you've been meaning to read just because, but don't think you'll like much. Dracula has been on my to-read list since middle school, but only because it's a thing I felt I should read, not because I was especially interested. Thank you, audiobook, for making it so that I did not need to DNF!

For real, if I had been reading this in print format, I really do not think we would have been friends. The story goes by so slowly, the characters are flat, and there is very little action for a horror novel. Add to this the fact that pretty much ALL of pop culture is one big giant spoiler for the plot, and the book is insanely boring at most points.

Even worse, pop culture took all the good ideas out of Dracula and so, basically, what you're left to be surprised by is all of the things pop culture changed so that the book could actually be interesting. Take, for example, Van Helsing and Dracula's battle. I went in expecting this:



If that's what you're hoping for, let me just tell you that you're WRONG. In fact, Van Helsing is an old, fat doctor with an absurd accent. Dracula is a tall, old man with a long white mustache. Umm, yuck, really? Sadly, 'tis true. The action in the book is more of the mental battle variety than anything else. They do a lot more talking than fighting.

Mental standoffs can be pretty cool though, characters trying to outmaneuver one another. I mean, that's what made the first half of Death Note so freaking cool. Unfortunately, these characters are dumb. Certainly, knowing what's happening going into the book, but even given that they're working with no knowledge, their reasoning abilities are limited.

What really got to me was that, near the end, they've figured out what happened to Lucy Westenra, watched her become a vampire, and killed her. Now they're searching for Dracula to kill him too. They decide that they need to do this without the cleverest of the bunch, Mina Harker, because ladies cannot handle this sort of thing, duh. They leave her alone and come back to find her weak, pale and tired, and it takes them freaking ages to think maybe Dracula has something to do with this, since these symptoms are remarkably similar to Lucy's. Basically, everyone's pathetic.

Speaking of Mina, she is by far the most interesting and clever character, but, because of the time period, she gets very little respect. I mean, yeah, the guys appreciate what a great typist she is and admire her intellect, but, ultimately, she's more of a curiosity than a compatriot. They leave her out of things because she's a woman, and view her most important role to be that of a shoulder to cry on, of feminine comfort, despite the fact that she's the one who ultimately figures everything out. I know it's a different time, but it still pisses me right the fuck off.

Oh, also supremely annoying? The infinite references to God. Seriously, every couple of minutes someone would intone "it's in God's hands." At first it didn't bother me, because that's the kind of stupid shit people would say, and still do say, in crises. However, after the first fifty times, I pretty much wanted to start ripping people's heads off every time it happened. I GOT it already: you're all good Christians. Shut the fuck up, okay?



The only thing that made this book bearable for me was the fact that Audible did a wonderful job putting together the audio. They brought in a stellar cast, and really fit the voices to the characters. My favorite voice actors were Alan Cumming and Katherine Kellgren. Tim Curry does a good job, but he's doing that stupid Van Helsing accent, so I couldn't love his performance as much.

Even with the marvelous audio work, this still only came out to a meh for me. I highly recommend the audio version, whether you think you'll like the book or not.

What a beautifully written and scary book. Wonderful as an audiobook. The reader does a great job with accents and emotions. Glad I listened to it.

Bram Stoker’s The Illustrated Dracula features illustrations from Jae Lee, who’s worked on X-Factor, Inhumans, and Fantastic Four: 1234 for Marvel Comics as well as other work for DC and Image Comics. The book itself reprints Stoker’s text, which uses the epistolary novel format that was popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and introduces the reader to Count Dracula, Jonathan and Mina Harker, Renfield, Abraham Van Helsing, and Lucy Westenra. Lee includes multiple black-and-white illustrations throughout the story as well as four full-color illustrations that capture the gothic, dreamlike quality of the narrative. Lee’s portrayal of Dracula appears to borrow from the depiction of Count Orlok in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film, Nosferatu, rather than Stoker’s own description or the appearance of the historical Vlad Țepeș. Those benefits aside, there are some typographical errors throughout the work. That said, the illustrations and the high-quality materials of which this book is constructed make it a good gift edition for those new to the story or friends in need of a new copy.

I was absolutely captivated by this story from the very beginning and the characters are so well described that I couldn’t stop reading.

The cinema was my only exposure to this story before now and what can I say but the cinema destroyed these fascinating characters by either sidelining them, not including them or over sexualizing them for the entertainment value. Lucy and Mina are two of the strongest female characters that I have ever seen in literature and their friendship is wonderful. The gentlemen in this story are very courageous and it is amazing how determined they were to see Dracula destroyed because it was the right thing to do and not for revenge.

My only con is there are times that the author gets a little wordy with some of his side stories and conversations that I almost wanted to skip some of it.

This is a great performance to listen to. All the actors not only had to act out their main part but also any of the other characters when the story was being told from the journal writer’s point of view. The actors did a great job of maintaining each characters personalities and subtleties no matter which actor was speaking for the character. It is exceptionally well done.

Tried for years to get through this book. Never could quite do it...

I found the book easily digestible for an older book. The format felt quite modern, being a combination of letters and journal entries from various narrators. The descriptions and emotions were lush and enveloping. The entries written from VanHelsing’s point of view were the only ones I had difficulty getting through- the language choices are meant to portray a highly intelligent person for whom English is not native, but for me it wound up being repetitive and harder to relate to. Also, the portrayal of women was hard to swallow at times. Baring in mind that it was another time, and that it might even hold a hint of satire against chauvinism, it was still at times irking. Overall, glad I finally read this classic and would definitely recommend!

Van Helsing sat with the Harker child on his lap; Van Helsing was momentarily pensive as his breathing continued stertorously. He was thankful that the child's breathing was normal, not stertorous. His suspicions had been numbed since the events with the Count some seven years before. He was also aware that both Jonathan and Mina would conscript this every instant to their journals. It was a shame he still spoke German. Why didn't anyone notice this? Yes, they had encountered True Evil and prevailed through serial implausibility on the part of Undead genius and reduced him to ashes with a Bowie knife.

Quite good, and surprisingly funny in spots. It really was a "technothriller" of sorts in its time.

There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.
Why am I always so surprised that classics are seriously fantastic?

I loved everything about this! Even knowing the general story, having absorbed it via osmosis most of my life and having once watched a terribly adapted play put on by my high school peers, I was still pulled in by the tension, the terror, and the themes. I loved every character and found the plot to be very climactic and engaging.

The writing style was superb! Each narrator had a consistent voice that defined them and made their perspective all the more interesting. My personal favorite was Dr. John Seward. He had a very lyrical way of viewing the world and it made his sections beautiful to read. The opening part with Jonathan Harker's imprisonment in Dracula's Castle was palpably tense and drew me in immediately. All in all, the entire thing was excellent!

For life be, after all, only a waitin' for somethin' else than what we're doin'; and death be all that we can rightly depend on.

- Too Sensual to Ignore -“Dracula” by Bram Stoker relays the tales of an up-and-coming realtor, Jonathan Harker, who travels from England to Transylvania to meet a client; Count Dracula. In the classic interpretation of good versus evil, Jonathan and several of his acquaintances seek out the monster that killed one of their beloved companions. Their journey is filled with superstition, which is seen within the very first chapter of Jonathan’s diary during his journey to the Count’s home; many community members warn him of the dangers that awaits, and some even beg that he returns to his home. The book fashioned a new era within the literary field alongside such works as “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and “The strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is a collection of reminiscences, transposed in diary entries, victrola recordings, and recounts of events throughout the time period. It dives into the parasitic indulgence so deftly hidden within Victorian London. There is a certain theme found in each of the novels I mentioned; the human form, when molested, may unleash a creature reeking with God’s defamation. I would recommend this book to readers with an interest in folklore/urban legends, gothic fiction, classics, horror novels, and the victorian perception of evil. It is definitely worth picking up if you are curious about the beginnings of these kinds of books, as well. It is an excellent subject to use for a case study of the genre.

Dracula. Bram Stoker. Modern Library Paperback Edition. 2001. The first time I read Dracula I was at home between sophomore and junior years at Montevallo, I think. I had nightmares about vampire cats that were so real I crawled in bed with Mother and only read the book during the daylight hours. This time it was more uncomfortable, not because I think vampires are real, but I was shocked by the evil personified that the book described and surprised by the Catholicism that permeated the determined search to destroy the evil. It was long and not as suspenseful as I remembered more of it as I read. It is much deeper than the modern vampire books and movies.

By turns melodramatic, contrived and repetitive it is, nonetheless, a spine-tingling tale - a classic.

I did it, I did it! I finally read DRACULA!!!

Although I am a big horror fiction reader and devour everything I can find about Vampires and Werewolves, I had never actually gotten around to reading Dracula. I am happy that I can now say I have read it, although I don't think I would read it again. I did enjoy the story and how it was written as a collection of journals and news entries. "If ever a face meant death - if looks could kill - we saw it at that moment."

While I liked this book, I felt like the last half of it really dragged as Van Helsing and his group of willing accomplices made arrangements to travel to finally find and rid the world of Count Dracula. The pace really bored me at some points and I think that is the reason I could put this book down over a six-week period in favor of something else.

Much better than any of the films, no matter how good some of those are, this is the best version.*Update* I do wish someone sometime would give this book its do justice and make a decent film adaptation. Some are close but still lack so much.

Still scary.

so much better than all the vampires book that have come out recently. Good story, but a few open ends.Interesting style to tell the story but using journal entries and letters.

Pretty darn good tale! Creepy too! I'm glad I finally read the original! And, for a classic, it is very readable. Some overly flowery language in their dialogue, but a strong overall narrative. And it all wraps up on November 6th, my birthday! Super creepy!

Still love this book. Gothic horror at it's finest. No matter how many times I read it I still enjoy it.

Constantly long-winded but I enjoyed how it was narrated from different people through their diary entries or letters. The author's writing was skillful.

You don't need to read any review of mine to get the impression that this Dracula is nothing like what modern pop culture has made vampires out to be. Now, I read this book a little more than two years ago while the Twilight heat wave was still in full swing, and I have to say that reading the original vampire was extraordinarily refreshing. If you don't want to read this book simply because its about vampires, then you're missing out on a lot of material for your anti-mainstream rants.
For starters, Dracula starts out as an old man in a castle. To top it off, he has hair on his palms and (if I remember correctly) a large mustache. He can also control some animals, which are all "evil" (and those are huge quotations) animals (ex. wolves, bats, etc.).
Now, I know everyone says that there is a human-vampire romance in this book, but in my opinion, this is all based on your interpretation and perspective. The human-vampire transformation is a bit sketchy too. From what I read, it seemed that a vampire had to drink their blood until they died or something... but the female lead, Mina, sort of becomes a vampire when Dracula forces her to drink his blood and then they develop some sort of telepathy... As I said, the plot can be interpreted in a few different ways.
Anyway back to literary stuff.
As far as story goes, I really enjoyed the whole diary/letter format. I thoroughly enjoyed the story too, and was even a bit scared sometimes... The ending, however, seemed rushed. I think it went a bit downhill once Mina was turned. I also remember thinking that Quincey's death was a bit unnecessary, but other than that, it had a somewhat happy ending.
Honestly, your reaction to the book depends on what you expect from it. Vampire romance? Eh, maybe you can get something out of it. Horror story? Pretty high on the scale for Victorian standards. Literary work? Very intriguing. Especially to analyze.

I remember my utter delight at finding this classic in the public library over 40 years ago: battered and ancient, it was the first Golden Age horror story I read and although Stoker has plenty of detractors, it was the ideal read for a tween [I was not permitted horror until I reached double digits] with a fascination with fear. Dracula is very tame by today's standards of course, even if you belong to the school that insists on reading sex into every lick, suck and bite: still, the sensitive reader will experience chills as the hapless Jonathan Harker finds himself in an isolated castle with a very dodgy host. The crewless ship sailing into the Whitby harbour in sight of the lunatic asylum, and the searching of the ruined Whitby Abbey are also edge-of-your seat scenes. True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Twilight - writers of the multitudinous vampire books, films and series should go back to the original periodically to find something about how to scare an audience without gallon of gore and eroticism.

This book is of the kind that must be read for cultural reference, but by it's own merit, it is not all that enjoyable to read.The prose is dull and uninspired, and protagonists tend to suffer from extremely poor decisions.That being said, it is probably not fair to judge them by the standards of modern reader familiar with vampire fiction. Every time I want to scream "Don't you know what a vampire is?!" I have to remind myself that they probably don't. Can't expect protagonists to be genre-savvy before the birth of the genre.As I've mentioned above, Dracula is a must-read for cultural reference - both to see what clishes of modern vampires it gave rise to and, perhaps more interestingly, the ones it definitely did not inspire.

I've been meaning to read Dracula for some time in order to see how the modern portrayals relate to Stoker's classic. I was pleasantly surprised; it does drag in places and Victorian attitudes towards women are quite alien to our times, but this book is really quite gruesome. I can only imagine how terrified the readers of yesteryear must have been!

(No spoilers)
First of all I had just one main issue, which is:

I am rather dissapointed in the fact that we get so little from the book's title character, all the Count's dialogue doesn't even add up to three pages at least. That is caused by the book's structure as journal entries and letters and while he affects all other characters and everything is about him at the core, as a reader I wish the opportunity to better study his words rather than his actions would have been presented.

Also I was very excited about the following things:

1. Managing to control so many plot lines without causing any confusion or without losing logic is absolutely amazing. Very enjoyable from this point of view.

2. Favourite characters must be Lucy Westerna and Van Helsing, very bright and unique. Also I must note that no adaptation of the book that I've seen does them justice.

3. The book was published in 1897 and yet it might have as well have been published sometime this very year, for its classic and timeless style is accessible to anyone.
Overall:4/5

Now this is what a vampire book should BE like! Please, if you have ANY self-respect, read this book. It's absolutely fantastic!



Writing - 4 out of 5
Wonderfully written. The writing isn't actually that difficult to get through. It's not a read that goes at breakneck speeds, but it's still fast and relatively easy! The only times where I got slowed up in the book was in the places where various heavy accents or dialects came in and weighed the words down as you tried to puzzle over what they meant. But I feel that this was intentional by the author, and so it's one of those things you have to suffer through to get to the full awesomeness of this book. Still, from description and atmosphere. UNF. So sexy. Seriously.


Setting - 5 out of 5
Man does Bram Stoker know how to set a scene! That one scene on the ship--holy crap it was terrifying! I was actually scared it was that intense! And the castle, the forest paths, the way that the rooms were invaded, how the characters were all cast. Talk about eerie and exciting! If there's one thing this man knows how to do, it's how to set the stage for the characters to play on. Absolutely enjoyed this aspect of the book. He did a great job in setting up the environment for the book to play out in.


Story - 4 out of 5
It can get a little, and I repeat, only a little redundant at times. Similar things happen, but the loop-de-loop is all part of a plan. You get something unusual in these stories too. The older the work, usually the less the action, especially when it comes to classics. This is one of those few I read that had quiet a bit of action. And action with purpose and with suspense. It was a very interesting read, and there was a uniqueness to the story that you think you know, but don't fully understand until you pick up this book. We all know that Dracula is a vampire. But the amazing part is that the word Vampire doesn't even APPEAR in the story until it's more than halfway along! Even further if I remember correctly! It's a story that's more mystery, suspense, survival, and horror than anything else! And Bram Stoker does a brilliant job of unfolding it, in the weirdest, most twisted and unusual ways. There's always a strange light cast on everything. And it's a unique read that you just have to experience for yourself to understand.


Characters - 5 out of 5
Wheeeeeeeeeeee~! I love them all. They're all so WEIRD. And they have that same interesting concept of innocence that you see in some dated writing, where they don't know what's going on, and they can't fathom that some things could possibly happen, whereas we today, who are used to these things, see them quite clearly before us. But at the same time, that's what adds the flavor to this book, and to the characters that we see interacting.

I didn't put a Main and Side character section, because it's hard to differentiate in this story. The point of view switches between five to even six characters at times, and each of them have their own sets of knowledge and beliefs, their own attempts to survive and help, and their own parts to play and add to the story. At some point they all come together and form a union, all their stories no longer just "interacting" but sinuous between one another. Where one story stops, the other now continues, and it's no longer several different stories, but one story told by many different characters.

The characters themselves are not absolutely complicated, but they do have their own fascinating little aspects and traits that make them themselves. Some are weaker in some things, some are defined by class and origin, and others are made up of who they support and how they support them. It's a nice change of pace to see also that we have a strength in the female characters that mixes the "typical" feminine damsel in distress situation with a deeply female intenseness, a power that only a woman could bear and wield. Bram Stoker, for all this mild shortcomings, does not fall short on making the women in this book, just like the antagonist and the men, all a little more than what they seem to be. There's more to them than the sum of their parts, you could say. And it creates an intriguing, unusual path for them all to tread in this tumultuous environment.


The Mythology and Lore - 5 out of 5
I've got to say, one of the things I loved about this book was ALL of the footnotes! Oh my GOD there's so much information that you can learn from them! And the book itself too! It goes through the history of the myths about vampires, about their powers and their origins. It talks about some classic things that we still keep in mind today about their weaknesses and strengths, but it surprises you in some situations with information that I, at least, personally had never heard of or known about! It's so great to read a book that actually explains these things and tells you about them! If there's nothing else you look into this book for, absolutely read it for the lore, because it's going to teach you all the basics about true vampire mythology, and I--who love to know the origins of supernatural and fantastic beings--found a looot to learn in this book there. You've gotta read it! Especially since most people today are retardedly uneducated about the first thing with them. *Nod to Stephanie*



All this being said, my average rating for this book is 4.6, being rounded up for awesome to a 5 out of 5 rating.


Advice on Reading: Some people may be off put by the age and style of the way this book is written. I assure you, it's worth suffering through something you're not used to in order to enjoy this book. It's got a lot of things it can teach you, especially for those supernatural YA lovers today. Reading this might actually give you an idea of what quality you can get out of vampire books today. Trust me, it's worthwhile.

For anyone who wants to add a classic to their shelves, buy this book. It's well written, you can probably find it for cheap anywhere, the atmosphere of the book is great, and it's probably got some surprising twists you wouldn't expect.

For everyone else, I recommend you definitely check this out. Vampires are part of the popular culture today. At the very least, give this book a chance, because it's got a great story to tell, and I believe you can enjoy it. If you're not sure, like I said before, buying it should be pretty cheap, so even if you spend the money on it first before reading it, you won't be making a big dent in your wallet for it. Pretty much, buy the sucker if you find it for cheap. If you don't wanna risk it, you can probably find it just about anywhere. So give it a shot! Why not, after all? Especially since this is the "in" thing today. Read this sucker. ;3

This is a really scary story. No vampires named Edward here. THe part in Dracula's castle was nightmare inducing. I thought the thing about the three guys saving Lucy dated the story but other than that it could be set anytime and anywhere. Dracula is a really bad guy.

I started this novel with some curiosity but not much enthusiasm, so I was ready to nitpick. Our hero is sitting down to tea with Dracula himself and doesn't have a clue, despite observing one oddity about his host after another. I wanted to shake him and yell, "it's the world's nastiest vampire, you idiot! Get the blinders off!" Then, revelation: he doesn't recognize Dracula because for him, there's no such person. This is Dracula being invented, right here in this book.I ought to have known the reason Dracula is a household name is first and foremost because the original novel is so good. All of it is written as letters and diary entries, news clippings, etc. all meshing wonderfully. Nor is it nearly so straightforward a plot as I expected. Who is Renfield, the asylum inmate, and what's his role in the story? Why should I care that some completely incidental lady has three suitors who all propose to her? Ah - wait and see!When I read Frankenstein I felt sympathy for the poor monster. Dracula is not a character to inspire pathos. He does such a good snarling face that you'll probably live with the nightmare vision for the rest of your life. He has more freaky powers at his disposal than I have space to list in this review. And he is not above taunting you after costing you the love of your life.I care nothing for Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing, but I love the Van Helsing of this novel. I love his careful building up to revealing what he knows, leading to the big pronouncement: vampires exist! How many characters in how many novels could take lessons from this guy? He could teach "How to convince people to believe in the supernatural without instead convincing them you're insane". It does take him a long time to set up his case, but seeing how he pulls it all together is what makes it great. Afterwards he's an equally steady hand at keeping others' minds on an even keel when madness comes knocking at the door.The finale fell a bit flat, anticlimactic by today's standards, but this novel is about the journey far more than its conclusion. I received a lot more journey than I'd bargained for.

A tale of thrilling mystery and suspense,as naturally predicted. The way the book was written, in a collection of journal entries, telegrams, notes, etc. was highly unique. In a sense, it made the story more relatable. It provided the intricate importance of documenting experiences. Honestly, it made me pick up journaling again, myself. Though, my stories probably don't possess the thrill of this one, hah.
The only issue I had was the voices. I am full aware of the time this story was written and how different the voice was back then from how it is currently. That was not my issue, though it did pose a problem at times when interpreting certain paragraphs. The issue with voice that I have focuses on the major character sections not seeming to have different mode of personality. They all certainly did have specific personality traits that the reader can distinctly separate from the others, however, the differences were not always taken into account. I suppose in simpler terms, but I mean is that I felt as if I was reading the book as a 1st person narrative instead of a collection of distinct personalities. At times, it made the story a little dry.
Regardless of this issue, the book was still very enjoyable, not only in an entertainment factors, but also as a literary masterpiece.