Dracula
Reviews
Probablya 3, but gave it 3,5 for some very vibrant, atmospheric parts. Sometimes during the first half I have to say I experienced it as being too long or meandering. A classic is a classic, so for me that has to be judged on its own scale, and as far as this one goes a very good one. A lot of aspects of the book is very of it's time ofc (in terms of religiosity, morality and some frank racism). Not as bad as some, better than most in that regard (as in, written before the 1900's). Suspenseful and charismatic.
it was definitely enjoyable, but a little slow paced for me
So I planned to read this during October as a little Halloween book, but I also started uni so it’s ok lmao.
This story was incredibly intriguing, I loved the characters so much, especially my lovely girl Mina, and the way you get to experience the story through all the diary entries of the characters, the newspaper articles etc.
Although I expected to learn more about Dracula himself and also the ending felt a bit rushed on the last pages, it was so, so good.
I read the graphic novel! Very good, sometimes hard to understand since it is a kind of old english but a very good story overall!
Finally finished. No clue why this took me two months to finish? Extremely odd bro. But. What a book. You can clearly see how our version of Dracula that we use in our movies and books and stuff stems directly from this gross pale thin white creature. Honestly the way Dracula is described in this made me feel sick and I really felt for Jonathan harker because Dracula just sounded so gross and he just seemed like he smelt so bad 💀 Stoker definitely needed a lesson on how to condense his story a little bit because why was this book 450 pages with the tiniest font possible? I feel like twenty percent of the plot could have been completely eradicated and wouldn’t have impacted the book, perceptions or end point at all. Also, there was quite a lot of characters in this, which is fairs but I’d hardly recommend having so many characters because it starts to get so confusing. Also, the way it’s narrated through journal entries and letters for the entire book is quite interesting too, honestly I’ve seen other gothic novellas like Frankenstein incorporate letters but not for the entire book, I don’t know whether I like it or not but it’s quite a unique way of narrating it. I’m not giving its rating because I always struggle to rate classics because of their different writing style and form.
I can see how in it’s time Dracula was a scary revolutionary book. I can also see how it has shaped modern literature and pop culture. However, I went into this book thinking that I would learn more about Dracula and his origin while I did learn some about how he came to be it was still not really what I was looking for. In this book you can see the original vampire hunting group as well as how many horror movies have taken pieces away from the story with leaving one character alone with a killer on the loose.
It bored me in the beginning (got a couple good nights rest out of it +1 star) but I enjoyed it overall.
Would say one of my favourite books! Really long but so worth it.
definitely liked the first half more than the second half
"He is finite, though he is powerful to do much harm and suffers not as we do. But we are strong, each in our purpose; and we are all more strong together." *** Finally met Edward Cullen's great ancestor! But in all seriousness, I now understand why Dracula is the progenitor of all evils. Unlike modern-day villains that saturate mass media, this vampire has no gray area. Stoker never provides an instance wherein Dracula might merit respect because the distinction is clear—he definitely belongs to the dark side. Regarding his characterization, I find it interesting how despite his heartlessness and bloodlust, Dracula is somewhat humanized. Save for his sharp teeth and red eyes, he is depicted as an charismatic, genteel, and aristocratic man. This book was SO long, though, and it was honestly draining to read. Some parts were overtly redundant, and I felt that the ending was quite anticlimactic. After all those pages of intense buildup, Stoker capped it off so quickly. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining and gruesome read; the author did not shy away from portraying bloodlust. I also found its epistolary rendering effective because we witnessed the story unfold through the perspectives of different characters. Dracula being a hallmark of Gothic fiction is well-deserved.
Amo fuerte, pero igual, si estuviéramos comparando, Frankenstein le pasa el trapo en todo sentido.
Drácula siempre será uno de los mejores títulos, el mítico vampiro de Transilvania (desde mi perspectiva) en cada lectura y aún con El Paso del tiempo se regenera.
this was so boring wth😭😭
I actually read “Dracula, Go Home!”
I really liked the story, but found the form quite hard to get through
I understand that it’s iconic but the diary entries are sooooo tiring I mean just stick to one pov or two if you want but I got so confused in the end
Didn't know it was a series of journal entries going in, so that was a fun surprise. A lot of flowery diatribes, but tis the season. Good background for the other vampire books I will be reading soon.
mina harker deserves just as much attention in the modern dracula/vampire/monster zeitgest as van helsing.
i love this book so much i think i will read it hundreds of times before i die "if it is to be that I must meet death at any hand, let it be at the hand of him that loves me best" yes i get a lil tired of The Perfect Woman but hehe i love the story sm
What am I supposed to say!?
Village folk: don’t go there, you’ll die, the devil will take you
Jonathan: mmmh damn this chicken paprikash so goood
If you read contemporary reviews of Dracula, you'll find it was critically panned by the average reader. Some of the other names of the day considered it a sleeper classic but otherwise the real cultural value of Dracula comes from its Hammer incarnations. Which is entirely understandable, as the weight of Stoker's laborious prose prevents any sort of impression to form in the reader's mind beyond the desire to sleep -- or strangle the heroines for their stupidity. In some sense I wish Dracula from the page had had more of an impact than the cinematic Dracula. The heavy mustache, the fierce Stygian features...they make for a much for evocative vampiric archetype than what we've in fact been left with.
This is one I skip around in just to read the annotations. Wolf is one of my favorite Dracula writers.
Highlights
‘It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import.’
'You are early tonight, my friend.' The man stammered in reply:-
'The English Herr was in a hurry,' to which the stranger replied:-
'That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to Bukovina. You cannot deceive me, my friend; I know too much, and my horses are swift.' As he spoke he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. One of my companions whispered to another the line from Burger's 'Lenore:'–
'Denn die Todten reiten schnell'–
('For the dead travel fast.')
🤭
“I love the shade and the shadow, and would be alone with my thoughts when I may."
It makes me incredibly happy when I find my character in books. I relate to Dracula in this way.
Er, der des Todes spottet, wie wir wissen; er, der inmitten von Seuchen gedeiht, die ganze Menschengeschlechter dahinraffen!
Ich fürchtete mich vor den Worten, die Renfield sprechen würde. Ich wagte gar nicht daran zu denken, aber die Ahnung des Kommenden lag auf mir wie auf einem, der schon die Totenuhr hat ticken hören.
»Sie soll nur kommen; aber warten Sie noch einen Augenblick, bis ich etwas aufgeräumt habe.« Seine Aufräumungsweise war recht merkwürdig; er aß sämtliche Fliegen und Spinnen, die er in seinen Schachteln aufbewahrt hatte auf, ehe ich ihn daran hindern konnte.
»Sie sind ein heller Kopf, Sie denken richtig und Ihr Verstand ist scharf, aber Sie stecken zu tief in Vorurteilen. Sie lassen lhre Augen nicht sehen und Ihre Ohren nicht hören, und was außerhalb Ihres täglichen Lebens liegt, ist für Sie nicht von Bedeutung.
War diese Totenstille ein neues Glied in der Kette des Verderbens, die sich enger um uns zusammenzuziehen schien? War es wirklich ein Haus des Todes, zu dem ich gekommen war - zu spät?
Ich fühlte die Nähe des Grafen, der in einem Sturm von Erregung herangekommen zu sein schien. Meine Augen öffneten sich unwillkürlich, ich sah, wie seine Hand den weißen Nacken der schönen Frau ergriff und sie mit Riesenkraft zurückriß. Ihre blauen Augen waren wie verstört vor Wut, ihre Zähne knirschten und ihre feinen Wangen waren gerötet vor Leidenschaft. Und erst der Graf! Nie sah ich einen solchen Grimm, eine solche Wut. Der reine Dämon der Hölle! Seine Augen sprühten förmlich Flammen. Das rote Licht in ihnen brannte, als ob die ganze Glut des höllischen Feuers hinter ihnen lodere. Sein Gesicht war totenbleich, die Züge hart wie aus Stein gemeißelt; die dicken Augenbrauen, die sich über der Nase trafen, waren wie Barren weißglühenden Metalls. Mit einer stolzen Geste wies er das Mädchen von sich und ging dann auf die anderen zu, als wolle er sie zurücktreiben;
All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had had some peculiar effect on them.
For myself, I felt a sort of paralysis of fear. It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import.
Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road—a long, agonised wailing, as if from fear. The sound was taken up by another dog, and then another and another, till, borne on the wind which now sighed softly through the Pass, a wild howling began, which seemed to come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the night.
“Denn die Todten reiten schnell”—
(“For the dead travel fast.”)
The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!
Do you mean to say that you would bring Mina right into the jaws of his death-trap? Not for the world! Not for Heaven or Hell!
Devotion is so rare, and we are so grateful to those who show it unasked to those we love.
Tell me all about it, dear; tell me all about everything, for there is nothing which interests you which will not be dear to me.
How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.
The letter that he has seen and touched must comfort me till we meet.
It was brilliant moonlight, and the soft effect of the light over the sea and sky - merged together in one great, silent mystery - was beautiful beyond words.
Though sympathy can't alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.
All is vastness; the clouds are piled up like giant rocks, and there is a 'brool' over the sea that sounds like some presage of doom.
my dear, if it is to be that I must meet death at any hand, let it be at the hand of him that loves me best.
