Dracula by Bram Stoker

[yairdoza]

I read Dracula earlier this year. Some parts are more exiting than others. I made the mistake of watching the movie with Keanu Reeves and Anthony Hopkins at the same time. I got confused about events

[Nollaig]

There's a Dracula movie with Keanu Reeves? That I have to see

[Univerze]

Ofcourse there's a Dracula film with Keanu Reeves,am amazed if anyone hasn't seen it! Gary Oldman as Dracula, Winona Ryder as Mina, Keanu is Jonathan Harker. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I kinda like this film (though honestly, it has it's baaaad moments).

 

However, has been years since I have read Dracula, and then I tried for it in English, the Dutch translations are no fun. But didn't get too much of it, was bored with it soon.. now my english is much better, I'd probably enjoy it more too. So on my to be read list again.

[Vladd]

I thought the stake used to kill Lucy was less wooden than Reeves unbelieveable playing of Harker. This has been one my favourite books since I first read it many many years ago.

[:HerculeHastings:]

I haven't been a fan of a Dracula, strangely. I picked it up as a kid expecting to be scared out of my life, but ended up feeling a little confused and even bored. The frightening parts weren't gripping enough for me, and the hunt for Dracula felt redundant. I won't say it's a thoroughly bad book, but it's definitely overrated.

[BookJumper]

Or maybe it's simply not a children's book, Hercule it's a 19th century gothic novel, with all the differences of style and pace from what one's used to that that entails. I would urge you to try again now you're a bit older - you might be pleasantly surprised.

[Rawr]

Fantastic novel, i am currently studying the various themes and symbolism throughout

[:HerculeHastings:]

Or maybe it's simply not a children's book, Hercule it's a 19th century gothic novel, with all the differences of style and pace from what one's used to that that entails. I would urge you to try again now you're a bit older - you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

Why, you may be right. I shall hunt for it again, if I haven't thrown it out already. D:

[BookJumper]

Wahey, result if indeed you have already *shock, gasp & horror* thrown it out, may I recommend the My Penguin edition? It's an awesome, if sadly small, series of books they publish with blank covers so that you may let your imagination run wild and invent your own... I'll probably get one too some day, as the New Annotated Edition is far too big to lug around in a handbag!

[Emmaline]

I enjoyed the first half when we were at Count Dracula's estate, but when we switched over to the Lucy storyline I was so bored! The whole thing where she started to look pale was weak and having dreams was so predictable. You knew the first time they hinted at it but we had to go on for chapters and chapters about it. I enjoyed the lunatic scenes, I thought they were fun. One of my favorite quotes comes from that section: "Chasing an errant swarm of bees is nothing to following a naked lunatic when the fit of escaping is upon him!"

 

As I was reading it I kept thinking I wonder if this would be better if I was reading it when it was first published, when people were not so familiar with the Dracula story in all of it's many reinterpretations.

[BigWords]

The whole thing where she started to look pale was weak and having dreams was so predictable.

 

It wasn't exactly groundbreaking at the time either, but the power of the characters have managed to elevate it above similar (though, IMHO, inferior novels) which were published in the era.

 

As I was reading it I kept thinking I wonder if this would be better if I was reading it when it was first published, when people were not so familiar with the Dracula story in all of it's many reinterpretations.

 

I'm completely guessing here (not having any contemporary reviews to hand), but the notion that Dracula was, at some point, revolutionary is possibly erronious. The format of the novel is a staple of Victorian prose, the supernatural nature of the threat isn't unique, and most of the vampire lore that the story "introduces" has some basis in European lore anyway. None of that matters, because the imagery is strong enough to rise above any possible criticisms which could possibly be laid at the text.

 

Slightly outside the remit of this thread, but I'll add the following anyway... When Nosferatu was released (1922) there was the distinct tinge of familiarity to Stoker's novel. So much so that it was the subject of legal intervention, and the film was threatened with complete destruction. It is interesting to note that the most effective appearance of vampirism on film was directly influenced by Stoker. Ignore the film adaptations from a strictly adaptive point of view - none come close to the story, even Coppolla's attempt.

Edited February 1, 2010 by BigWords

[Kell]

I think that so many different versions of the story have been told in movies that it's great to get back and read the original and see where the films have differed from the original source material (as they often change things completely).

[Univerze]

^And that, is exactly why I love reading those classic stories everyone knows of, but which not many people (apart from book geeks like us) have read for themselves. Everyone knows Dracula.. from films, stories etc, but when you ask around there's barely anyone who has read the book.

[pickle]

I love the book and have loved it and read it many time over the years, i have also seen the film and love it too (the Coppola version) but thats mainly because its so awful it might as well be 'carry on screaming'..the only one who is any good in it is Gary Oldman the makeup at the beggining when he is the count greeting Jonathan Harker is superb..the rest is pants but funny pants..watch it if you haven't seen it a real scream!!

[Vladd]

Yes it's sad that most of the things people know about Dracula were invented by Hollywood. Look at the fuss people made because Gary Oldman went out in daylight as Dracula, they obviously never read the book.

[Kylie]

I just read the following on smh.com.au (news website):

 

A HOLLYWOOD movie about the life of Dracula with a budget of more than $US100 million ($113 million) and Sam Worthington highly likely to star could be a prime catch for Sydney.

 

The Australian director Alex Proyas, best known for The Crow, I, Robot and Knowing, is hoping to start shooting Dracula Year Zero at Fox Studios within months.

 

''We're virtually set to go,'' he says. ''It's a mediaeval fantasy and there's a component that would need to be shot in New Zealand for the landscapes

[BookJumper]

... ooooh, flawed hero in tragic love story? I like the sound of this. Say what you will, I liked Coppola's Dracula - 'creative' though it was in parts - and the thing I liked the most about it was the bit about Vlad Tepesh and his wife... *wails and sobs*!

[Ben Mines]

There are many things I don't understand about the popular conception of the vampire. Where did all that Brilliantine come from? Was there a scene in which Stoker describes the Count lustily trowelling Brilliantine into his hair? I don't recall it.

 

Generally speaking, Stoker's creature is far more insectile, and more interesting, than that black-caped, Brilliantined, blood-drinking and yet somehow still cultivated Transylvanian gentleman.

 

I remember in particular a scene in which he scurries down the wall like a lizard; and how he buried himself mole-like in a crate of soil for his journey to England.

 

I also remember the farcial Victorian gentlemen who hunt him down with thinly-disguised xenophobic zeal.

[Vladd]

There are many things I don't understand about the popular conception of the vampire. Where did all that Brilliantine come from? Was there a scene in which Stoker describes the Count lustily trowelling Brilliantine into his hair? I don't recall it.

Simple answer Bela Lugosi

[Kylie]

I remember in particular a scene in which he scurries down the wall like a lizard; and how he buried himself mole-like in a crate of soil for his journey to England.

 

There are certainly some deliciously scary scenes in Dracula. I'd forgotten about him buried in the crate of soil, but I do remember him going down the wall. Did Jonathan Harker also find and open his coffin at one point, or is my memory deceiving me?

[Rawr]

Insectile is a good way to describe him, he could also be a metaphor for a disease invading the body.

The character and plot work on so many levels.

I love that scene where he simply goes off for a stroll down the castle wall. I am pretty sure he opens the coffin, yes, that imagery of Dracula lying there in the soil with traces of blood across his mouth, Harker desperately trying to find a way out, and comes across that of all things

[Steeeeve]

 

My only real complaint was though it held me for the first 3/4 by the climax I was starting to want it to end and it meant I took much longer reading the final 100 pages than the 300 or so beforehand, yet it is a classic, and the creation of a character that has become legendary in our society, that of Dracula. So well worth a read if you think you might like a classic, or if you like vampire novels and haven't read this one which bought the vampire novel to the masses.

 

Overall 8/10

 

I felt exactly the same. At first I really enjoyed it but by that last 100 pages or so I was getting quite bored and slightly annoyed by characters saying in two pages what they could have said in one paragraph.

I know people spoke differently back then and there were different rules of conduct but even so it just got a bit much for me.

 

Somebody else (I've lost the post now) mentioned being bored by the Lucy part ofthe story...ah Emmaline. I wasn't bored by it but the "She's better! She's worse. She's better! She's worse" aspect frustrated me a little.

 

Also the end is massively anti-climactic.

 

Maybe I've been raised on too many action films or more action oriented versions of the story. I loved Let the Right One In and The Strain.

But it was fascinating to read the "original". The most annoying thing was I had all the characters from the Coppola film in my head! Damn Keanu Reeves acting badly in my imagination.

[runner]

There are so many Dracula books in print...this is one of the best I have viewed in waterstones with fantastic illustrations...really adds to the atmosphere

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ben-Templesmiths-Dracula-Graphic-Classics/dp/1600103782/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266612347&sr=1-13

[Nicola]

I've never read this book (shame on me!) but I saw a gorgeous copy of it in Waterstones a few weeks ago that has been tempting me. It's quite a big book and costs about

[vinay87]

Of course a book can be handsome. If gorgeous, then why not handsome?

 

I haven't read Dracula either... My, my! The wishlist is growing.