Dracula

Rating:
Summary: A Deathless Tale of the Undead
Review: I was introduced to Dracula as a child watching Bela Lugosi portray the Count on the late night horror show "Shock Theater". This began a semi-fascination with vampire movies which continues to this day. I've not seen all the Dracula movies, but I'd seen dozens before I read the novel after graduating college. Nothing I've ever seen on the screen compares to Bram Stoker's original story. The story, which is told in the format of journal entries, letters, and newspaper clippings, engrossed me and carried me headlong to the final chapter.

The power of Stoker's written masterpiece exceeds the power of any screen production by a power of 10. Film isn't even the second most powerful medium for Dracula. The Naxos Audiobooks production of Dracula features a full cast but retains the format of the book. Different actors speak the journal entries of the various parties, with dialog and action being dramatized. Audio plays have been called "the theater of the mind", and that description well suits the Naxos production of Dracula. All in all, the audio play gives a satisfying way to experience the legend of Dracula.

Rating:
Summary: One of the top 20 greatest novels!
Review: I think Dracula is one of the greatest novels ever written! I love the diary format as well.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic that will not dissapoint!
Review: This is a great book!. It lives up to and surpasses every expectation i had for it. I have read clasic novels and horror novels before, like Frankenstine ( Wich I definately do not reccomend, its very boring), and I thought this would be the usual good story but not at all as suspensful and creepy as books and movies these days. But this certainly was. If you dont know if you really want to get into this kind of reading level or length but still want to see an acurate telling of the classic story, the movie Dracula with keaneu Reeves and Winona Ryder isvery acurate at following the story line. But if you realy want to experiance the full impact of this story in it origional form than i highly recommend taking the time to read it. It is not saccriligious at all and is a suprisingly powerful story with great intrigue and logic and an ending that will not dissapoint!

Rating:
Summary: A Classic that will not dissapoint!
Review: This is a great book!. It lives up to and surpassesevery expectationai had for it. I have read clasicnovelsand horrornovels before, like Frankenstine ( Wich I definately do not reccomend, its very boring), and I thought this would be the usual good story but not at all as suspensful and creepy as books and movies these days. But this certainly was. If you dont know if you really want to get into this kind of reading level or length but still want to see an acurate telling of the classic story, the movie Dracula with keaneu Reeves and Winona Ryder isvery acurate at following the story line. But if you realy want to experiance the full impact of this story in it origional form than i highly recommend taking the time to read it. It is not saccriligious at all and is a suprisingly powerful story with great intrigue and logic and an ending that will not dissapoint!

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful Novel
Review: Dracula by Brian Stoker is a nail-biting thriller that kept you at the edge of your seat. The book starts off slowly, but towards the third chapter the book gets extremely interesting with facts about the character that you would never expect. The book is about this man who got an invitation from Dracula explaining to him that he needs some business from him. This poor man does not know who Dracula is, and you can just predict what was going to happen. The book is the diary that the protagonist wrote about his experience with the count, and what he saw when he was at Dracula's house. This book would not be appropriate for kids under fourteen. It is more a book for good readers because of the older language that it was written in. This would be great for someone who is looking for a thrill or who loves the stories of goblins and ghosts. If you liked Snake's Pass or Under the Sunset, you will also like Dracula. If you want a good book that you cannot put down, I recommend this thriller for you. Do not waste anymore time reading this junk go buy the book now!

Rating:
Summary: one of the best books ive read
Review: I seriously wish i had never read this book just so i could read it again for the first time. This book is a great tale of horror and suspense that will keep you reading for hours i could not put it down. I definetly will give it 5 stars and i reccomend anyone who hasnt read it to read it now!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: The curse of the name.
Review: I was not prepared for "Dracula" when I decided to read it ten years ago: the movies on the subject had spoiled my expectations and maybe even skewered my perspective. I gave it a shot mostly because I was snowed in that weekend in Virginia. That was one hell of a weekend. "Dracula" proved to be far better than any of the film adaptations had even insinuated: dark, eerie, very effective in epistolary style, unabashed in its thesis of the Easterner who threatens the good Victorian (Western) ways of decent people, and seduces young women who are, mostly, very willing to be led astray. The topic of Eastern menace-Western defense is an old one ("The Iliad" is one example, "Medea" another), but Stoker creates a singularly powerful character in his Transylvanian Count who must drink human blood to stay alive for centuries. The author got his inspiration from Countess Bathory and Vlad Tepes "The Impaler", this last one a true hero in Romania. The originals were far bloodier than the literary creation, but Dracula's grip on our imagination is due to Stoker's way of dealing with his peculiar vampire: this is a truly evil being. None of the redeeming qualities presented in films are in the book. Dracula simply charges ahead and, when things turn out badly, retreats to his land. The romantic hero is a creation of screenwriters and filmmakers. Count Dracula, as Stoker made him, is a gothic horror character, and one of the most memorable ones. Unfortunately, Stoker became a hostage to his creation. But in writing "Dracula" he created more than a horror story, or a memorable character: he managed to create a lasting monster that has gone far beyond the horror genre to become a cultural phenomenon. Do not let the unusual (for us) epistolary style throw you off this excellent work: When compared to most of today's popular literature, "Dracula" rules.

Rating:
Summary: The classic gothic novel
Review: In a class I took, I was asked to read a gothic novel. So, I decided to pick what I thought was the locus classicus. The format of the novel was the first thing that struck me; it is a series of diary entries, letters, telegraphs and so on. The format leads to a somewhat disjointed narrative as different characters will enter for 20-30 pages and give their own personal narrative of the day's events.

As a Christian, this novel and indeed many in the same genre (e.g. Frankenstein), are often depicted as terrible, evil, devilish/satanic books. However, I would agree with the Christian Research Journal, that this novel unlike newer reworkings of the vampire story (those by Anne Rice) is quite Christian. All the narration is from the perspective of the "good guys" and Count Dracula himself only makes rather rare appearances. Furthermore, there are *many* referneces to God's will, God's providence and the like. Lastly, the Un-Dead (the novel's way of describing vampires and Dracula himself) are terribly vulnerable to Christian symbols (e.g. Crosses, crucifixes, Sacred Wafers <- the bread of Communion).

Stoker's way of revealing details about vampires (who and what they are, their abilities, their history etc) are very slow and gradual. I found myself wanting to know more about the history of Count Dracula (he was a powerful nobleman, centuries ago in Turkey/Romania) and how the race of the Un-Dead started and functions. It would have been more interesting to see the Count more often and perhaps have him contribute his thoughts (he appears in the first few chapters, disappears for a 100 pages, reappears, and then disappears for 150 pages).

However, this novel does not lend itself to a fast read, in my opinion. I committed to reading 25 pages per day and thus I came to the end of it. The conclusion was rather abrupt and left something to be desired. I have not seen the film adaptation (Directed by Francis Ford Coppola; produced 1992).

I plan on reading and reviewing Mary Shelly's, "Frankenstein," in late 2001.

Please note that I read the Penguin Classics version (ISBN: 0-14-043381-3).

Rating:
Summary: Bram Stoker's Genius
Review: This book is one of the best books ever written. If you have not read it, you should. There is more to the plot than just killing Dracula and vampires, it is a story of a group of honourable folk, and what they take upon themselves when they meet with the terror of Count Dracula and his kind. This book speaks of courage, duty, love and death and reveals its horrors in the most sutble way as to un-nerve even the most collected people. Told through the journals of the main characters, it gives you personal depth into the story. It is a masterpiece of the written word and horror as well as human nature and unhuman nature. It is thrilling.

Rating:
Summary: The villain for the ages...read before you read Anne Rice
Review: On a very cold and windy night, I was up in my isolated third floor room reading this novel. We have steam heat in my apartment, so I had the window open to get in some fresh air. The wind coming into the room caused my bedroom door to rattle on its hinges. I could not have asked for a better atmosphere in which to read this book.

This is a great book to start off with if you love a good vampire tale. (But we know it's not the first.) Stoker writes an extremely effective and scary tale. The opening sequences with Jonathan Harker meeting the superstitious villagers, and then his ordeal in the Castle are effectively scary, great mood setters and some of the best horror writing I have ever encountered. Unfortunately, the book begins to flag a bit in the middle with endless meetings between Van Helsing and his cohorts. After a while I just wished they'd do something, and not just sit around talking about it. The book also left a few questions for me: how did Harker escape the castle, why did Quincey Morris hide in the shadow of a tree, and why was Renfield chosen to be the servant of the vampire? These are minor quibbles, and they effectively add to the intrigue. I also enjoyed the character of Mina finding some strength at the end, as too much of the book has her being the predictable Victorian heroine. (Yes, she indeed faints.)

I think this is also a good book to be read BEFORE you pick up any Anne Rice. Rice perfectly carries on the tradition of the vampire novel, and this serves as a great "prologue" (for Rice debunks a lot of vampire myths in her books, and even has Lestat muse on the "truth" in Stoker's novel... but this in no way renders "Dracula" irrelevant.)

Dracula is thrilling, racy (for its time... those three vampire women must have shocked the Victorian audiences right down to their lace collars), and a great read.