Dracula

Rating:
Summary: The all-time, ultimate horror classic
Review: Think of the word "horror classic" and "Dracula" almost instantly springs to mind. Bram Stoker brings the ancient vampire lore vividly to life in this epistolary novel of the Transylvanian count who comes to London in search of new blood and new victims. Much more than Frankenstein (a kind of boring monster, when all is said and done), "Dracula" inspired a whole genre of horror stories based on vampirism, of which Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" is one of the best. Some readers have complained of the epistolary style the book is written in but I thought it helped carry the story along excellently. And with the exception of Lucy (all that fainting and whining does kind of get on one's nerves), the characters are far from weak. The book works on all levels, as a great novel as well as a hellacious humdinger of a horror story.

Rating:
Summary: A classic never dies
Review: Bram Stoker's masterpiece Dracula remains a mesmerizing story. Even if it's over one hundred years old, it still plays with the of every child at heart that we are. When I started reading Dracula, I was a little distracted by the many changes of point of views. You start Jonhathan Harker's journal, then you have letters from Mina, Lucy... but after sometime I started enjoying it because it gave us a way to really know how the characters are feeling rather than just read what a narrator thinks. At one point, I understood that the author did so that we would have the same information as the characters did, that is they take the different letters, journal, telegraphs, scraps of papers and put them together. This is something that really makes you feel like you're one of the silent characters, you're there but not there, it's quite interesting.

Even if there was many remakes of that story, in the movies, as well as in books, I think that Bram Stoker's Dracule will remain a classic for quite some time.

Rating:
Summary: Spine Tingling Suspense!
Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker is a true to the heart horror novel. It has edge of your seat suspense which any reader will love and great character relationships. The book is great for audiences' of all ages with only a few very hard words to understand. As the book starts off slow it quickly picks up as Lucy and Mina are mentioned. As the book goes on you'll meet new characters and thats really the main reason that the book is so great. You'll love Professor Van helsing, a man who really gets the plot to stir. This fast paced novel will be enjoyed by all. Read it now! You'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Blood Sucking
Review: This is truly a good book. the whole story is excellent. One of the best classics I have ever read. The characters are so unique. One of the things I liked is how you are reading throug there diaries. If you are looking for a good book to read then this is the one.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing!
Review: The writer slowly takes you away from reality and makes you believe in what you read. Superb narration with comfortable pace. Slowly you get involved in the intrigue and horror.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as I thought it would be
Review: The beginning of the book is gripping, but after about 70 pages it bogs down. There is way too much forced dialogue and it's really kind of boring. The end is also something of a letdown. Read it if you want. It's not horrible, but nothing great.

Rating:
Summary: An Enduring Classic
Review: Almost everyone I know has read this book at sometime in their lives. It is a classic masterpiece and is as enjoyable with each subsequent reading as it is the first time. Despite its horror genre, it is truly a psychological mystery and the story contains deeper meanings than it may at first seem. What exactly the main character of Count Dracula represents is open to speculation. Some have suggested that Bram Stoker may have been influenced by the prejudice against foreigners that existed in Victorian England.

Nonetheless, this book remains one of the most influential ever published. Retold countless times, the story can only be truly appreciated after reading its original version.

Rating:
Summary: The importance of the epistolary style
Review:
Here we compare the epistolary style of Bram Stocker - in the book 'Dracula' - and Choderlos De Laclos - in the book 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses'. This choice was made because both are famous examples of epistolary novels and both have movie versions. We make considerations about the possibility of the style itself be the responsible to the great success of the protagonist of the former - Dracula - in our century.
The common characteristic of both books is the absence of a narrator. In the former, the book is a group of diaries and personal journals written by all the characters of the book except Count Dracula. In those papers, the characters write about the happenings. In the second case, the book is a group of letters changed by the characters. So, the reader must build in his mind the whole history, on both books. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley also was written in this way, but in that case there was only two narrators, so the narrative is smoother.
But there are differences between the books. In Dracula, from half to the end, all the characters join themselves to register all happenings. They believe they could find clues on these papers. So, in the last half, the history is told smoothly. In Laclos's book, the characters do not know each other's letters, so only the reader knows all the happenings. Under this point of view, Dracula is clearer than Laclos's book. However, the fact Dracula does not keep a journal himself make the reader anxious with Dracula's steps. In Laclo's book, the reader does not share the anxiety with the characters.
We think this characteristic of Stocker's book is one of the main sources of the success of the title character, aside the vampire mystics of course. In this book only the "good" characters told the history, so the reader feels he is being told only one side of the happenings (the "good" one). This fact drives the reader to try understanding Dracula's feelings and causes. Also, this gives liberty to movie directors creating any sort of personality to Dracula, in their adaptations. These versions by themselves create a totally rich and new universe to vampires. And Stoecker himself coined all that liberty in the style.


Rating:
Summary: A great tale marred by incredibly mushy characters
Review: This makes the third time I've read Dracula, and the third time that I've had to force my way through the middle half of the book. The story itself is very good, and it's easy for the reader to be swept up in Stoker's descriptions of the country where Dracula comes from. It can be VERY creepy at times, especially at the first and near the end, and contrary to some of the reviews I've read, the ending is not a letdown at all. I also liked Stoker's use of the characters' diaries and journals to form most of the story.

Unfortunately, everything that's good about this book bogs down in the middle. Stoker cripples all the main characters (especially the men) except for Dracula and Renfield by giving them suffocatingly melodramatic dialogue and actions. They constantly break down in emotive overload and take a third to a half a page to say things that could be said in three sentences; Victorian writing style or not, there's only so much weeping and group hugging I can handle. Stoker could have easily cut enough unnecessary dialogue out of the book to shrink it by a third and not harmed it in the least. Fortunately, the perspective of the diary/journal entries changes frequently and keeps the story moving at a suitable pace.

Final verdict: For a spooky yarn to keep you awake through a dark night, Dracula's a good choice. Just be aware of the pitfalls before you take the plunge.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: The only thing keeping this from being 5 stars is that it became too populaur. Had I not known all about Vampires and Dracula before I read the book it would have been much better. Alot of the mystery that stoker tried to conceal Dracula with was blown because I already knew what was going on and what was going to happen. If you know little about Dracula then this is deffiantly a book for you it kept me reading even though I knew exactly what was going to happen.