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Summary: Weak Ending but Great Book Nonetheless
Review: This book is much better than I expected it to be.It might take some time to get used to the 19th-Century language, but what amazed me is how modern the pacing and atmospheric imagery is in a book written in the late 1800s. Except for the language pointed out above, it really feels like it's a film script completed last week. I also like having it written from different characters' perspectives through their various journals, diaries, and letters. The one thing that I thought could have been better is the ending. It's simply very abrupt, and I felt, unsatisfying. With so much buildup, I thought there could have been, and should have been, A LOT more action at the end. Still, that should not keep you from reading the book. You've probably seen dozens of Dracula movies through the years, and this is in large part the genesis of all of that, and the reason why to this day people are obsessed with this fascinating character.
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Summary: Bram Stoker's Magnum Opus
Review: By day he sleeps in the dark and gloomy dungeon of his ancient and dilapidated castle. By night, Count Dracula surreptitiously seeks the blood of the innocent to crave his insatiable appetite with his razor sharp canine-like teeth. Count Dracula, the abhorrent antagonist, manifests himself as the cunning Un-Dead vampire who can summon the elements of wind, rain, fog, and snow at will, can command an army of rats and wolves with ease, and possesses the "strength in his hand of 20 men." Oh, and by the way, he can alter forms into a bat or wolf as well as slip through cracks and disappear and reappear at will, too. A formidable foe, to say the least, right? One small disadvantage our almighty Count does possess however - from dawn to dusk our most unusual friend loses his ability to alter forms and disappear at will. Will the blood lust come to an end? Read it and you shall soon see, my friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Really good... until the ending
Review: As you read you find the book is made up of all the different character's journal entries. This is really creative. I found myself really addicted to it until the end. There is this big build up of a fight to destroy Dracula. With such a big build up, I was dissapointed to find no battle or even a struggle once they find him. Dracula goes out with a whimper. It was almost too easy. Lack luster ending for sure. The Francis Ford Coppola film Bram Stroker's Dracula (1992) is much better. But in all fairness, I am sure for it's time, it could have been so much more. I know Bram Stoker put alot of work and research into learning about the real Dracula, other wise known to some as "Vald the Impaler". Bram's character is loosly based on the real man and how he got the idea to write the book.
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Summary: One of the best Vampire books to ever indicate a legend
Review: This is a great vampire book. It is about the nobleman Count Dracula, once, Vlad Dracul, who became a vampire, and lived in Transylvania. In the beginng, Jonathan Harker, goes to Dracula's castle, and Dracula is an old man with a mustache, and dressed in all black. Now i think Dracula does not wear a cape, he must wear a robe, because think about it, He lives in transylvania and how can he own a tux or a cape. Now back to the story- It is great, at the end was a surprise how Dracula died.
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Summary: for once I say watch the movie!
Review: The idea of the vampire is fascinating, but Bram Stoker's book is not. I began reading this novel in the hopes that I might find more depth of character and plot than in the movie. But any hopes for this were demolished by the clumsy form, lack of a real narrator, and lack of character development. At first I found the form interesting. The whole story is related through diary/journal entries by the characters, newspaper clips, telegrams, etc. Yet by the time I had read roughly 100 pages, I was growing tired of listening to the characters bubble on about their emotions, and how beautiful everyone except Dracula is. Towards the climactic scene, the journal form begins to conflict more and more with the plot. As the actions become more time-compressed, the characters have to spend more time writing down conversations and updates to the plot. One imagines them scurrying off after anything happens to go and write it down in their diary. (I don't know anyone in real life who does this.) Also, since he is seen through the distance of the characters' point of view, Dracula has hardly any recognizable presence in the story, except as the invisible menace. Being a boring villain, he is defeated by boring, superstitious means. What reason is there for the vampire to appear in the characters' lives anyway, unless to punish them for a wild imagination and gushing diaries? The only character of interest is Dr. Van Helsing, especially when he speaks of an odd impulse to laughter that comes up at the most inopportune times, and when he speaks of the vampire's "child" brain. Otherwise, the book suffers heavily from lack of a good narrator (who would perhaps scale down some of the gratuitous sentimentalism), and so I suggest watching the Francis Ford Coppolla film instead.
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Summary: A Terrifying Bargain!
Review: No one disputes the eminence of Bram Stoker's DRACULA as foremost among a small group of classic literary thrillers. It is this hardcover BOOKS OF WONDER, Deluxe Gift edition(HarperCollins Publishers),that might prompt even the Count's "children of the night" to howl with delight.This 430 pp. version of the legendary tale of the King of the Vampires is handsomely bound in black with gold(tomb-carved)lettering on the spine. A single(bas-relief red) drop of "blood" is spattered on the cover. The real treasure,however,is the battle-array of 21 black-and-white ink drawings by renowned illustrator, Barry Mosser.These simple drawings...employing stark chiaroscuro shadowing and "plate-cut-lines" technique...are striking and appropriately nightmarish. This is a terrifying bargain comprising a bloody great story incarnated in Books of Wonder format that even Van Helsing would stake a claim to, for personal library or excellent Halloween gift...
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Summary: Easily the best horror novel ever written
Review: Bram Stoker's Dracula is, hands down, the greatest horror novel ever written. In addition, it is also an enduring classic of literature. You may have seen every Dracula movie ever made, but you do not know the real Count Dracula until such time as you have read Stoker's book. Of course, unless you have been living under a rock, you will know the general plot line, but I assure you there is a wealth of rich material buried throughout the text that is sure to excite, intrigue, and surprise you. Perhaps the ending is a slight anticlimactic, yet I, having read this novel before and being quite familiar with the Count, read the final pages with bated breath, an anxious mind, and the sense of exhilaration that only the most talented of writers can induce. The most striking characteristic of Stoker's masterpiece is its solid grounding in late 19th-century Victorianism. This may prove frustrating to some readers. It is far from uncommon for the men in the tale to weep and bemoan the dangers threatening the virtuous ladies Lucy and Mina; virtue and innocence of women are hailed rather religiously. Mina, for her part, assumes the role then deemed proper for women, accepting and praising the men for their protection of her, worrying constantly about her husband rather than herself, shedding tears she must not let her husband see, etc. Yet, it is most interesting to see Mina rise above the circle of a woman's proscribed duties; she in fact becomes a true partner in the effort against Dracula, expressing ideas and conclusions that the men, with all of their wisdom, could not come up with themselves. Another thing I find interesting is the lack of a clear protagonist in Dracula. Technically, I suppose, Jonathon Harker is the protagonist, but Mina, Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and the Count himself basically operate on an equal plane with him. It is Van Helsing who can be described as the anti-Dracula; he plans the moves by which he and his friends seek to thwart the Count's plans and destroy him; the second half of the novel can be compared to a chess match between two equally strong competitors. Minor characters such as the lunatic Renfield are also drawn clearly in our mind's eye by Stoker's incredible gift of characterization. While the format is unusual--the novel consisting fully of diary and journal entries by different characters--you cannot help but be drawn in closely to the group of heroic souls who pledge their very lives to one another as they take it upon themselves to combat a centuries-old evil. One could expound upon a number of themes in this novel (and many literary critics have certainly done so), so I will just quickly mention a few. Is this an erotic story? Certainly, to some extent, but there is certainly nothing overtly sexual in these pages. Is it really horrible? One might wonder how much blood one would encounter in this product of the Victorian age, but there are indeed some rather shockingly gruesome descriptions of events--nothing to shock modern readers but probably quite surprising to Stoker's contemporaries. There are also subtle overtones of religion in these pages. Aside from the Christian objects that have the power to keep vampires at bay, the most striking scene in the novel is Dracula's perversion of the Lord's Supper in his own most nefarious deed. I cannot recommend Stoker's masterpiece highly enough. The impatient reader may encounter sections that move too slowly than he/she would like, but such lulls are always wiped away by sudden spurts of activity and drama. Feminists will dislike the Victorian characterization of the women but can find unexpected pleasure in the strength and intellect of Mina. Literary critics will surely find in these pages a deep ocean of issues ripe for analysis. Of most importance, the common reader will find an absorbing storyline which may horrify him/her to some degree in places but which will certainly offer great rewards of enjoyment. I think most individuals would be won over completely by the great humanity of these characters and the unexpected richness and complexity to be found in this story of a fiend they thought they already knew.
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Summary: Exciting! Unique! Anticlimatic!?
Review: Great Story! So much different from the movies and my expectations. The book flows nicely and keeps the action going throughout so it is a very fast read. Even the dialogue scenes were interesting and never bored me. Very unique style! No narrator...just a set of journal entries and newspaper clippings, so you really get inside each characters head. And despite what other reviewers have said, I liked each of the heroes and despised Dracula, which was Stokers goal. But! The book is anticlimatic! I won't ruin the ending for you but the grand finale is more bland than grand. After all the buildup you expect a firework ending and simply get a sparkler. Despite this flaw I thought it a very worthwhile read as it gives you a picture of both 19th Century England and the origin of Dracula....4outa5.
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Summary: Bram Stoker's Classical Masterpiece
Review: I have read many classic novels in my time, but this one seems to stick out like a sore thumb. It's original story and plot makes this novel an instant classic. The characters known as Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker, Abraham Van Helsing and Dracula are original works of pure imagination. Dracula is not your ordinary villain. He kills people madly by sucking their blood. He's also very cunning and controls people over their will. Not to also forget the fact that Bram Stoker was the man to first write that vampires have no reflection, are very pale, have fangs, where gothic clothes, and turning into bats and wolves. If you are a big fan of vampire novels, then I suggest you read this book.
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Summary: The Art of Gothics
Review: Dracula seems to be one of those rare books that one could read a million times and it becomes better each time. Bram Stoker craftfully managed to weave an intricate web of suspense and thrills. No wonder the book is such a classic! Few other books compare to the majesty of Dracula.
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