It has taken me a few months, but I’ve finally finished this book! I started reading this at night when I get most of my reading done, but I had to stop because I kept getting nightmares of Dracula biting me in the neck. Sooo… that is my excuse for finishing so slowly!
Dracula was published in 1897, joining the ranks of Victorian gothic stories. It is told in a series of letters and diary entries from multiple characters. It starts with Johnathan Harker, and English lawyer traveling to Transylvania to help Count Dracula buy property in England. Harker's chapters in the beginning are some of the best horror passages I have ever read. It reads like a travel log, and because everybody today knows that Dracula is a vampire it made me laugh quite a bit. Johnathan is quite oblivious for some time. When he arrives in Transylvania, the locals warn him not to go to Dracula’s castle, and they cross themselves any time Johnathan asks about the Count. Jonathan brushes it off as superstition and goes to stay with the Count in his castle. Dracula seems like a great guy at first, but then, obviously, Jonathan slowly realizes he needs to escape! This experience is juxtaposed with Mina and Lucy’s letters to each other which are very loving and whimsical. I also found this very funny.
There is a fun cast of characters in this book. Besides Johnathan, there are:
Mina Harker - his wife, and the example of the “perfect Victorian woman”
Lucy Westenra - Mina’s best friend, her chapters were also very horrifying
Professor Van Helsing - a Dutch doctor who is the first to figure out what Dracula is and how to defeat him. He seems like a senile old man at first, but he knows what he is talking about! He has long monologues and Stoker gives him an accent which can be hard to read at first.
Dr. Seward - a psychiatrist who works at an insane asylum who treats Renfield
Renfield - a patient at the asylum who likes eating bugs for some strange reason….(it is later revealed)
Arthur Holmwood/Lord Goldaming - Lucy’s rich suitor who later funds the hunt for Dracula
Quincey Morris - a stereotypical, rootin’-tootin’ cowboy from Texas with a thick accent and a love for firearms
Once Dracula comes to England, Arthur, Quincy, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Jonathan, and Mina eventually band together to hunt him down. The book has some really great moments, while there are other times it drags a bit. However, I am glad I stuck through it! I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over other Gothic novels, but if you are interested in vampire lore this is obviously one of the first books I would recommend. I wish the book wasn’t ENTIRELY letters and journal entries. I think that format got old for me over time. Granted, there are parts where the format works wonderfully.
Does anybody have any Dracula adaptations that they recommend? I have only seen the 1992 movie with Gary Oldman and really enjoyed it for his performance alone. I also watched The Last Voyage of the Demeter which I thought was really cool. It is based on one chapter of Dracula that describes how Dracula arrived in England.
Also, while this is not Dracula related, I would like to shout out one of my favorite YouTubers: Princess Weekes. She made a fantastic video essay called Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires? https://youtu.be/zT5unKXnSUk?si=dJcIQ... She has another one about Mina Murray/Harker, but I have not watched that one yet.
#armybookclub Rating:7/10
It has taken me a few months, but I’ve finally finished this book! I started reading this at night when I get most of my reading done, but I had to stop because I kept getting nightmares of Dracula biting me in the neck. Sooo… that is my excuse for finishing so slowly!
Dracula was published in 1897, joining the ranks of Victorian gothic stories. It is told in a series of letters and diary entries from multiple characters. It starts with Johnathan Harker, and English lawyer traveling to Transylvania to help Count Dracula buy property in England. Harker's chapters in the beginning are some of the best horror passages I have ever read. It reads like a travel log, and because everybody today knows that Dracula is a vampire it made me laugh quite a bit. Johnathan is quite oblivious for some time. When he arrives in Transylvania, the locals warn him not to go to Dracula’s castle, and they cross themselves any time Johnathan asks about the Count. Jonathan brushes it off as superstition and goes to stay with the Count in his castle. Dracula seems like a great guy at first, but then, obviously, Jonathan slowly realizes he needs to escape! This experience is juxtaposed with Mina and Lucy’s letters to each other which are very loving and whimsical. I also found this very funny.
There is a fun cast of characters in this book. Besides Johnathan, there are:
Mina Harker - his wife, and the example of the “perfect Victorian woman”
Lucy Westenra - Mina’s best friend, her chapters were also very horrifying
Professor Van Helsing - a Dutch doctor who is the first to figure out what Dracula is and how to defeat him. He seems like a senile old man at first, but he knows what he is talking about! He has long monologues and Stoker gives him an accent which can be hard to read at first.
Dr. Seward - a psychiatrist who works at an insane asylum who treats Renfield
Renfield - a patient at the asylum who likes eating bugs for some strange reason….(it is later revealed)
Arthur Holmwood/Lord Goldaming - Lucy’s rich suitor who later funds the hunt for Dracula
Quincey Morris - a stereotypical, rootin’-tootin’ cowboy from Texas with a thick accent and a love for firearms
Once Dracula comes to England, Arthur, Quincy, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Jonathan, and Mina eventually band together to hunt him down. The book has some really great moments, while there are other times it drags a bit. However, I am glad I stuck through it! I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over other Gothic novels, but if you are interested in vampire lore this is obviously one of the first books I would recommend. I wish the book wasn’t ENTIRELY letters and journal entries. I think that format got old for me over time. Granted, there are parts where the format works wonderfully.
Does anybody have any Dracula adaptations that they recommend? I have only seen the 1992 movie with Gary Oldman and really enjoyed it for his performance alone. I also watched The Last Voyage of the Demeter which I thought was really cool. It is based on one chapter of Dracula that describes how Dracula arrived in England.
Also, while this is not Dracula related, I would like to shout out one of my favorite YouTubers: Princess Weekes. She made a fantastic video essay called Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires? https://youtu.be/zT5unKXnSUk?si=dJcIQ... She has another one about Mina Murray/Harker, but I have not watched that one yet.