Does anyone else find Dracula a fascinating book?

Question

I studied this book for my literature degree and whilst I'd read it before, I didn't real consider it a great book. After I had studied it and delved into the themes, the charaters and read critical essays, it altered my perception of what Stoker had written. Everything from the portrayals of Mina, intelligent but fulfills a "traditional" role for a woman in the end and Mina, an attractive woman who is then turned by Dracula, to the multiple voices of Harker, Mina and Van Helsing.

Answer 1

Yeah I have seen all film adaptations of this book and I think it brilliant. I read the book and it is so inspiring. I love digging into nuances ... I read Frankenstein and explored the theme of death there, also fascinating. However, Mary Shelly does not evoke so much fear in the reader as Stoker but still it is interesting to compare Victor with Miltonic Satan in his desire to possess knowledge and God-like powers. Women are passive as in Dracula but it is obvious why...Gothic fiction derives a lot from the Dark Ages and the genre of Romance..

Answer 2

I agree with you about Stokers treatment of women in Dracula. There are lots more things going on in the novel than are not obvious to the casual reader. A good site for an overview of these issues see:

http://www.newi.ac.uk/rdover/other/dracula_.htm

It gives a comprehensive overview of "Dracula, the Vampire and the Critics, Margaret L. Carter, ed....This is. I think the book which deals the themes you spoke of.

But also don't miss a great site by Carter Stevenson. It is the very best for how the novel has entered popular culture:

http://www.carter-stephenson.co.uk/dracula.htm

Answer 3

If you enjjoyed this, you should read the original vampire story - and for the adolescents out there, there are undertones of lesbianism - written by another Dubliner, Sheridan Le Fanu.
The short story is Camilla and you don't even need to buy it as there are lots of sites on the internet that carry the full text of the book online - see the link below.
Le Fanu's work is onderfully dark and it is a great shame he has never received the critial acclaim that Stoker did for his book, which for my money is far inferior in terms of plot, characterisation and pure prose than Le Fanu's work.

Answer 4

I love Dracula. I read it many many years ago the first time and then read it again when studying eng lit. I love vampire novels in general. I got hooked when I was a kid watching the Hammer Horror dracula films with Christopher Lee

Answer 5

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, though it's been a few years since I've read it. At first the form of the novel drove me crazy and I found it a little hard to follow, but as I continued to read (I had to, because it was for class!) I really came to appreciate the depth of the work, especially for something of this genre. It certainly stands as one of the better novels I was ever required to read. Just curious, but have you read any of his other works? I can't say that I have, but I wonder if they carry the same literary merit.

Answer 6

I just bought it yesterday and I'm hooked, I like the way it set out like a diary/journal, fell more involved reading someone's thoughts... A great book...

Answer 7

I personally can not stand anything to do with Dracula, just the thought ,gives me the eeby jeebies

Answer 8

1 of the most boring books ive ever read.

Sorry but if after reading it you had to have read others analysis to enjoy it, well is that the same thing?

A book if fictional is to be enjoyed or not, not over-analysed lol

Hope that helps x

Answer 9

The book is far better and more dark and scary than any of the films that have ever been made.

Answer 10

like Frankenstein it was good for its time.....read the novel out at the mo called the Historian Dracula-revisited lol!!!