Dracula, by Bram Stoker

    Dracula was an interesting story, the classic novel of vampires and ‘evil’ written by Dublin-born author, Bram Stoker. I liked the style and method of writing, the story told through various journal entries, letters, telegrams, and newspaper clippings, a novel way of writing. This method of storytelling allowed for showing the story through the eyes of different characters and allowed the reader to put the pieces together on their own and make their own deductions.

    Slowly, as the book progresses, we see each of the characters reach the conclusion that Count Dracula is some sort of monster. It is wonderful to watch a story that started out as tangible and ordinary be corrupted and overwhelmed by the invasive fantasy and horror. The writing is excellent. The reader feels as if they really are reading the entries of different characters and current news although Bram Stoker was the sole author.

    Several discrepancies between the original story and following renditions in media and films are noticed, such as the fact that Count Dracula is very old at the beginning and slowly becomes younger as the story progresses. However, these arm minimal. There are also one or two interesting female characters, which is always notable in such old stories. Mina Harker is not Katniss Everdeen, but for a book written in 1897 by man, she stands on her own.

    My one qualm with Dracula is that the themes are not as deep as I had hoped. When thinking about reading it, I decided to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein first. Frankenstein is laced with the questions of ethics regarding the creation of a new life and the expanse of science. It was a very deep, unnerving story. Dracula was a classic -- perhaps the classic -- monster story, and it does not go much deeper than that, at least not for me.

My Favorites:

• Character:
• Renfield
• Scene:
• Renfield’s death