Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 59
 Forget the films July 26, 2010
Voice in the North
This is a classic book which is well worth reading. No holywood hype - just the exciting story as it was written more than 100 years ago. Even the most "true to the book" film is diverted from the story. The short biography of Stoker is interesting and sets the scene of how life was in the late 19th C (for the lucky few anyway). Enjoy!
 withstanding the test of time July 6, 2010
Louise Macintosh (Dundee, Scotland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book really is a vintage classic! It is quite modern for the time it was written with what would have been quite new ideas (one of the characters keeps his journal entries on a phonograph) so i can see why it has remained a favourite to this day.
There is no main character as such in this novel, it is written in the form of letters, journals, newspaper articles etc, so we get to see the story from many different view points which gives you a lot to think about while reading this book, i feel this makes it much more interesting but at the same time you can't just fly through this book as you would with some others.
The story seems to piece together quite slowly because of all the different view points but the pieces are very detailed, not only does Stoker highlight vampire legend he also looks into medicine of that time (physical and mental) and relationships. The only problem i have is that the ending seemed to be a bit rushed and squeezed in unlike the steady path held throughout!
I did thoroughly enjoy this book and the reason i'm only giving it 4 stars is because of the fact its not really the kind of book you can casually pick up and read on the bus
Superb June 3, 2010
Laurence G. Tilley (Rugby, England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Few novels have been as imitated (often as parodies) as Dracula. When I finally got around to reading "the original" of the story which we all think we know, I was very pleasantly surprised to find out just how very good it is. It is literary in quality, while at the same time being very readable - the story romps along. The style is really intersting - its all told in the form of diary fragments of the different characters. Of particular interest are the female characters who, while the principal victims of the Count, are far from the feeble wall flowers we see so often in the parodied versions. They're intelligent proactive women - quite remarkably (allowed to be portrayed) so for 1897. The Collector's Library edition is really beautiful - small hardbacked, thin paper, clear print, gilded edge and ribbon. A treat to carry around in your pocket, and well worth the very small additional cost (currently cheaper than the more expensive paper back editions!)
Excellent book May 25, 2010
Dr. G. Nicholls (nottingham, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I always thought Dracula would be quite a tedious read, but it's not at all. There is interest and suspense from the first page, it is well written, and it kept me enthralled all the way through, despite me already knowing the basic story.
The only reason I took one star off is because the end is a bit of an anti-climax. To me, the last battle should have been the hardest fought, yet it seems to carry less weight in description and is less thrilling than other battles in the book.
This book is well worth a read, and if you don't want to pay for it, look up Project Guttenburg to read it for free.
For the dead travel fast March 24, 2010
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Dracula" was not the first vampire novel, nor was it Bram Stoker's first book. But he managed to craft the ultimate vampire novel, which has spawned countless movies, spinoffs, and books that follow the blueprint of the Transylvanian count. Eerie, horrifying and genuinely mysterious, "Dracula" is undoubtedly the most striking and unique vampire novel yet penned.
Real estate agent Jonathan Harker arrives in Transylvania, to arrange a London house sale to Count Dracula. But as the days go by, Harker witnesses increasingly horrific events, leading him to believe that Dracula is not actually human. His fiancee Mina arrives in Transylvania, and finds that he has been feverish. Meanwhile the count has vanished -- along with countless boxes filled with dirt.
And soon afterwards, strange things happen: a ship piloted by a dead man crashes on the shore, after a mysterious thing killed the crew. A lunatic talks about "Him" coming. And Mina's pal Lucy dies of mysterious blood loss, only to come back as an undead seductress. Dracula has arrived in England -- then the center of the Western world -- and intends to make it his own...
"Dracula" is the grandaddy of Lestat and other elegantly alluring bloodsuckers, but that isn't the sole reason why this novel is a classic. It's also incredibly atmospheric, and very well-written. Not only is it very freaky, in an ornate Victorian style, but it is also full of restrained, quiet horror and creepy eroticism. What's more, it's shaped the portrayal of vampires in movies and books, even to this day.
Despite already knowing what's going on for the first half of the book, it's actually kind of creepy to see these people whose lives are being disrupted by Dracula, but don't know about vampires. It's a bit tempting to yell "It's a vampire, you idiots!" every now and then, but you can't really blame them. Then the second half kicks in, with accented professor Van Helsing taking our heroes on a quest to save Mina from Dracula.
And along the way, while our heroes try to figure stuff out, Stoker spins up all these creepy hints of Dracula's arrival. Though he wrote in the late 19th-century manner, very verbose and a bit stuffy, his skill shines through. The book is crammed with intense, evocative language, with moments like Dracula creeping down a wall, or the dead captain found tied to the wheel. Once read, they stick in your mind throughout the book.
It's also a credit to Stoker that he keeps his characters from seeming like idiots or freaks, which they could have easily seemed like. Instead, he puts little moments of humanity in them, like Van Helsing admitting that his wife is in an asylum. Even the letters and diaries are written in different styles; for example, Seward's is restrained and analytical, while Mina's is exuberant and bright.
Even Dracula himself is an overpowering presence despite his small amount of actual screen time, and not just as a vampire -- Stoker presents him as passionate, intense, malignant, and probably the smartest person in the entire book. If Van Helsing hadn't thwarted him, he probably would have taken over the world -- not the Victorian audience's ideal ending.
Intelligent, frightening and very well-written, "Dracula" is the well-deserved godfather of all modern vampire books and movies -- and its unique villain still dwarfs the more recent undead.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 59
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