In occasion of The World Dracula Day the 26th of May I post my review of Bram Stoker’s classic ‘Dracula’ from 1897.
Dracula
Bram Stoker
391 pages
My rating ★★★
This novel is filled with mystery, lust and the supernatural. I read this novel in my Victorian Period class. ‘Dracula’ belongs the late gothic period. This period is all about mystery, fear and of course the supernatural and even a bit of romance. What is not to like? This was the one book I looked the most forward to read of the books on the syllabus. It was not the one I enjoyed the most but it was definitely one of my favourites, even though there was several wtf moments. More on them later….
In Dracula one follows several characters who together try to solve the mystery of Count Dracula and overcome him. The book is made up by diary enteries and memoranda written by the main characters. The book opens with an entry from Jonathan Harker’s journal when he visits the Cont Dracula in Transylvania. This part and generally the beginning of the novel was my favourite part of the hole novel. This part was definitely the most scary and mysterious part there was. Another part or entry I really liked was the captains log of his ship. In this log he describes how the crew of the ship is reduced man by man by some mysterious evil force until the captain is the only one left. This part was full of suspense and despair.
As the plot was unfolded the novel lost some of the mystery and suspense. I believe the reason for this was my lack of interest in the characters. I never really bonded or cared for the most prominent characters such as Dr Seward and Van Helsing. What they experienced and discovered never really meant the world to me and the connection was lost.
“I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul.”
The character I liked the most was Mina Harker. She had some qualities that I really admired especially her love towards her best friend Lucy. Mina seems to do anything to save her dear friend. Mina also plays an important part in overcoming Count Dracula. Unfortunately her role and her narration of the novel become less and less as the novel progress. This was probably one of the things that annoyed me this most. Why is it always the men who gets to do all the action? Why are the women so often left on the side line? This is an unsatisfactory fact but on the other hand it also tells something about the time when the book was written and I think that is very interesting. In the Victorian Period critics often talk about “the new woman”. This woman is one who pushed against the boundaries of society and values independence and equality. Mina Harker is probably not the strongest example of this “new woman” but she have some of the qualities. Her best friends Lucy however is nothing but a damsel in distress.
“I will not let you go into the unknown alone.”
‘Dracula’ is a book full of lust and love. A lot of events have sexual undertones and many different things ca be read into these. This isn’t someting that I mind but in connection to the lust and love there are several “wtf moments” (excuses my language). The first has to do with Lucys many proposals. She gets proposed to by three men on the same day. One the same day! Come on, that is not a coincidence that is bad plotting… Another thing I found wired was all the groupie love. One can probably find lots of journal articles on all different kinds of interpretations of this love. But to me as a reader this was just too much. They all love and trust each other from the moment they meet, both men and women. Love and trust is great but this amount is not realistic. The over the top groupie love was probably also partly the reason why I in the end felt a bit distanced.
Though my review isn’t entirely positive I will still recommend reading this novel is you are a fan of classics or vampires. This might be the vampire story over them all and it is quite interesting to discover where it all started.
Have you read Dracula? What are your thoughts on it? Or do you have any other vampire books I need to take a look at?
I’m a huge fan of this novel but I can totally see where your points were coming from ‘against’ it, they’re valid. I have to crack up because I don’t think Stoker was the best at writing about women but Mina was definitely a favorite character of mine as well! Great review!
Haha no I don’t think so. Thank you, and thank you for your comment!
My favourite character was Mina too, I love she was stronger than some of the male characters at points in the novel. However I agree with you, I wish she had a longer and stronger narrative too. I would never choose this book to read, if I am honest, as I am not a fan of old English classics- but I study it at college and I do enjoy it.
Yeah she was. I find it hard to read classics too. I have read a very few “on free will” but enjoyed them well enough. But after this course I believe I have read my amount of classics this year 😉
Great review! I haven’t read Dracula since high school so I don’t really remember much about my reading experience (but that probably is good because I still remember my intense hatred for Grapes of Wrath 18 years later). I am glad that you enjoyed the book even though there were many wtf things for you, it is always nice when a book kind of comes through for a decent experience in the end. Especially with how iconic this story is to Pop culture!
Thank you! Haha the books you read in school sometimes are… I haven’t read Grapes of Wrath though but I have read Of Mice and Men.
Yeah it was interesting to see where the “world of vampires” kind of started.
I don’t think I’ve read this book since the I picked up the children’s classics edition in late elementary school. I’d be interested in reading the original edition sometime, though I can totally understand how Stoker stretches the reader’s disbelief with some elements!
Ah it could be interesting to see what you would think of it now 🙂
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A shoutout to all the teachers making reading fun and engaging. You’re the real heroes! 🦸♂️