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asipofcozy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
- Stoker has a severe fear of feminism and women straying from the ideal pure Victorian woman. Throughout Dracula we are given many examples, by the author, as to what happens to women that strays outside of purity and why men should fear it. Lucy being a prime example, when she makes the comment that if she could, she would marry all 3 of her suitors and thus because of such "evil thoughts" she was easily wooed by Dracula.
- Stoker also has a fear of modernism and science and what it was doing to religion (wonder what he would think of 2023). Stoker throws in many examples as to what happens if England continues on its path of putting science first and morals/religion second. We see throughout Dracula that many of the characters cannot conceptualize something like vampires. One character, although having all the evidence, didn't believe until he was face to face with one. This is a problem, per Stoker, that if we can't believe in the unbelievable then we are opening ourselves to evil.
This was a phenomenal read and I could reread it at some point in the future. However, if you are getting into it for a "fast-pace" read it is anything but. While only 400 pages, it took me a few days to get through it. This due to the slow-pacing at times and the over-explaining. We are "told" rather than "showed" most of the plot as the entire book is told through journals, telegrams, sonographs, and news clippings.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kibbles15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Death of parent
nailartklaudia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content
limatau's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Definitely a good read!
The book was written at the end of the 1800’s, so there are some deficiencies as far as gender roles are concerned. Definitely not up to snuff by 2023’s standards.
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
nomatophobia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
That being said, THIS SHIT TOOK ME SIX MONTHS TO READ! IT'S BORING AS HELL. FUCK VAN HELSING. ALL HE DOES IS CAUSE PROBLEMS. THE BOOK WOULD BE 200 PAGES SHORTER WITHOUT HIM. SCREW THIS BOOK. I LOVED ALL IT REPRESENTS BUT I HATE IT IN ITSELF. Also, Lucy Westerna, will you marry me?
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
erdbeerlaucheis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Blood and Murder
alex_blackveil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
It is a collection of journal entries, mostly, describing the first of Jonathan Harker's encounter with the Count, the latter's “invasion” in UK, Lucy's sickness and death and the hunt for his head by Dr Van Helsing and his new friends that the Count had hurt so much.
It's written, mainly, from Jonathan Harker, Dr Steward and Mina Harker's point of view. Count Dracula isn't as present as the title makes you think, but what is present is the pain and grief he's inflicting to the main characters, as well as the traits, characteristics and weaknesses of vampirism.
Much to my surprise, the hunt was only in the much later chapters and the fight lasted only a few pages.
My favourite character was Quincey Morris… I should see the ending coming, it's always the same with the characters I like…
Masterpiece for its time.
Be warned, he Vampire race described in this book has nothing to do with pop culture vampires. It's more on the superstitious and traditional side than the today's aesthetic one.
Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Stalking
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
adiloretto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Murder
chalkletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Dracula is very much a novel of its time: the attitudes towards women and religion and people from countries other than Britain are entirely 19th-century, as are the long speeches. Some of Bram Stoker’s long passages of description work really well as scene setting for a horror novel, but others are a little tedious if you’re reading purely for enjoyment and with 21st-century eyes.
That said, it’s not completely possible to read Dracula purely as a horror novel; there are too many things that don’t really make any sense. Why are all Dracula’s victims women, when he does away with plenty of men and has Jonathan Harker at his mercy? What, exactly, does Dracula want in coming to London? Not to mention, there are some pretty huge coincidences which stretch credulity if you’re not looking at Dracula as a metaphor for something.
The essays in the Norton Critical Edition did a good job exploring the many, many different fin-de-siècle fears that Dracula could be read to represent. These are somewhat long and dry if you’re not actually studying Dracula, but still worthwhile in the long-run. (That said, the ones relating to the various cinematic and theatrical adaptations of Dracula aren’t particularly necessary as background information on the novel.)
Bram Stoker’s characters fall into two camps: vampires (and Renfield) vs non-vampires. As there’s plenty of conflict between the two groups, it doesn’t really feel as though conflict between the non-vampires is missing, but it is a little unlikely that fully fleshed-out people would agree quite so completely about everything. Nonetheless, the characters are distinct with very little chance of muddling them up with one another, which is definitely an achievement.
Overall, it was fun to read a horror novel which really felt like a horror novel, and the Norton Critical Edition has hopefully prepared me for interesting discussions on my holiday!
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence and Mental illness
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, and Medical content