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151 reviews for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Bram Stoker, John Edgar Browning, Dacre Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
3.62 AVERAGE
151 reviews for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Bram Stoker, John Edgar Browning, Dacre Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
3.62 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I first became aware that there was an "Icelandic version" of Dracula a few years ago. Hearing that it contained a different plot, different characters, and various allusions to Norse-Icelandic folklore, I was excited to read it and compare it to Stoker's novel. And boy, did this story take me on a wild ride.
I won't spoil the plot for anyone who wishes to discover how different (or similar) it is to Dracula, so instead, I'll focus on the edition by de Roos.
Overall, I found this edition to be fairly accessible for a casual reader yet it involved enough supplementary materials to satisfy someone with a more academic interest in the work. de Roos's introduction clearly laid out the relationship between Dracula and Powers of Darkness, and I found the diagrams of the castle to be very helpful. As for the text itself, I don't read a lot of Icelandic, so I can't speak to the quality of the translation, but I appreciated the notes in which de Roos explains his choices.
I also really loved the page layouts in this volume. I love a book with big, beautiful margins that leave enough space for me to make my own annotations, and I appreciated that the "footnotes" weren't at the bottom of the page, but just to the right or left to the text so I didn't have to move my eyes very far. Granted, this layout did mean that there was a lot of wasted space, so this edition will probably best serve those who will be writing directly on the page.
Overall, I award this book 4 stars because it was a wacky reading experience, made all the more engaging by de Roos's introduction and informational annotations. The only thing preventing me from giving it a full 5 stars is my subjective enjoyment of the text itself; I found part 2 to be rather awkward, and the descriptions of the "ape-like" people reeked of 19th century racism (though de Roos points this out). Still, if you're interested in Dracula and its legacy, you'd do well to pick up this book, though if you're doing serious scholarship, you should probably find an Icelandic language version too.
I won't spoil the plot for anyone who wishes to discover how different (or similar) it is to Dracula, so instead, I'll focus on the edition by de Roos.
Overall, I found this edition to be fairly accessible for a casual reader yet it involved enough supplementary materials to satisfy someone with a more academic interest in the work. de Roos's introduction clearly laid out the relationship between Dracula and Powers of Darkness, and I found the diagrams of the castle to be very helpful. As for the text itself, I don't read a lot of Icelandic, so I can't speak to the quality of the translation, but I appreciated the notes in which de Roos explains his choices.
I also really loved the page layouts in this volume. I love a book with big, beautiful margins that leave enough space for me to make my own annotations, and I appreciated that the "footnotes" weren't at the bottom of the page, but just to the right or left to the text so I didn't have to move my eyes very far. Granted, this layout did mean that there was a lot of wasted space, so this edition will probably best serve those who will be writing directly on the page.
Overall, I award this book 4 stars because it was a wacky reading experience, made all the more engaging by de Roos's introduction and informational annotations. The only thing preventing me from giving it a full 5 stars is my subjective enjoyment of the text itself; I found part 2 to be rather awkward, and the descriptions of the "ape-like" people reeked of 19th century racism (though de Roos points this out). Still, if you're interested in Dracula and its legacy, you'd do well to pick up this book, though if you're doing serious scholarship, you should probably find an Icelandic language version too.
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Interesante, aunque menos que la versión turca ([b:Dracula in Istanbul: The Unauthorized Version of the Gothic Classic|36182660|Dracula in Istanbul The Unauthorized Version of the Gothic Classic|Ali Rıza Seyfioğlu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504564361l/36182660._SY75_.jpg|57802952]. Aunque el editor y los prologuistas hacen mil piruetas para demostrar que el texto se basa en una primera versión de la novela, en realidad cada cambio lo que parece en realidad es un intento del traductor por "mejorar" el original. Siguiente parada: la versión sueca.
4 stars for the background info provided in the forewords, the meticulous visual reconstructions of Dracula’s castle based on info from the text, and the first 3/4 of the book. Like everyone else I’m mystified about why the last 1/4 of the book, so interesting and action-packed in the original text, is so short and written as almost an afterthought here. If the translator hadn’t been self-publishing the translation in his own newspaper I’d guess he had a deadline, but I’m not sure that makes sense here. I guess we’ll never know, but this was still a fun read and next time I’ll start with this book and read up until Dracula leaves for England, then I’ll switch to the original to finish - best of both worlds!
dark
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mina who? I was eager to read this book because I am such a fan of the original and anything Dracula related. While I appreciate the speedy abridgment of the translation, it looses much of Stocker’s brilliance in the editing.
I was really excited to read an alternative version of one of my favorite books. Unfortunately, Part 2 of the book is so rushed, it read like the Cliffsnotes version of a book, rather than the real thing.
Loved this! Dracula was one of my favourite books as a teen. This version adds depth to the character of Dracula and in my opinion improves the Draculas castle storyline - but the part in England and the ending seems a lot shorter and sort of glossed over.
The two versions combined together would have been amazing!
The two versions combined together would have been amazing!
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No