Reviews with content warning for Child death - Dracula

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

122 reviews

chalkletters's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark slow-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

After last year’s successful Dad-goes-walking & I-go-singing holiday, this year we’re trying a Dad-goes-walking & I-go-reading weekend. I’m booked to discuss three books: Dracula, Shadowplay and The Deathless Girls as well as walk around Whitby, where much of Dracula is set. At this point, I have really no idea what the holiday itself will be like, but I’d read Draculabefore, so I decided to refresh my memory. I was hoping to read the ‘Dracula Daily’ edition, but it doesn’t come out until November.

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!

Content Warnings

mattiedancer's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 4⭐️/5

While Stoker is a fantastic writer (the book is a classic for a reason), so much attention was given to the smallest details that the book dragged in portions where it didn’t need to. I thoroughly believe this is a situation in which the prominent style has changed so much over the years that it’s hard to appreciate the detail without feeling it’s too much and unnecessary. That being said when the writing hit, it hit strong and fast, making it an overall well-written read.

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

I did enjoy the development of the characters. While the women, though interesting, were reduced in many ways to trope-like behaviours, the characters did feel alive and vibrant during the tale. In many moments, I appreciated the attention to detail for each character, as well as the uniqueness provided by their own voice, which always came through in the writing.

Plot: 4⭐️/5

**SPOILERS HERE**

It’s the tale of Dracula – the original vampire. And yet, during the climax of the story, I felt disappointed in how little attention was given to his death. I felt the story dragged so much in sections that the plot suffered, the events pulled too far apart to keep enough tension present – or as much tension as I wanted. That being said, the story was still entertaining and intriguing, just long-winded and slow-paced.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of classic fiction and gothic literature
Those looking to appreciate a slow read

Content Warnings?

Misogyny, sexism, classism, death of a parent, death, illness, toxic relationships, blood, gore, death of a child, murder

Post-Reading Rating: 3⭐️/5

I felt let down by the ending, personally, even if it did wrap things up relatively nicely.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

Content Warnings

peggy_racham's review against another edition

3.0

I expected more fighting and gore in this book. Dracula sort of vanishes from the book half way through. It has great parts, I loved Van Helsing, Mina, Lucy. Loved watching them figure out what's going on. But the ending falls flat for me

Content Warnings

martin27's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

chloenrogers's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Really strong start, very evocative storytelling and obviously a staple of the gothic genre. However, the story becomes lost within the attention to too much unnecessary detail and it is important to acknowledge the antisemitism within the characterisation of Dracula.

Content Warnings

lmuthler's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The story of Count Dracula truly is a classic - so many of our modern monster and vampire tales are based on his iconic character. That said, Stoker's writing definitely drags in some places. I listened to the audiobook, and found myself tuning out in some places, especially when lengthy descriptions or explanations featured over any real action. I also would have loved to have more scenes with Count Dracula in action - the book contained much more talking about Dracula than Dracula himself. Even so, he remained a mysterious character as the Harkers, Van Helsing, and the others worked to uncover the truth about Dracula and find a way to end him.

Dracula offers a haunting monster tale, especially for those willing to wade through hefty chunks of description between the action.

Content Warnings