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A review by arnrockwell
Dracula by Bram Stoker
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The novel follows several characters as they go on a quest to kill the titular Count Dracula. Most of these characters are known, since Dracula is public domain, and there's been many adaptations and interpretations of the story and its characters.
Prior to reading Dracula, I had little to no experience with horror fiction. It was the book that made me realize that my opinion on horror was heavily skewed by movies and games, who tend to use shock value, such as jump scares, suspense, and excessive gore. That all it's meant to do is scare you, which is quite effective is a visual medium. In literature, it's more dependent on atmosphere and the narrative. For Dracula, it's more the setting and the character himself.
Since you're seeing the story from the perspective of the human characters, it helps to build mystery and suspense, especially with those who become targets of Dracula. With their experiences, the gaps in their memory, and so on.
Dracula is written differently from other novels. The story is presented in the form of journal entries, newspaper articles and telegrams in chronological order. This is similar to Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. However, this was much harder for me to read due to the older English mixed with the style of writing that was common for the time period. The writing style did not age well at all. There are whole sections of the book I skipped over, either because I didn't fully understand what was written or the constant jumping between perspectives was too jarring.
While many adaptations of Dracula in media have more high stakes and epic conclusions, the book itself has a rather lackluster ending. With the high praises many people give this book, I was expecting more and got let down. I was also expecting more of a focus on Dracula himself, but the focus was entirely on the human characters. There's a lot of build up with not a lot of payoff.
Despite my experience, however, I still gave it a 3-star rating and I stand behind that. It may not have vibed well with me, but I can see how other readers can enjoy it and I acknowledge how influential the novel is to horror and vampire fiction as a whole. Hopefully I'll feel better about it when I re-read it again in a year or two.
Prior to reading Dracula, I had little to no experience with horror fiction. It was the book that made me realize that my opinion on horror was heavily skewed by movies and games, who tend to use shock value, such as jump scares, suspense, and excessive gore. That all it's meant to do is scare you, which is quite effective is a visual medium. In literature, it's more dependent on atmosphere and the narrative. For Dracula, it's more the setting and the character himself.
Since you're seeing the story from the perspective of the human characters, it helps to build mystery and suspense, especially with those who become targets of Dracula. With their experiences, the gaps in their memory, and so on.
Dracula is written differently from other novels. The story is presented in the form of journal entries, newspaper articles and telegrams in chronological order. This is similar to Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. However, this was much harder for me to read due to the older English mixed with the style of writing that was common for the time period. The writing style did not age well at all. There are whole sections of the book I skipped over, either because I didn't fully understand what was written or the constant jumping between perspectives was too jarring.
While many adaptations of Dracula in media have more high stakes and epic conclusions, the book itself has a rather lackluster ending. With the high praises many people give this book, I was expecting more and got let down. I was also expecting more of a focus on Dracula himself, but the focus was entirely on the human characters. There's a lot of build up with not a lot of payoff.
Despite my experience, however, I still gave it a 3-star rating and I stand behind that. It may not have vibed well with me, but I can see how other readers can enjoy it and I acknowledge how influential the novel is to horror and vampire fiction as a whole. Hopefully I'll feel better about it when I re-read it again in a year or two.