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lianastovall 's review for:
Dracula
by Bram Stoker
Thank God I love garlic
________________
Dracula is a wild ride. I genuinely could not discern between Stoker's feminist themes vs. his misogynistic ones, modernity vs. tradition, religion vs. atheism, reason vs. the supernatural, love vs. chastity etc.
Victorian horror is so unique to me because it's a slow burn of dread. The build up to Jonathan's first meeting with the Count is TENSE and SCARY. I also think it's a unique experience to read Dracula in the 21st century, and actively disentangle the pop culture caricature of Dracula and vampires. The first person POV through the diary entries is a masterful look into Jonathan's mind as his sanity begins to breakdown and he pieces together the horrors of the night.
I also was surprised by the potent sexual themes and content in Dracula. There's the usual 19th century distaste and fear of female sexuality, aligning women's sexual expression outside of reproduction as evil. In terms of authorial intention, the sexual themes in the story were probably shocking and taboo for the time. I don't think it follows that Bram Stoker was a feminist trying to break the status quo. The alignment of female freedom and sexual expression with evil and depravity suggests that sexuality is a villain.
What I was truly surprised by were the implications that Dracula's manner of seduction was (for lack of a better phrase) kinda gay? Not in a MILLION years would I have believed that the original Dracula was a little bit fruity. There is nothing in the text that explicitly suggests anything other than heteronormativity; however, Stoker's depiction of Dracula's interactions with all his victims is demonstrably intertwined with homosexual themes. Wild.
Getting through the first part of the story is like wading through a swamp- not altogether boring, but slow and tedious at times. The story begins in earnest after the letter exchanges between Lucy and Mina, and then it goes from 0 to 60 REAL fast. One thing about me is I love seeing how old media contributed to new media. In Dracula, I kept drawing mental parallels between Stoker's foreboding style and modern horror films/books (i.e., The Blair Witch Project, Nosferatu, It, Pet Sematary, etc.)
Themes and politics aside, as a piece of art, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story through letters, diary entries, newspaper clips, and telegrams. this meta-narrative plot device is a difficult to achieve, yet powerful way to let the reader in on the characters' intimate thoughts, and allow us to sympathize with them in their struggle to defeat Dracula. Dracula is an emotional rollercoaster, and sometimes heartbreaking experiencing the pain and thrills of death, love, and mortality. This one will stay in my mind rent-free for a while.
Dracula is THAT guy, and this is THE vampire novel. Twilight is shaking in her boots.
________________
Dracula is a wild ride. I genuinely could not discern between Stoker's feminist themes vs. his misogynistic ones, modernity vs. tradition, religion vs. atheism, reason vs. the supernatural, love vs. chastity etc.
Victorian horror is so unique to me because it's a slow burn of dread. The build up to Jonathan's first meeting with the Count is TENSE and SCARY. I also think it's a unique experience to read Dracula in the 21st century, and actively disentangle the pop culture caricature of Dracula and vampires. The first person POV through the diary entries is a masterful look into Jonathan's mind as his sanity begins to breakdown and he pieces together the horrors of the night.
I also was surprised by the potent sexual themes and content in Dracula. There's the usual 19th century distaste and fear of female sexuality, aligning women's sexual expression outside of reproduction as evil. In terms of authorial intention, the sexual themes in the story were probably shocking and taboo for the time. I don't think it follows that Bram Stoker was a feminist trying to break the status quo. The alignment of female freedom and sexual expression with evil and depravity suggests that sexuality is a villain.
What I was truly surprised by were the implications that Dracula's manner of seduction was (for lack of a better phrase) kinda gay? Not in a MILLION years would I have believed that the original Dracula was a little bit fruity. There is nothing in the text that explicitly suggests anything other than heteronormativity; however, Stoker's depiction of Dracula's interactions with all his victims is demonstrably intertwined with homosexual themes. Wild.
Getting through the first part of the story is like wading through a swamp- not altogether boring, but slow and tedious at times. The story begins in earnest after the letter exchanges between Lucy and Mina, and then it goes from 0 to 60 REAL fast. One thing about me is I love seeing how old media contributed to new media. In Dracula, I kept drawing mental parallels between Stoker's foreboding style and modern horror films/books (i.e., The Blair Witch Project, Nosferatu, It, Pet Sematary, etc.)
Themes and politics aside, as a piece of art, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story through letters, diary entries, newspaper clips, and telegrams. this meta-narrative plot device is a difficult to achieve, yet powerful way to let the reader in on the characters' intimate thoughts, and allow us to sympathize with them in their struggle to defeat Dracula. Dracula is an emotional rollercoaster, and sometimes heartbreaking experiencing the pain and thrills of death, love, and mortality. This one will stay in my mind rent-free for a while.
Dracula is THAT guy, and this is THE vampire novel. Twilight is shaking in her boots.