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stacialithub 's review for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
by Bram Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
The introduction giving the assumed backstory of this version got a bit long & unwieldy. I often don't enjoy reading the intros of books first because I find they often give too many spoilers of the story &/or don't make a lot of sense in what they are referring to because you (the reader) don't yet know the story & the framing around it. In this case, though, I felt it was important to read the intro so that I would have the proper background of the story going in (plus I already know the story of Dracula). I think the intro could have been shortened & parts perhaps put into an appendix instead. Minor quibbles, I know.
As for the story itself.... It's been a few years since I have read the original version of Dracula. This one is definitely different in quite a few ways & there are some intriguing changes. Here, the footnotes are excellent & very informative, just as fascinating as the story itself in many cases. This Icelandic version spends the bulk of the story focusing on Harker's stay/imprisonment at Dracula's castle; the second part of the story is almost a Cliff Notes version of the original -- an outline with a page or two for many of the major plot points that happen in England, but nothing more. So it's kind of a weird, off-kilter variation on the Dracula mythos.
In an interesting twist, I found an article that speculates that the Icelandic version is not so unique as it's possibly based off an earlier Swedish version of Dracula.
Definitely worth a read for Dracula fans, if just for the comparison/contrast of it all. Would also be of interest for those with an interest in the Icelandic language as some of the footnotes go into specific detail regarding grammar, alliteration, etc., along with comparisons to similar structure in other Nordic languages.
It was fun to add this one to my ever-growing list of Dracula-related books.
As for the story itself.... It's been a few years since I have read the original version of Dracula. This one is definitely different in quite a few ways & there are some intriguing changes. Here, the footnotes are excellent & very informative, just as fascinating as the story itself in many cases. This Icelandic version spends the bulk of the story focusing on Harker's stay/imprisonment at Dracula's castle; the second part of the story is almost a Cliff Notes version of the original -- an outline with a page or two for many of the major plot points that happen in England, but nothing more. So it's kind of a weird, off-kilter variation on the Dracula mythos.
In an interesting twist, I found an article that speculates that the Icelandic version is not so unique as it's possibly based off an earlier Swedish version of Dracula.
Definitely worth a read for Dracula fans, if just for the comparison/contrast of it all. Would also be of interest for those with an interest in the Icelandic language as some of the footnotes go into specific detail regarding grammar, alliteration, etc., along with comparisons to similar structure in other Nordic languages.
It was fun to add this one to my ever-growing list of Dracula-related books.