tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post4901226343689959207..comments2024-02-22T17:59:50.213-05:00Comments on in so many words...: Monday Book Review: DRACULA (1897) by Bram StokerYvettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-72846559671987251222011-10-12T10:58:45.021-04:002011-10-12T10:58:45.021-04:00willow: I'm thinking of listening to it on aud...willow: I'm thinking of listening to it on audio one of these days.<br /><br />Once we tried listening to it on a long drive at night and had to turn it off. Too eerie. :)<br /><br />But I really did enjoy reading it. What a fabulous book!Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-31727990765460475562011-10-12T01:02:02.468-04:002011-10-12T01:02:02.468-04:00Yvette: I have read Dracula at least five times in...Yvette: I have read <i>Dracula</i> at least five times in the last 6 years alone. I don't know what it is about this story that even though I know what happens in it, I still feel my spine tingling at certain points.wutheringwillowhttp://apaperbacklife.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-89404148658950061302011-10-11T19:00:24.883-04:002011-10-11T19:00:24.883-04:00Deb: It's the only way. ;)Deb: It's the only way. ;)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-62253334484773207452011-10-11T18:21:40.965-04:002011-10-11T18:21:40.965-04:00Why did I never think about reading the introducti...Why did I never think about reading the introduction AFTER I read the book itself?! Very wise.Deb Nance at Readerbuzzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12128529491888701996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-73737935139466218762011-10-11T09:39:20.840-04:002011-10-11T09:39:20.840-04:00wutheringwillow: This was my first time reading it...wutheringwillow: This was my first time reading it and I wonder now what took me so long to get around to it. It's really not what everyone thinks it is. <br /><br />It's really just a damn good story.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-59113831986840580502011-10-10T23:10:10.978-04:002011-10-10T23:10:10.978-04:00Love Dracula! I want to re-read it once again for ...Love <i>Dracula</i>! I want to re-read it once again for Halloween, provided I could finish the mammoth <i>The Shadow of the Wind</i> in time.wutheringwillowhttp://apaperbacklife.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-86972414274191114832011-10-10T14:44:51.379-04:002011-10-10T14:44:51.379-04:00Prashant: I suppose the moral is: horrifying event...Prashant: I suppose the moral is: horrifying events have always been with us.<br /><br />Yes, you should read this again, especially if what you read the first time was abridged. In truth, this is a book that reads very quickly. Some of the expressions of the times were confusing, but hardly enough to stop the momentum.<br /><br />I've always loved the Bela Lugosi version of DRACULA. I think I'll be watching this again soon.<br /><br />There was also one with Frank Langella which was extraordinarily creepy. :)<br /><br />Don't think I ever saw the Gary Oldham version.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-15295865038899725602011-10-10T14:40:59.196-04:002011-10-10T14:40:59.196-04:00You me and C.W. are in members of the 'Read Th...You me and C.W. are in members of the 'Read The Intro Last!' Club. :)<br /><br />I think a lot of these intros, especially for classics, assume we've already read the book at some point or, at least, are very familiar with the story.<br /><br />I just dive right in, usually.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-62100067165868645152011-10-10T14:37:47.261-04:002011-10-10T14:37:47.261-04:00Caftan Woman: I thought I was the only one who rea...Caftan Woman: I thought I was the only one who read the Intro last. Ha!<br /><br />Makes infinitely more sense to me.<br /><br />I thought the book would be too scary for me, but I stood up to it. It is SO WELL WRITTEN.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-60797827237186912152011-10-10T14:36:24.480-04:002011-10-10T14:36:24.480-04:00Ryan: I have to admit I loved the book even more t...Ryan: I have to admit I loved the book even more than I loved the film with Bela. <br /><br />I do enjoy reading journal and diary accounts.<br /><br />WAR OF THE WORLDS (as put together by Orson Welles) is done in newspaper clipping format, etc. Very enjoyable.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-47176997053430014962011-10-10T14:34:44.907-04:002011-10-10T14:34:44.907-04:00Lucy: Thanks! I think the Victorians had the scoop...Lucy: Thanks! I think the Victorians had the scoop on horror. I believe it's because Victorian society was so ritualized, so rigid, that anything that upset the applecart couldn't help but be dramatic by implication.<br /><br />Just a theory.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-74894024085773746312011-10-10T14:31:00.483-04:002011-10-10T14:31:00.483-04:00That's a very good review of Bram Stoker's...That's a very good review of Bram Stoker's DRACULA. I read this cult book in my teens (it could have been an abridged version, I don't know) but whatever I can recall of this trendsetting classic is from the movies (including stupid spoofs), which means I must read this book again. Since I don't remember how I reacted the first time, it ought to be a whole new scary experience the second time. <br /><br />Of the movies, including TV, I liked the Gary Oldman version of DRACULA which I saw not long ago (check out the star cast). Of the earlier versions, nothing comes to mind; I draw a blank there.<br /><br />You mention the "disturbing images" in this novel and of having lived through some horrific turmoil of the 20th and 21st centuries. Authors like Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson (DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE), and Victor Hugo (Quasimodo in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME) probably did too. Is that why they created these hideous monsters - to reflect the horrors in real life and perhaps in their own lives too? I have often wondered why writers were fascinated by horror as a literary genre in the early days. <br /><br />Today we have Hannibal Lecter... then again not much different!Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-27908150013118822492011-10-10T14:28:15.298-04:002011-10-10T14:28:15.298-04:00Great review, Yvette. And I agree completely about...Great review, Yvette. And I agree completely about reading the introductions AFTER reading the book. I recently re-read Chesterton's THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY in a new Penguin Classics edition with a first rate introduction - but it gives away virtually the entire plot, something of a drawback in a mystery, no? Worth reading - AFTER reading the story itself!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-4691798923979004072011-10-10T14:07:55.433-04:002011-10-10T14:07:55.433-04:00Whoa! Sounds too scary for me. On the other hand...Whoa! Sounds too scary for me. On the other hand, it's the time of year for goosebumps.<br /><br />Count me as another who reads the Introductions after I've finished a book.Caftan Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05936895555808823221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-55720824644132104912011-10-10T13:23:14.555-04:002011-10-10T13:23:14.555-04:00I love this book, though for some reason the forma...I love this book, though for some reason the format never works for me with any other novel. This is the one and only book I can handle told through journals, diaries, and news clippings.<br /><br />The only movies I love are Dracula with Bela Lugosi and the Spanish language version they filmed at the same time, on the same sets, with the same costumes. The Spanish version is actually longer and has some better camera work in it.Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17786139533776263328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-18779518837920158172011-10-10T11:52:26.328-04:002011-10-10T11:52:26.328-04:00Great review. I felt the chilling atmosphere come...Great review. I felt the chilling atmosphere come flooding back from when I first read this as a teenager. Nobody does vampire/gothic/horror fiction quite like the Victorians. It's my fvourite era for literatureSarah Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17530253746802487595noreply@blogger.com