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Loading... Dracula (1897)by Bram Stoker
my review is has been updated ( )3-1/2 stars. I decided to round down this time. I did however like Dracula a lot. It was way overboard with the melodrama which, it turns out, didn't bother me as much as it does in other forms of entertainment. I haven't read anything else that measures up to it in that regard so maybe the 19th century use of the language softened the eye-rolling effect for me. I'm wondering how common the melodrama is in novels from the romantic period and how different authors from the period differed. The only other thing I recall at this moment having read from the period, so far, is Jane Austin (pretty much 100 years earlier) and I can't consider that a good comparison as I consider her to be genius on several levels. Dracula may drag in parts for a lot of people. It's not exactly a page turner for some stretches. It held my interest all the way through but I wasn't compelled to carry it with me through the day and I read other books during the reading of it as a result. The multiple points of view and the telling through the various journals was a great choice for this and used to excellent effect. That became even more pronounced after all parties had all left England and the novel started building toward its climax. There were several points where the story became quite exciting including pretty much the whole last quarter or so of the book. The difference in the use of the language between now and then combined with the broken English of Professor Van Helsing with all the mixed up tenses and cases was an experience - one requiring some patience sometimes and funny sometimes but not a problem. i have a few other gothic novels picked out for the very near future and am looking forward to them. Dracula movies told me what the original story was like, I thought - mistakenly. From the first page, I was as amazed at the skill of Bram Stoker in writing his story as I was at another time in opening Richard Nixon's autobiography and being stunned by the clarity of thought and excellence of perfection that he had achieved. I read Dracula for a university course. Had I know it was as excellent a story as it is, I would have read it much earlier. I consider the book a true classic, something has already lasted for a short time, but will likely last a lot more time. A few weak points were pointed out to me. But as long as I must engage my "suspension of belief" for the book as a whole, I have no problem excusing such errors. I've thought of other authors I've read and tried to decide where Stoker's Dracula fits in among them. I don't think he does! I think Bram Stoker's Dracula is somehow unique. If I am able to read other tales of mystically powered, soulless masters of men's minds, then I may have a home for Dracula. Until then, his is a lone story that starts nobly apart from the other fictions there are - of Asimovian robots, Burroughnian warrior kings, C.S. Lewis' adventures in Pereland', and even Twilight. For me the telling of this story in letters and diary entries did a disservice to the whole, but it's a chilling and suspensful read. Too episodic for 5 stars. Very, very good. The detail is interesting, the format is interesting, the characters are interesting. Real suspense and drama.
The Illustrated Dracula: This book fails the flip test. If something’s title includes the word “Illustrated”, you ought to see pictures when you flip through it. I didn’t. Is contained inFrankenstein | Dracula | Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Mary Shelley Classics of Horror: Dracula/Frankenstein/2 Books in 1 by Bram Stoker Three Vampire Tales: Dracula, Carmilla, and The Vampyre (New Riverside Editions) by Bram Stoker Dracula and The Lair of the White Worm [omnibus] by Bram Stoker Dracula & Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker Frankenstein, Drácula, O médico e o monstro by Coletivo The New Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker Dracula (Norton Critical Edition) by Bram Stoker Classic horror omnibus. Vol.1, Five classic novels of terror by Peter Haining Treasury Of Gothic & Supernatural by Bruce T. Smyth Works of Bram Stoker. (25 Works) Includes Dracula, The Lair of the White Worm, The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Lady of the Shroud, Under the Sunset and more. (mobi) by Bram Stoker Is retold inThe Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly Has the (non-series) sequelHas the adaptationDracula [adapted - Great Illustrated Classics] by Bram Stoker Dracula: The Vampire Play by Hamilton Deane Dracula [adapted - Marvel Classics] by Roy Thomas Dracula [adapted - Marvel Classics] by Roy Thomas Puffin Graphics: Dracula (Puffin Graphics (Graphic Novels)) by Gary Reed Dracula [adaptation - IDW Graphic Classics] by Bram Stoker Dracula [adapted - graphic novel] by Bram Stoker Dracula [adapted - graphic novel - Pocket Classics] by Bram Stoker Dracula [adapted] by Bram Stoker Dracula [adapted by Tim Wynne-Jones] by Bram Stoker Dracula [adapted - graphic novel - Saddleback's Illustrated Classics] by Bram Stoker Dracula [simplified by John Turvey] by Bram Stoker Is abridged inBram Stoker's Dracula [Jan Needle abridgement] by Bram Stoker Dracula [abridged - Stepping Stone] by Stephanie Spinner Is expanded inInspiredHas as a student's study guide
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Pocket Books Enriched Classics present the great works of world literature enhanced for the contemporary reader. This edition of Dracula was prepared by Joseph Valente, Professor of English at the University of Illinois and the author of Dracula's Crypt: Bram Stoker, Irishness, and the Question of Blood, who provides insight into the racial connotations of this enduring masterpiece.
(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:28:44 -0500)
After discovering the double identity of the wealthy Transylvanian nobleman, Count Dracula, a small group of people vow to rid the world of the evil vampire.
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40 editions of this book were published by Audible.com.
Penguin AustraliaEight editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.
Editions: 014143984X, 0141024976, 0451530667, 0141325666, 0141045221, 0451228685, 0143106163, 0141199334
DundurnAn edition of this book was published by Dundurn.
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