Bram Stoker's Dracula

Auryon · Newb Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 6

Have you ever read the book?? If so what did you think of it?
I have read it and I thought that it was very well written and a true page turner. But maybe that is just me. But I would have pictured the Count a bit differntly but you know....I'm not even going to finish that sentence. Uneasy

Arisu · Member Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 47

I have read it and I liked it a lot. But it has been a long time since I have read it, maybe I should again sometime soon.

I am a romantic vampirelover so I allways liked books like that.

OMNI-X · Very bored Joined: 25 Sep 2004 Posts: 141

One of my favorite books of all time.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is definitely one of the best vampire novels I've read.

I collect books, so I actually have 3 copies of this book. The oldest one I have was a hard bound book published sometime in the 1930's (need to verify though).

Arisu · Member Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 47

[quote]I collect books, so I actually have 3 copies of this book. The oldest one I have was a hard bound book published sometime in the 1930's (need to verify though).[/quote]

Wow, that's very cool. It must have cost you a fortune?

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

I've read it, currently re-reading it for a college course on vampires. According to all the academic essays in the back of my edition, absolutely everything in the book is a veiled reference to sex. Everything. Yeesh.

Actually, I thought that while it had a very good and compelling story, the characterization is almost non-existant and the writing isn't that great. Could have been a lot better in my opinion.

OMNI-X · Very bored Joined: 25 Sep 2004 Posts: 141

[quote="Arisu (Boudica)"]
Wow, that's very cool. It must have cost you a fortune? [/quote]
Nope, it was a hand-me-down. My uncle was a sailor and was always going around the world on a cruise ship. He was big on books, and bought this particular one in 1975. He forgot about it till we found it one of his book shelves. He gave it to me, and was the first Dracula book I ever read.

Kept it since.

Arisu · Member Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 47

Well, you should keep it, it might be worth a lot later.

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

OK, in the interest of reviving this topic...

Those who have finished Dracula, do you think Dracula really died?

I mean, the brides were staked and decapitated. They are definately dead. But Dracula wasn't, he just got a bowie knife in the heart and turned into mist. But in the book, vampires turning into mist isn't an uncommon occurance. Harker's molestation by the brides comes to mind, for example. So, since we know that vampires can turn into mist, and Dracula wasn't staked, decapitated, burned, buried facedown at a crossroads, however you want to dispatch a vamp, is he really dead?

And the bonus round, Could Quincy Morris be a vampire as well? I've a little 'proof' for this as well (or at least arguments from class) but don't feel like typing them out, and probably don't remember them all as well.

Just some things to ponder. ^_^

silver_dreams · Elder Than Dirt Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 5102

i'm only 1/10th of the way thru the book, and it's just *too* difficult to read without spending time trying to figure out what the point of a certain paragraph is or trying to comeprehend some of the character's dialogue...

silver_dreams · Elder Than Dirt Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 5102

(sorry, computer posted twice <.<)

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

I can tell you what it means. I can tell you what it all means. You want to know what everything in Dracula means? It's all...

...SEX!!!! Sex sex sex. That's all it is. *insane giggle*

....Well, if you listen to my professor anyway.... Yes, stakes are phallic! We frickin get it already!! -_-

Sorry...I think today's round of finding symbolism in holes and stakes has broken my brain.

But yeah, Bram Stoker was a terrible writer. I tried to read it last year and just couldn't. I finally got through it this summer, and just recently again for class. It is definately easier the second time through. He just can't write! All of the characters speak with the same voice, have the same thoughts....Drac is the only interesting character in the book cause you don't know what he's thinking. The book is good because of the strength of the story, I wanted to know what happened to Dracula, the rest of them could fall off a cliff for all I cared. Bunch of self-rightous morons.

silver_dreams · Elder Than Dirt Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 5102

it's that bad?

psh, then i'll just have to go back to reading homicide mystery novels...

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

It [i]is[/i] a good book, Stoker just has no concept of characterization. I think you should finish it, just cause the story is good enough to overcome his deficiencys in writing skills. My professor says that the lack of individual voices for the characters could be deliberate, I think he just couldn't write well. But the story itself is very good.

In all honesty, alot of what I say about the book now is influenced by long classroom discussions. It's mostly true, but you may not notice some of it the first time through.

Ever seen any of the movies? If you have, that's reason enough to finish the book. The movies are nothing like the book. At all. For example, sunlight being able to kill Dracula came about in the movies, in the book he actually is seen active while the sun is up, he's just weakened.

silver_dreams · Elder Than Dirt Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 5102

i know that the movie Draculas tend to be quite different from the original, but this book is just too brain-numbingly difficult @_@

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

Yeah, it is a hard read. Worth it though, or at least I thought so. Then again, if it's got vampires I just eat it up! Usually I get through books pretty fast, but that one was [i]work[/i]! And I had to keep looking back at the beginning of the different 'diary entries' to see what POV I was reading....

silver_dreams · Elder Than Dirt Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 5102

the accents in the dialogue of some characters is hard to read, and it's sometimes difficult to tell what exactly the person is trying to say...

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

Yeah, accents suck to read. I know some people who read dialect out loud to help them understand it. And yeah, sometimes I'm not sure whether the characters even know what they're talking about. That's why it's the story and not the people in it that carries the book.

ThePuppetMaster · Very bored Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 196

I read it in Seventh grade and I thought it was really good. Except for the middle of the book when Lucy and Mina are writing in their journals about boys. It was so freeking boring because' that's all it was for maybe 100 pages. I feel asleep one time in the middle of the book durring one of these such entries. But I thought the begining and end of the book were pretty good. Francis Ford Coppala's Dracula was pretty close to the book. The closest I've seen in a Dracula film..

Thirteen_Black_Roses · Has No Life Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 510

Yeah, the Coppala was definately closest. I liked the way they included some of the actual Vlad Tepes as well. I think my favorite movie though would have to be the Bela Lugosi. It's the classic, and really, Renfield's nurse Martin makes the movie. If you've seen a lot of the Dracula movies, you should definately watch 'Dracula: Dead and Loving It' from Mel Brooks. I just saw it and through the entire movie I kept recognizing costumes and sets directly out of the other movies. It was fun picking them out.

"But Lucy, I'm British!"

ThePuppetMaster · Very bored Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 196

Lol! I bought Dead and Loving it a few years ago and I've watched it so many times I know every word to it! That movie is seriously one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. "What ARE you doing to the furniture!?"

**Edit** I love it when Dracula's famous line from Francis Ford Coppala's Dracula is slightly altered when he falls down the steps after slipping on Bat s**t. Original line: "The Children of the Night what music they make.." Altered Line: "The Children of the Night what a mess they make.." Lmfao!!