"For the first time, an annotated edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula examines all of the evidence, including contemporary travel books, scientific...
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Oct 20, 2011
Karen
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Before reviewing the novel itself, I must warn readers that Klinger's annotations require a bit of context. Yes, he is an expert on Victoriana, and he has done much to understand the region around Borgo Pass and Dracula's castle as well. He also brings in interesting footnotes about transfusions, telegraphs, typewriters and other matters of science and technology that appear in Stoker's era. However, Klinger is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, and as such, he follows their convention of
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Oct 19, 2011
Waylon
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Klinger approaches this annotated edition as if Stoker was merely relaying actual events; this gets very annoying by the second page of the novel. After page one, there are literally six pages of annotations, some of them relaying information that is completely inconsequential. This persists throughout, although the annotations do not overtake the actual novel to that extent again. The "gentle fiction," as Klinger puts it, of pretending the novel relays actual events, means that many o
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Aug 06, 2011
To start with this is my first time reading Dracula. I find this version rather overwhelming and a bit too all-inclusive. If you want to read Dracula for the first time I suggest steering clear of this version. This book makes mention of every single discrepancy and difference from the original manuscript. I found it much easier to just ignore all the footnotes and stick with the story itself.
To hardcore Dracula fans to and anyone who is interested in the way the story was written this would be More...
To hardcore Dracula fans to and anyone who is interested in the way the story was written this would be More...
Jan 08, 2009
Jennifer
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Leslie Klinger has really put together an amazing work. The main show here isn't Dracula so much as the annotations: a collection of historical, geographical, critical, pop-culture, and other references (including photographs of the landscapes mentioned in the novel and strikingly-illustrated covers of early editions) which, at times, overwhelm the text itself.
That latter point is really my sole, if crucial, problem with this edition. It is very difficult to use The New Annotated D More...
That latter point is really my sole, if crucial, problem with this edition. It is very difficult to use The New Annotated D More...
Oct 03, 2011
Oh wow, this majestic volume arrived just the other day and is utterly magnificent, quite dractastic. I have reviewed Dracula-the-Novel elsewhere and I'll be gladly reviewing Dracula-the-New-Annotations when I can get to it (there is a small but urgent tranche of books to read before I can get to it).
Why New? Well, in 1975 there was a previous Annotated Dracula by a different guy, a Mr Wolf (I kid you not). That is also a handsome volume which I have. But this one is a completely differ More...
Why New? Well, in 1975 there was a previous Annotated Dracula by a different guy, a Mr Wolf (I kid you not). That is also a handsome volume which I have. But this one is a completely differ More...
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Jul 27, 2010
Lacey
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Before reading this book, I'd never read Dracula before, and this was a fun introduction to it. The editor who does the annotating takes the fun stance that this whole story is true and that Dracula didn't die at the end but dissipated into fog and mist. He also suggests that Dracula went to Bram Stoker after he realized he wouldn't be able to stop publication and "convinced" Stoker to change some details so that humans wouldn't be able to find him and hunt him down. This helps explain
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Dec 12, 2009
Don
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This is not a book for everyone. Hell, turns out it's not even a book for ME.
But if the measure of an annotated edition is how ridiculously in-depth it dissects the source material, then this should actually earn TEN stars out of five.
Having just finished Dracula, I thought I'd like to pick up the Annotated Edition and read through that. Especially with tales that have proven so influential and have directed so much of what's come after, reading about the inner workings More...
But if the measure of an annotated edition is how ridiculously in-depth it dissects the source material, then this should actually earn TEN stars out of five.
Having just finished Dracula, I thought I'd like to pick up the Annotated Edition and read through that. Especially with tales that have proven so influential and have directed so much of what's come after, reading about the inner workings More...
May 31, 2011
Mari
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Okay, I liked the idea of Dracula. I liked the idea that the story was written through accounts of those who were clearly afraid of him. And while Dracula hardly showed up, his presence was scary enough to have made all of those encountering him tremble and "shat their pants."
I'm not sure, however, whether I liked reading the story through annotations. Sometimes the annotations helped (especially when it came to trying to decipher the accented persons), other times they didn' More...
I'm not sure, however, whether I liked reading the story through annotations. Sometimes the annotations helped (especially when it came to trying to decipher the accented persons), other times they didn' More...
Feb 19, 2010
Rebecca
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 13, 2010
Trisha
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We have a couple things going on here: first, we have Bram Stoker's Dracula, the vampire tale to kick all other vampire tale's pointy teeth. Second, we have Leslie S. Klinger's amazing annotations of the text which add a wonderful depth to the narrative. Third, we have Neil Gaiman, a man I would leave my husband for, introducing the text. Finally, we have Appendices which have my geek heart pounding.
I can not tell you how much I enjoyed reading this. The story of Dracula itself i More...
I can not tell you how much I enjoyed reading this. The story of Dracula itself i More...
Jul 30, 2011
Kent
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Having never read Dracula before, nor actually watched one of the many movies about Dracula from start to finish, I thought I should approach it by reading this annotated version.
First, I did enjoy reading the novel by Stoker. His use of the journal entries, telegrams, press clippings, etc. must have caused a bit of a stir back in 1897 when it was published and one can only imagine this device leaving readers wondering if maybe it were a true account of real events. (What? You mea More...
First, I did enjoy reading the novel by Stoker. His use of the journal entries, telegrams, press clippings, etc. must have caused a bit of a stir back in 1897 when it was published and one can only imagine this device leaving readers wondering if maybe it were a true account of real events. (What? You mea More...
Jul 07, 2010
Jenny
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One of my greatest literary disappointments this year -- surprisingly slow-moving, with cardboard characters (dear Lucy couldn't expire soon enough for my taste and Van Helsing's "dialect" drove me batty) and *endless* travelogue. Even the homoerotic subtext couldn't save it. The only character I liked was Renfield -- and he ate bugs. **sigh**
This is, of course, no fault of the annotations. The notes (which were legion) were fascinating, revealing underlying meanings th More...
This is, of course, no fault of the annotations. The notes (which were legion) were fascinating, revealing underlying meanings th More...
Dec 04, 2010
Jim
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Wonderful Novel, of course. It is a fun read, and one of the two best Horror Novels Written (Peter Straub's Ghost Story is the other)
To say the Annotations are in depth is an understatement. Some reviewers here say they are excessive. I can see their point. My advise for reading this editon? Read the Novel. If you find an indicator that a footnote is coming, read it if you think the passage you read needs explanation. You have my permission to skip some of these if you wish. More...
To say the Annotations are in depth is an understatement. Some reviewers here say they are excessive. I can see their point. My advise for reading this editon? Read the Novel. If you find an indicator that a footnote is coming, read it if you think the passage you read needs explanation. You have my permission to skip some of these if you wish. More...
Jan 11, 2009
Book Dork
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1-11-09
Well, I am officially a DRACULA expert so if you have questions please ask. ;)
Let me start by saying I did something dreadful...I watched the movie before reading the book! Yes, I rarely ever do this and this last experience reminded me why I should not.
I watched Coppola's version of DRACULA and it was extremely confusing. One really needed to have read the book to understand it. It was choppy and many elements (blue fire, etc.) were not explained More...
Well, I am officially a DRACULA expert so if you have questions please ask. ;)
Let me start by saying I did something dreadful...I watched the movie before reading the book! Yes, I rarely ever do this and this last experience reminded me why I should not.
I watched Coppola's version of DRACULA and it was extremely confusing. One really needed to have read the book to understand it. It was choppy and many elements (blue fire, etc.) were not explained More...
Aug 06, 2010
Emily
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This book is fabulous for anyone interested in Dracula. It's got all these nice little tidbits that help you get a feel of the era the book was written in and piece together the references Stoker makes in the text. It also has sections about vampires both before and after Dracula, things that influenced Stoker and things that he influenced, and photos of some of his actual story notes.
Absolutely boring to a lot of people I know, but amazing stuff if you're really interested in Dracu More...
Absolutely boring to a lot of people I know, but amazing stuff if you're really interested in Dracu More...
Nov 13, 2011
Brian
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I found this book for sale at Skylight Books for a great price in late September and decided to take the Dracula challenge. It is a large textbook style edition, filled to the brim with annotations and more reference material then you would ever need about the the world that is, Dracula. The vampire myth had already been established to readers by the mid 1890's but this was the first time the world was introduced to the Count. Not sure what to expect, I jumped in with reckless abandon and tra
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Aug 20, 2009
Karen
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 11, 2009
tish
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Ok, I actually gave up on this edition because of the annotations that treated the book as a historical document. Ridiculous. Although that is also the word I would use to describe the actual content of the novel. The plotting falls apart near the end and dragged on well after I lost interest. God, and the prose--Stoker's writing is absurd. Long passages devoted to meaningless metaphors, and when spoken by Van Helsing, they are often in some approximation of an accent. Again, ridiculous. Despite
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Jul 20, 2011
Kenn
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I think it might have just been better to read an unannotated version.
About the Novel: I think I'd give the novel itself a weak four stars. I was a little disappointed in the writing because it was disjointed and required lots of interpretation. There were a few moving passages in it, but most of the horror of the story is not in the words but in the subtext. I cannot argue that it isn't a classic and an influence book, but I was expecting something more visual and scary.
A More...
About the Novel: I think I'd give the novel itself a weak four stars. I was a little disappointed in the writing because it was disjointed and required lots of interpretation. There were a few moving passages in it, but most of the horror of the story is not in the words but in the subtext. I cannot argue that it isn't a classic and an influence book, but I was expecting something more visual and scary.
A More...
Mar 01, 2009
liirogue
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Very interesting take on Dracula, and it really makes you look at the source material differently. I have a much lower opinion of Van Helsing after reading this, for example.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for first-time readers of Dracula. The notes contain some spoilers, and can be distracting. It is hard to really get into the novel when you are constantly stopping and reading side notes.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for first-time readers of Dracula. The notes contain some spoilers, and can be distracting. It is hard to really get into the novel when you are constantly stopping and reading side notes.
Jan 05, 2010
Carmela
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In the book dracuela it talks about how dracula was not real that the only thing that was real was people drinking blood from those who were already dead and are burried. They would pour oil and vinger all over the graves just so they would not go in to try and suck there blood. So that old folklore about garlic keeps the vampire away(DRACULA) was a myth.
Oct 08, 2010
Laurie
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The classic from which most modern tales, books and films, come. Introduces the idea of Drac not seeing himself in a mirror. Had a very Christian theme going on in the background. One of my fav. quotes:"God will act in His own way and time. Do not fear, and do not rejoice as yet; for what we wish for... at the moment may be our undoings."
Nov 04, 2009
Megan
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Dracula is a good story. The notes are extensive. Sometimes they are useful, and sometimes they are ridiculous. The annotator is convinced that Dracula is based on a real story - a real collection of true papers that Stoker edited. Riiiiight. But, he also added a lot of pictures, which is nice.
Jul 25, 2009
Wendy
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As a general rule, I am not particularly fond of literature written during this time period and this had the same slow, over-written sappiness to it. What I did appreciate was Leslie Klinger's annotations. Every old boring book should be annotated. It had photos of the places being discussed, pointed out inconsistencies, where the text was changed later, explained some of the words and characters that wouldn't make sense to us today and had other interesting information. Klinger I like. Stoker,
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Nov 10, 2008
Alicen
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Turns out there is a reason this book is so popular- it's an amazing read and this new annotated version adds even more depth to the text. But first a word of warning…the annotated text gets overwhelming very quickly so I would recommend reading the text separately and using this new version for the essays and footnotes for the parts you like best. The book itself really surprised me with its details of a dark and confusing world the characters are thrown in to and at times I was completely cap
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Nov 10, 2009
Jami
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I tried. I really tried, but I could not get through this annotated version. Mr. Klinger gives some of the most boring information ever! Do we really need to know the 'bus' schedule for any certain day in the 19th century. Plus he treats the story as if it were something that had actually occurred. Um, yeah. That's why you find the book in the fiction section. Just because it's written as if it were true does not make it so. Guess I'm just not open-minded enough for this addition. I do hope to f
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Oct 20, 2009
I'm rereading this book for Infinite Summer: Reading Dracula! (I was rather HEARTBROKEN when I found out I'd just missed the Infinite Jest online readthrough, and was determined not to miss this one.) You can follow my progress here: http://redredshoes.blogspot.com/2009/10/...
ETA: I'm switching from the Annotated Dracula to this version for the Infinite Summer readthrough, which I'm already so behind on I doubt I'll ever catch up (not the reading -- the blogging). I love the Annotated More...
ETA: I'm switching from the Annotated Dracula to this version for the Infinite Summer readthrough, which I'm already so behind on I doubt I'll ever catch up (not the reading -- the blogging). I love the Annotated More...
Oct 30, 2008
Angie
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What can I say, I have a thing for those with over-sized canine teeth!
I've read the Dracula novel twice already so I didn't re-read it again here though I do plan to at some point. But I give this edition five stars because the does a great job with providing interesting historical information to go along with Stoker's novel, treating the novel as if it were a "true" story. For example, in the novel, poor Lucy after being bitten by Dracula, undergoes four blood transfusion More...
I've read the Dracula novel twice already so I didn't re-read it again here though I do plan to at some point. But I give this edition five stars because the does a great job with providing interesting historical information to go along with Stoker's novel, treating the novel as if it were a "true" story. For example, in the novel, poor Lucy after being bitten by Dracula, undergoes four blood transfusion More...
Jan 12, 2009
Rebecca
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Great book. This one "pretends" that the events in Dracula actually happened as well as add some interesting tidbits about the era and some mistakes Stoker made in dating and such in the book.
Feb 25, 2010
Shaina
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Great fun. I love this style of annotation, it manages to keep up the illusion of the book being 'real' and giving historical annotations at the same time.
