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Dracula (Norton Critical Edition)
by Bram Stoker

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17245.Dracula?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Dracula (Norton Critical Edition)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1166805311m/17245.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17245.Dracula?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Dracula</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6988.Bram_Stoker">Bram Stoker</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2101403?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars I've never been a huge goth/horror fan. I suppose werewolves and undead and all that are okay, as long as the heroes get to smack them good before the story's over. But if it gets too scary, I don't like it. I don't like being seriously scared, I guess. Suspense, that's great, and adventure, but not horror.
 
 Anyway, I really loved this novel. I was a little leery at first, for the reasons mentioned above, and also because of the sometimes association of vampires with sex. I wanted to read it because I wanted to see the source material that many modern vampire stories come from ("Van Helsing", undead in D&D, "Vampire Hunter D", vampires in other video games and movies, etc).
 
 The novel is written as a series of diary entries by the different protagonists, which allows for a lot of emotion and different points of view, even if sometimes you wonder, "If all this stuff is really happening to you, how do you have time to write 50 pages in your diary?". Though the story started out a little cheesy (probably because it's been used over and over as the source for most vampire stories), after the first section, I was riveted. 
 
 It has that characteristic of horror stories where you want to shout at the main character, "Idiot! Don't open the window! It's so obvious you're going to be attacked!", but the naivete on the part of the good guys is believable. Van Helsing, the German doctor/lawyer/scientist/archaeologist/gunman is pretty awesome, and the married husband and wife act refreshingly real. I wasn't expecting to find realistic interpersonal relationships in a Victorian horror novel, but I was refreshed by how people, most of the time, were nice and reasonable and polite, letting most of their emotions be private, unless they feel really strongly. I guess I relate to that a little more than the present trend of just telling everybody everything that you feel.
 
 It's kind of funny, the back of the novel talked about how it was about sexual power and seduction, and the introduction was basically an essay on how it was all about sex, but there was actually no sex in the novel at all. Yes, I agree that there are some undertones relating to sex (kind of obvious, since Dracula seems to only choose young female victims), but that's not the whole point of the novel. Deconstructions like that that ignore the whole point of the novel make me mad.
 
 It was also interesting to see how all the characters, at one point or another, questioned their sanity, and you kind of wonder if they are really just making this all up. But, if so, it's a pretty good shared hallucination. 
 
 Anyway, if you like adventure stories, and are curious as to what The Real Dracula (tm) is, or just want a book that you will stick to like a Wacky Wall Walker until you finish it, I recommend it.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/138617?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Andrea's review
rating:
bookshelves: speculative-fiction

I've never been a huge goth/horror fan. I suppose werewolves and undead and all that are okay, as long as the heroes get to smack them good before the story's over. But if it gets too scary, I don't like it. I don't like being seriously scared, I guess. Suspense, that's great, and adventure, but not horror.

Anyway, I really loved this novel. I was a little leery at first, for the reasons mentioned above, and also because of the sometimes association of vampires with sex. I wanted to read it because I wanted to see the source material that many modern vampire stories come from ("Van Helsing", undead in D&D, "Vampire Hunter D", vampires in other video games and movies, etc).

The novel is written as a series of diary entries by the different protagonists, which allows for a lot of emotion and different points of view, even if sometimes you wonder, "If all this stuff is really happening to you, how do you have time to write 50 pages in your diary?". ...more I've never been a huge goth/horror fan. I suppose werewolves and undead and all that are okay, as long as the heroes get to smack them good before the story's over. But if it gets too scary, I don't like it. I don't like being seriously scared, I guess. Suspense, that's great, and adventure, but not horror.

Anyway, I really loved this novel. I was a little leery at first, for the reasons mentioned above, and also because of the sometimes association of vampires with sex. I wanted to read it because I wanted to see the source material that many modern vampire stories come from ("Van Helsing", undead in D&D, "Vampire Hunter D", vampires in other video games and movies, etc).

The novel is written as a series of diary entries by the different protagonists, which allows for a lot of emotion and different points of view, even if sometimes you wonder, "If all this stuff is really happening to you, how do you have time to write 50 pages in your diary?". Though the story started out a little cheesy (probably because it's been used over and over as the source for most vampire stories), after the first section, I was riveted.

It has that characteristic of horror stories where you want to shout at the main character, "Idiot! Don't open the window! It's so obvious you're going to be attacked!", but the naivete on the part of the good guys is believable. Van Helsing, the German doctor/lawyer/scientist/archaeologist/gunman is pretty awesome, and the married husband and wife act refreshingly real. I wasn't expecting to find realistic interpersonal relationships in a Victorian horror novel, but I was refreshed by how people, most of the time, were nice and reasonable and polite, letting most of their emotions be private, unless they feel really strongly. I guess I relate to that a little more than the present trend of just telling everybody everything that you feel.

It's kind of funny, the back of the novel talked about how it was about sexual power and seduction, and the introduction was basically an essay on how it was all about sex, but there was actually no sex in the novel at all. Yes, I agree that there are some undertones relating to sex (kind of obvious, since Dracula seems to only choose young female victims), but that's not the whole point of the novel. Deconstructions like that that ignore the whole point of the novel make me mad.

It was also interesting to see how all the characters, at one point or another, questioned their sanity, and you kind of wonder if they are really just making this all up. But, if so, it's a pretty good shared hallucination.

Anyway, if you like adventure stories, and are curious as to what The Real Dracula (tm) is, or just want a book that you will stick to like a Wacky Wall Walker until you finish it, I recommend it....less

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