Dracula in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Oct 04, 2010 Beth Given rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was our book club pick for October, and yes, I realize it's now midway through November. There's a reason for that, I guess -- this book is rather tedious in places, but still interesting enough to keep trudging through.

Anyway, let's talk about the positives first, shall we?

The little blurb on the back of my book is right -- we are all familiar with the myth of Dracula. Even with the whole Twilight-craze, I still think Dracula is the epitome of "vampire." It was kind of neat to see all tho This was our book club pick for October, and yes, I realize it's now midway through November. There's a reason for that, I guess -- this book is rather tedious in places, but still interesting enough to keep trudging through.

Anyway, let's talk about the positives first, shall we?

The little blurb on the back of my book is right -- we are all familiar with the myth of Dracula. Even with the whole Twilight-craze, I still think Dracula is the epitome of "vampire." It was kind of neat to see all those parts of the myth in the text itself: the absence of Dracula's reflection in the mirror, the garlic and religious symbols to ward him off, the "evil eye," the turning into a bat, the sleeping in a coffin during daylight. Funny -- turns out all that stuff from Castlevania (remember that video game??) is really in the book. ;-)

However, in all of the retellings, I've come to think of Dracula as a bit of a joke. I mean, he's got the goofy accent ("I vant to suck your blood!") and the cloak. And his likeness has been applied to such kid-friendly characters as Count von Count of Sesame Street, Count Chocula of cereal fame, and even Count Lasagna in that one episode of Garfield and Friends. Could I really take Dracula seriously?

I was pleasantly surprised, then, to be thoroughly freaked out in a couple places! To enumerate (spoilers ahead): first, there was the whole first section in which Jonathan Harker was a guest -- and then a prisoner -- in Castle Dracula. That was definitely creepy. Second, I was SO not expecting Seward and Van Helsing to actually catch Dracula in the act of drinking Mina's blood, and all while Jonathan slept nearby, oblivious! Her retelling of her experiences with Dracula was definitely frightening. Third (and most freaky to me) was when the party sees the undead Lucy in the graveyard ... and then Lucy actually talks to them, asking Arthur, her fiance, to join her as a vampire! AUGHH!! That part was deliciously scary, especially since we, as the reader, knew Lucy before she had been turned into a vampire ... intimately so, as she was a narrator for a small portion of the book through her diary entries.

And yet.

This book took me a good five weeks or something to finish. Seems the characters spent an inordinate amount of time praising each other for their stout hearts and noble spirits -- that got kind of old. Then, every once in awhile, there would be pages from some guy with a Yorkshire accent that was impossible to read. And finally the ending felt like a bit of a let-down -- it was over much too quickly, with little suspense from Dracula himself (a three-line paragraph, maybe).

So. I'm glad I made it through this one, but I can't say I'd go recommending it. Next time I want a scare, I'll pick up one of Edgar Allan Poe's (short) stories. ...more

Like · see review

Oct 15, 2016 Piepie | The Napping Bibliophile added it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, fantasy-and-supernatural, page-and-screen, classics, 2016-reading-challenge, read-in-2016

Ugh, did not like this book at all... read it for a reading challenge... very wordy and very dry!!

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2011 Jen Ifer's Inklings rated it it was ok

Shelves: audio-books, read-in-2011, classics

I listened to this as an audio book. AND it was through librivox.org. I think this really played a factor into my enjoyment of this story, as each chapter is read by a different person.

I also just couldn't really get into the story. I guess I like my vampires to be a little more modern day and with a touch of romance added in.

I did find it interesting/ amusing to learn that this story contained the Van Helsing character. ...more

Like · see review

Oct 25, 2015 Amy Ellis rated it really liked it

Quincy's name is from Dracula when my hubby read it and loved it, so I'm glad I read it. It really creeped me out, but I liked it alot. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 31, 2024 Doug rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

This one gets 3 stars only because of the great cultural influence that it has managed to have. Otherwise, I’d say 2 stars. Although, after reading it, I’m really beginning to wonder if the 1922 Nosferatu and the Universal Pictures Dracula are more responsible for the impressive impact that vampires have had on our pop culture.

Like · see review