From the Bookshelf of Reading the Classics…

Dracula

Bram Stoker

Start date: March 1, 2013

Finish date: March 31, 2013

Discussion: Past Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Won the poll for March group read.
[close] Won the poll for March group read.

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Past Group Reads

* Washington Square - Reading Schedule
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What Members Thought

Dec 01, 2011 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Children of the night what music they play" ; Jonathan Hawker hears those chilling, famous words from the inhuman appearing Count Dracula, in the remote Castle Dracula , Transylvania (Romania) . What started out as a simple real estate deal by an English solicitor and a foreign nobleman, becomes a blood sucking nightmare.
The shell shocked Jonathan is imprisoned by the creepy Count, a " person" you wouldn't want to see in a dark alley on a moonless midnight walk. Three strange , bizarre , but v "Children of the night what music they play" ; Jonathan Hawker hears those chilling, famous words from the inhuman appearing Count Dracula, in the remote Castle Dracula , Transylvania (Romania) . What started out as a simple real estate deal by an English solicitor and a foreign nobleman, becomes a blood sucking nightmare.
The shell shocked Jonathan is imprisoned by the creepy Count, a " person" you wouldn't want to see in a dark alley on a moonless midnight walk. Three strange , bizarre , but very beautiful women, brides of Dracula, the weird sisters, are in his room looking not quite real. When Dracula arrives also, they fade away.... into nothingness . Next day the Englishman can't decide if what he saw last night was a dream or fact...
Either way the terrified Mr. Hawker escapes , as if his life depended on it, not caring about those eerie wolves , surrounding the building and disappears... Back in "civilized", safe England his fiance Mina on vacation in Whitby, is visiting her sick, good friend Lucy Westenra, she becomes very pale too, almost like ill Lucy who is losing blood, why ? Dr. Seward with the help of Dr.Van Helsing an expert in little known diseases, gives her Lucy, four transfusions, still she becomes weaker, and small punctures are spotted on Miss Westenra's neck, what can they be? A gruesome Bat is seen flying outside the window, lurking about waiting for who knows what... mists come into poor Lucy's room... Dr. Seward, the head of an insane asylum, has a star inmate named Renfield he likes keeping busy, by eating flies and spiders. Something unnatural is disturbing the disturb man. Renfield even attempts to kill the good doctor. On the continent the dazed Jonathan, is found in a hospital in Budapest, disclosing events, in his journal, read by Mina when they get him back home.. Dracula is seen by Hawker in England, or was this man, the undead fiend , actually the Count? Better speak to Dr. Van Helsing, who they say has read about vampires and is an expert on the subject. This old Dutchman doesn't mind getting his hands dirty....The novel has inspired countless films, books and television shows...the endless flow of vampires stories more than a century after this classic was published. There is an obvious reason for this phenomenon...It still scares people ...in an entertaining manner... The historical figure was a Romanian Prince, Vlad 111 or Dracula, ( son 0f Dracul, the Dragon) 1431- 1476, known as the Impaler, an alias he acquired , and well deserved too...for his bloody treatment of captured soldiers...guess what he did to...
his many enemies, by the thousands...he is a national hero. ...more

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Feb 11, 2021 Whitney rated it really liked it

Shelves: british, vampire, history, classics, horror, fiction, love

3.5\4 stars

There were points in the book that had me struggling to stay awake, but all in all this was a fantastic classic masterpiece.

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Dec 29, 2011 Mr. Twinkie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thebest100list, classic, group-read, 4-stars, 1800-1900

Bram Stoker's "Dracula" isn't perfect but it does serve the title of being a classic and "father" of the modern vampire genre. However, the anti-climatic ending of the book is quite disappointing and leaves much to be desired.

Bookmoment of Zen:

"Oh, it did me good to see the way that these brave men worked. How can women help loving men when they are so earnest, and so true, and so brave." ...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Ricki Ward rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star-favorites, vampire-fiction, classics, horror, barnes-noble-classics-collection

I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read this novel, but at the same time I wish I could go back and read it again for the very first time. Every word was absolute gothic perfection. ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, 19th-century, classics, irish-author, horror, victorian-era

Classic vampire tale. Bram Stoker does a great job with character development and I loved the way the story was told through journal entries and correspondences.

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Mar 11, 2012 Brenda rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Glad I read this "classic." Boy, was it a laborious read. I know Stoker tries to make Van Helsing sound like a foreigner but during the entire book, he sounded like JaJa from that Star Wars trilogy, Clones something. BTW - those were awful movies. ...more

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