Dracula in Read by Theme

Jul 16, 2012 Kevin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: rated

Dracula is one of the most influential works of all time. By this I mean from Rice to Whedon, from Lugosi to Myers and True Blood it has been the imputus for some great horror fiction. Fiction that touches on themes possesion, sexuality, represion and power with some creepiness thrown in. I would bet that no modern reader picks up Bram Stokers novel wihtout first come into contact with the vampire as inspired by his book. Having read the book though I realize that this is not due to any insights Dracula is one of the most influential works of all time. By this I mean from Rice to Whedon, from Lugosi to Myers and True Blood it has been the imputus for some great horror fiction. Fiction that touches on themes possesion, sexuality, represion and power with some creepiness thrown in. I would bet that no modern reader picks up Bram Stokers novel wihtout first come into contact with the vampire as inspired by his book. Having read the book though I realize that this is not due to any insights to be found explicitly in the novel itself. His novel due to poor characterization and poor plotting is near unreadable.
Let me start with the characters. The novel is a epistolary work with diary entries from his lifeless characters througout. This makes the story particularly annoying because the characters have little to say. They tell you in wordy expressions that they are in love or scared or determined but you never really feel any emotion from any of them. Nowhere is the poor characterization more annoying than with Van Helsing. He comes to town after one of the characters has been bitten. He is portrayed in most spin offs he as the expert on vampires who is to lead the hunt for Dracula and drive that steak through his heart. In Stoker's text his speech is bumbling and melodramatic. You end up hating Dr. Seward and the others for putting any trust in him. Early in the novel he knows what they are dealing with but spends an entire page telling Dr. Seward that he can not tell him anything now "Knowledge in its place where it may rest- where it may gather kind around it and breed.... I have myself thoughts at the present. Later i shall unfold to you." But he never does until Dracula does some more damage. I suppose Stoker meant him to be a comic figure but the humor does not work for modern audiences.
The title character is interesting but after the first 60 pages we do not see him again. The rest of the novel is inane characters tripping over themselves trying to figure out what is happening to their loved ones. There is a character Renfield who is also interesting but like Dracula himself he makes far too few appearances. I will say for any fan of the Vampire genre this is of course interesting reading but not entertaining reading. The scenes that do work well i have not seen in any remakes of Dracula.
It is a shame because at times Stoker does end up painting some fairly chilling images as when the Dracula's ship first comes to shore and the crew has to deal with missing people and stormy seas. Perhaps this is a reason to struggle through the book. Although i hated it i did keep reading for nine months. But these images are few and far between and hidden amidst page after page of poor writing that keeps the reader at a distance from any action in the novel. I guess it was my love of the horror genre and my hopes that it would build to a good climax. Spoiler: it does not. This book should be read only if you have a historical interest in how it all began not if you want a good read.
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