Dracula - Final Thoughts

[Jennifer]

I can't wait to hear what others thought of the ending. I loved this book. Who knew that I would be such a fan of the vampire genre, but I am. I was very satisfied with the ending, but am interested in hearing thoughts on why Stoker may have decided to have Quincey die.

[Catherine]

I too loved the book! I cannot imagine why he choose to kill Quincey off. My only reason is that someone good always has to die. If only the "evil" dies - it is too peachy of an ending. I find it honorable that they named their son after him. My heart was warm. It reminded me a lot of the ending of Harry Potter when all their kids were named after a deceased person from the previous books.

A part that stood out to me was the peace that was described on the Count's face. I find this common amongst vampire novels. An old vampire always seem to feel like there is nothing left to live for. It has been too long, and part of why life is so great, is that it is limited. I agree, too.

[Kristyn]

I finally finished it! I found it kind of anticlimactic. They went through all of that and then bam in a second it was all over. I felt like there are a lot of things unsaid too. Like the whole conversation about how he has never loved. I remember watching something about how Dracula was supposedly the very first vampire. The myth goes that he married and while he was at war, his beloved was either killed or she was told that he was killed so she committed suicide. (I can't remember) but soon returning home Dracula was so devastated that he went crazy offering up his blood to the devil and sold his soul cursing God and denouncing his religion for taking his beloved and drank her blood thus becoming the first vampire. May not be exactly right but something along those lines. I thought it might cover that in the book so I didn't mention that before. I'd love to find the documentary that talks about the Dracula myth and the real Vlad Tepes who some believe the Dracula character was actually based off of.

[Amanda]

I feel so behind on the comments I got no emails about these and forgot to check.

I also found the ending a bit quick. Kristyn that sounds really intersting I love to know the backstory on things.

[Alana]

Quincey dying just makes me think he was making fun of the whole dramatic American cowboy thing, but maybe this was written too early for that :)

Anyway, here's my review, if anyone's interested:

Not being into the vampire genre in the slightest, I was nonetheless curious to read this classic that started it all. I wondered how different the story was, how much of the traditional means of vanquishing the demons showed up in this original work, what storytelling was used for the plot, etc.

On the methods of vanquishing vampires, I feel much more enlightened, although some of them I'd heard of through scattered episodes of Buffy and other sources, but knowing how long ago some of these superstitions existed was interesting. I found it especially compelling in the way Stoker pointed out that Jonathan tended to scorn the religious relics such as the crucifix, because as a Protestant, these objects of traditional Catholicism are nearly idolatrous in nature. There are all the traditions of crucifixes, garlic, stakes and beheading, plus the ability to change shape and other characteristics of which I had previously been unaware.

As for the storytelling itself, some of the thriller nature was diminished in the epistletory and diary format. After all, if the author is writing about the events, they must certainly have made it through alright. The most frustrating aspect was when very obvious symptoms began appearing and the characters, though thoroughly involved in the hunt, somehow don't manage to notice. The constant referring to women as weak creatures who couldn't possibly handle the strain of the fear that the men were dashing off into, while normally something to overlook in older literature, was so repetitive that it became quite annoying, and I wanted to bash the men over the head and remind them that it was the women half the time who came up with all the best plans and solutions! Women are often taken as literally the weaker sex in classic literature, which is not usually done in a disrespectful manner, but it was quite overdone in this story.

The story was interesting, though, and for the most part moved along at a fairly good pace. The "good" characters were all far TOO good to be believable and the bad characters were all completely evil, so there were no scruples about how to deal with each situation. There was little room for gray. The most poignant moment in the novel, in fact, was when (SPOILER) Mina reminds Jonathan that the man that they are trying to destroy was once a good man with a soul and they are truly seeking his salvation as well, so they would be wrong to wish ill upon his eternal soul.

From a Protestant Christian perspective there are so many theological elements wrong with the story that I won't even begin to go into them. That is a topic for a book discussion. Suffice it to say that if there's one thing as proof for the nonexistence of such creatures as vampires, it is that God has not made a salvation provision for anything of the kind, therefore it would not fall under his creation.

For an entertaining tale, four stars. For theology, 1 star. For drama, three stars. Worth reading? Certainly. Overall, three stars.