Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781593081140
ISBN: 1593081146
Label: Barnes & Noble Classics
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: 2004-05-14
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
Studio: Barnes & Noble Classics

Customer Rating:
Summary: Bram Stoker's Dracula
Comment: I've had this book in my TBR pile for years...I thought I'd never get to reading it. The story is told mostly through diary entries, newspaper articles and letters.

I like how Bram Stoker sets the mood. There is a general dark and errie mood to the story.

This was a classic horror story. The characters are creepy. Dracula himself is a monster. You don't get the story from his point of view, but you do see it from his victims points of view. I don't see Dracula romanticized in the book, the way he is in the films. In the book, he is nasty, and just plain evil.

All in all, this was a good book. I'm glad I read it. My only problem with it was that it was toooo long. I feel like Bram Stoker could have cut it short. It was very drawn out.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: "For the dead travel fast"
Comment: Surprisingly "Denn die Toten reiten schnell" or "For the dead travel fast" is more than an opening line to this tale of love in the dangerous moon light. After watching several Drac movies and a few Nosferatu's, I pretty much though I had a handle on the genera. Little did I know what a wonderful world of mystery and suspense that Bram Stoker opened up for me.

The story is told mostly third party though the papers, diaries, and phonograph recordings (on wax calendars) of those people involve in a tale so bizarre that it almost defies belief. The general story line is that of a Count that plans to move to a more urban setting (from Borgo Pass to London) where there is a richer diet. There he finds succulent women; something he can sing his teeth in. Unfortunately for him a gang of ruffians (including a real-estate agent, asylum director, Texas cowboy and an Old Dutch abnormal psychologist) is out to detour his nocturnal munching. They think they have Drac on the run but with a wing and a prayer he is always one step ahead.

Of more value to the reader is the rich prose chosen by Stoker as he describes the morals and technology of the time. We have to come to grips with or decide if we can perform the rituals that are required to eliminate vampires verses the impropriety of opening graves and staking loved ones. The powers in the book differ from the movie versions in that they are more of persuasion and capabilities to manipulate the local weather. At one point the Dutch Dr. Van Helsing, is so overwhelmed by a beautiful vampire laying in the grave that he almost for gets why he is there and may become vamp chow.

All in all the story is more in the cunning chase. And the question as to will they succeed or will Dracula triumph. Remember "For the dead travel fast."

Dracula

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book
Comment: This book has been readed as a homework from my teenagers school.She like the story and recomend the book for other classes with english litterature as a second language in school.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The One & Only Dracula
Comment: I first read this book in school, but didn't finish it. The next school year I read the novel in it's entirty, and was amazed at Stoker's talent for creating a story so gripping and emotional that years after it's first publication, it's still remembered as one of the greatest stories in the histiory of mankind.

But any book can have a strange moment, and this book contains one of those. I found it disgusting when Dracula burst that vein on his chest and forced Mina to drink the spurting blood. MAN, THAT'S REPULSING!!!!!!!!

I would suggest this novel for anyone looking for a tale that will be remembered for eternity.

PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: It sucks
Comment: "Dracula" was not the first vampire novel, nor was it Bram Stoker's first book. But after years of research, Stoker managed to craft the ultimate vampire novel, which has spawned countless movies, spinoffs, and books that follow the blueprint of the Transylvanian count.

Real estate agent Jonathan Harker arrives in Transylvania, to arrange a London house sale to Count Dracula. But as the days go by, Harker witnesses increasingly horrific events, leading him to believe that Dracula is not actually human. His fiancee Mina arrives in Transylvania, and finds that he has been feverish. Meanwhile the count has vanished.

And soon afterwards, strange things happen: a ship piloted by a dead man crashes on the shore, after a mysterious thing killed the crew. A lunatic talks about "Him" coming. And Mina's pal Lucy dies of mysterious blood loss, only to come back as an undead seductress. Dracula has arrived in England -- and he's not going to be stopped easily.

"Dracula" is the grandaddy is Lestat and Jean-Claude, but that isn't the sole reason why it is a classic. It's also incredibly atmospheric, and very well-written. Not only is it very freaky, in an ornate Victorian style, but it is also full of restrained, quiet horror and creepy eroticism. What's more, it's shaped the portrayal of vampires in movies and books, even to this day.

Despite already knowing what's going on for the first half of the book, it's actually kind of creepy to see these people whose lives are being disrupted by Dracula, but don't know about vampires. It's a bit tempting to yell "It's a vampire, you idiots!" every now and then, but you can't really blame them. Then the second half kicks in, with accented professor Van Helsing taking our heroes on a quest to save Mina from Dracula.

And along the way, while our heroes try to figure stuff out, Stoker spins up all these creepy hints of Dracula's arrival. Though he wrote in the late 19th-century manner, very verbose and a bit stuffy, his skill shines through. The book is crammed with intense, evocative language, with moments like Dracula creeping down a wall, or the dead captain found tied to the wheel. Once read, they stick in your mind throughout the book.

It's also a credit to Stoker that he keeps his characters from seeming like idiots or freaks, which they could have easily seemed like. Instead, he puts little moments of humanity in them, like Van Helsing admitting that his wife is in an asylum. Even the letters and diaries are written in different styles; for example, Seward's is restrained and analytical, while Mina's is exuberant and bright.

Intelligent, frightening and very well-written, "Dracula" is the well-deserved godfather of all modern vampire books and movies -- and arguably among the best.

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