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phantompansy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism
doriandelioncourt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
spookfish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Despite its sexism by today's standards, our main two, Mina and Jonathan, are decidedly queer characters. Mina in particular fascinates me.
Time to watch many video essays haha.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War
emmagreenwood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kibbles15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Death of parent
midnightcomets's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Ableism, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
reiven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
avie_j's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
chalkletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Dracula is very much a novel of its time: the attitudes towards women and religion and people from countries other than Britain are entirely 19th-century, as are the long speeches. Some of Bram Stoker’s long passages of description work really well as scene setting for a horror novel, but others are a little tedious if you’re reading purely for enjoyment and with 21st-century eyes.
That said, it’s not completely possible to read Dracula purely as a horror novel; there are too many things that don’t really make any sense. Why are all Dracula’s victims women, when he does away with plenty of men and has Jonathan Harker at his mercy? What, exactly, does Dracula want in coming to London? Not to mention, there are some pretty huge coincidences which stretch credulity if you’re not looking at Dracula as a metaphor for something.
The essays in the Norton Critical Edition did a good job exploring the many, many different fin-de-siècle fears that Dracula could be read to represent. These are somewhat long and dry if you’re not actually studying Dracula, but still worthwhile in the long-run. (That said, the ones relating to the various cinematic and theatrical adaptations of Dracula aren’t particularly necessary as background information on the novel.)
Bram Stoker’s characters fall into two camps: vampires (and Renfield) vs non-vampires. As there’s plenty of conflict between the two groups, it doesn’t really feel as though conflict between the non-vampires is missing, but it is a little unlikely that fully fleshed-out people would agree quite so completely about everything. Nonetheless, the characters are distinct with very little chance of muddling them up with one another, which is definitely an achievement.
Overall, it was fun to read a horror novel which really felt like a horror novel, and the Norton Critical Edition has hopefully prepared me for interesting discussions on my holiday!
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence and Mental illness
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, and Medical content