Reviews

Read this through dracula daily
4/10 - 2/5
It was okay, I'm pretty indifferent towards the book.
It had some interesting parts where I wanted to read further and was genuinely looking forwards to the next update but too many times I was annoyed when I got the super long updates and I let them stack up.

I found out later that Bram stoker likely was into men and that makes soo much sense. Especially in the beginning the way women talked about themselves and men was... interesting. It very much gave me "gay man who hates women because he has to be with them because of societal expectations" -vibes.
Going forward into the novel it got way better. While there were of course gender stereotypes and gender conformity it was no longer only "huh it's so crazy that men are able to love women???" But appraisal of traditionally feminine traits.
Like I actually enjoyed Mina's treatment. Considering the time it is pretty impressive, how much of a role she played in the story and how much she was appreciated by the men.
Although it has to be noted that Mina is practically nothing but a cutout of the ideal woman and wife - always considerate, kind and soft. She even picked up shorthand to support her fiancée!
But nevertheless, I didn't expect the amount of her engagement in the story.

-Characters-

All the characters were okay but not really emotionally compelling. I didn't care about any of them. At the end of the story i don't get why we never got any input from Morris quincey? It was quite random that we got to know everyone except for him?? It even took me some time to understand that he was part of the quest.

So the deaths of Lucy and quincey didn't touch me in the slightest. Lucy even a bit more because at least we got her story a bit and she was close to Mina... but quincey? The only thing I can tell you about him is that he proposed to Lucy.
It also happened so randomly at the end.

Dracula was also such a boring villain. He wasn't even that scary or evil.

Also I have to note how fucking stupid van helsing is. He practically let Lucy die with how he didn't make sure to just like?? Move her to another place?
And dr. Seward leaving her alone because she was slightly better for one single day.
Idiocy.

-Relationships-

I quite like Mina and Johnathan together. They are such a power couple.
Other than that I couldn't have cared less about the other people's relationships.

Lucy died too soon for me to care about her friendship with Mina.

-Writing-

The writing isn't anything remarkable. Not bad, not good (sorry Bram, your darling Oscar wilde has better prose).
Every time a seaman came up on page I wanted to turn my phone off because genuinely I barely understood a word they said.

Sometimes things were so stretched out. Boring details of activities for no reason, boring dialogue, etc.

Also, the story has very heavy religious messaging and it is repeated again and again how damned the vampires are, how blessed we wish our friends to be and God help!! But yk, that was the time and I won't judge anyone's religious beliefs (until it affects other people), i just could've done with a little less repetition.
But as we've already noticed, repetition is quite a hot thing for Bram stoker.

-Pacing-

The pacing is a bit off.
In the beginning the story proceeds steadily. But then when we get back to GB things go sooooo slow and it takes ages for the plot to pick up again. Only so that comes at a rollercoasts speed.

-Plot-

Perhaps i am expecting too much from classic literature. Books have changed a lot and improved in many ways. Especially plot structures have become more intricate and complex.
But i have also read interesting older books.

Literally what was going on with Renfield? Maybe I'm stupid but I don't get it? Was he hypnotized?

It just isn't very interesting. Like i said, sometimes i was hooked and wanted to know what would happen next but that was very very rarely. Most of the time I was just bored and the biggest enjoyment I had were my own theories on what could happen. Let's just say what actually transpired was way less interesting.
I also have to say that the way Dracula and the mystery around him was happened was less than boring. Because van helsing just randomly knows every myth surrounding vampires we are never really left to wonder and there is ZERO mystery around him.
I don't think a Victorian reader didn't get the note that Lucy's mysterious illness is somehow tied to Dracula!! Absolute shocker, I know.

And the end was so disappointing. I expected some twist, something interesting happening, something tragic.
But instead our characters just easily succeed in killing Dracula ON A CARRIAGE RANDOMLY IN THE SNOW. Zero difficulty. And then it ends with a two page epilogue. Ah, and quincey Morris dies and Mina and Johnathan named their child after him.
????
That's the end???
There really was quite a special kind of boredom in reading about van helsing going into the castle and impaling the scary vampire ladies with quite a clinical repetition and precision. It could have been shortened to "and van helsing impaled all the vampire ladies" and I wouldn't have missed a single information or interesting moment.

-Conclusion-
I think there are better classics to read out there. This is boring, repetitive and has no interesting or compelling characters.
Is it particularly bad? No, that it isn't.
But I also wouldn't consider it worthwhile reading.
If I hadn't read it through dracula daily I would 100 % have dropped it.

trippyhippybluh's review against another edition

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4.0

“It is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles. And yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the tune he play. Bleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and tears that burn as they fall, all dance together to the music that he make with that smileless mouth of him. Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways. Then tears come, and like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break. But King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again, and we bear to go on with our labor, what it may be.”

prairiephlox's review against another edition

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5.0

I read this book every year at Halloween, and I ALWAYS get chills when the ship glides into the harbor with the Captain strapped to the wheel. I think that speaks about the intensity of the book- that it still gives me chills after many many re-readings.

Some people don’t like that the story is presented through diary entries or letters, but I think that is refreshing. Stoker also does it very well, each character presents a unique POV, each with their own insecurities, disappointments, and victories. There are very few authors that can present wildly different POVs well, all too often each character is simply a one-sided extension of the author, without lives of their own, but that is not the cast in this book.

It’s simply a must read for Victorian literature and as a history of the horror genre.

elliotvanz's review against another edition

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slow-paced

1.5

Over the decades I've tried, and failed, to read this book three times. This time I finally managed it due to Dracula Daily. I suppose I'm glad I can finally cross this one off my bucket list, but I can't really say it was worth it. While this is the original the story has since been reimagined in so many more interesting (and better crafted) ways.

mmmnicoleslaw's review against another edition

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2.0

I couldn't even finish this one. I had to give up. I did not enjoy it.

erinreadstoomuch's review against another edition

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4.0

I read this throughout the year via Dracula Daily! While the language is thick, I appreciate the way it was delivered and still think you should read the OG vampire Carmilla before reading this 😘

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