A review by mmgroberg
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
3.0
My favorite thing about this book is how it evokes a legitimate sense of horror. Most of the vampire media I've encountered focuses (when it's not glorifying the vampires) on the actual battle against the monsters--once the "white hat" characters have quickly and relatively easily accepted the fact of their existence. "Dracula" is much scarier to me because it takes you through the process of the characters experiencing mysterious happenings and slowly coming to the realization that they are otherworldly--a much more human, psychological approach to horror. The image of the Count is not overwrought, but truly, deeply creepy, and his role in the book certainly lives up to the horror trope that the unseen is always the most frightening.
If I'm evaluating solely as a modern reader, I deduct one star because there are long boring stretches where the action moves very slowly, and another for the overwrought representation of gender roles and religious belief. I realize that this has much to do with the time that the book was written, and from an academic standpoint I fully acknowledge its value and interest--but for the modern pleasure reader, this is definitely a point of frustration.
Bottom line: surprisingly engrossing, if slow at times, and definitely worth reading for the cultural context of the horror/vampire genre. But be prepared for some culture shock--after all, the book is over 100 years old.
If I'm evaluating solely as a modern reader, I deduct one star because there are long boring stretches where the action moves very slowly, and another for the overwrought representation of gender roles and religious belief. I realize that this has much to do with the time that the book was written, and from an academic standpoint I fully acknowledge its value and interest--but for the modern pleasure reader, this is definitely a point of frustration.
Bottom line: surprisingly engrossing, if slow at times, and definitely worth reading for the cultural context of the horror/vampire genre. But be prepared for some culture shock--after all, the book is over 100 years old.