A review by asipofcozy
Dracula by Bram Stoker

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Finally after years of wanting to pick up and read Dracula I have finally accomplished it. And here are my takeaways from the book

  • Stoker has a severe fear of feminism and women straying from the ideal pure Victorian woman. Throughout Dracula we are given many examples, by the author, as to what happens to women that strays outside of purity and why men should fear it. Lucy being a prime example, when she makes the comment that if she could, she would marry all 3 of her suitors and thus because of such "evil thoughts" she was easily wooed by Dracula. 
  • Stoker also has a fear of modernism and science and what it was doing to religion (wonder what he would think of 2023). Stoker throws in many examples as to what happens if England continues on its path of putting science first and morals/religion second. We see throughout Dracula that many of the characters cannot conceptualize something like vampires. One character, although having all the evidence, didn't believe until he was face to face with one. This is a problem, per Stoker, that if we can't believe in the unbelievable then we are opening ourselves to evil.

This was a phenomenal read and I could reread it at some point in the future. However, if you are getting into it for a "fast-pace" read it is anything but. While only 400 pages, it took me a few days to get through it. This due to the slow-pacing at times and the over-explaining. We are "told" rather than "showed" most of the plot as the entire book is told through journals, telegrams, sonographs, and news clippings. 
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