Dracula
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Bram Stoker List Price: $21.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Library Binding Release Date: 01 July 1990 Publisher: Buccaneer Books ISBN: 0899666922 Rating:   Sales Rank: 2623698 | | Look for similar books by subject: | | Customers who bought this item also bought:
| | Customer Reviews: Dracula (23 May 2010)As an Author myself (The Q-ube ) which has a moderate amount of intrigue and games, its wonderful to read Bram Stoker's Dracula. As it is so complex, its also the first book that presents the unsuspecting world with the creepy and scary concept of a blood-sucking creature. Never could Bram Stoker have imagined the impact his book would have made. Its still the best horror book on vampires ever written, and is now classic literature.I have read this book more than once and i each am time i find each a wealth of information, that i missed before. It really is the kind of book you have to read more than once to fully comprehend the striking characteristics of Count Dragul. I recommend this masterpiece highly. "For the dead travel fast" (07 March 2010)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. I longed to give this more stars but, in critical fairness,I could not (01 February 2010)Count Dracula from Transylvania is probably one of the most--if not THE most--popular character to come out of fiction due, in large part, to his continual reinvention by Hollywood over the last century. While Bram Stoker is to be credited for his invention, I have to say that I have mixed feelings regarding its execution. The first third of the book, which contains the account of Jonathan Harker's visit to and escape from Castle Dracula, is easily the best, with a high creepiness factor. (In one part, Dracula delivers a sack to the three female vampires that reside with him. The sack has a whimpering child inside it. Pretty intense stuff for the fiction of 1895, perhaps even for today.) Harker interacts with Dracula often and, when not doing so, observes the strange behavior of his host or explores the castle he's been locked within. So far, so good. Once Dracula departs for England, the novel nearly slams on its own brakes. After the wreck of the Demeter (the ship that transports the count [while in his coffin]) and Dracula's subsequent escape, the novel plods along and, after that, plods some more. Sadly, this is due to narration that is far too drawn out plus the near-absence of Dracula himself throughout the rest of the venture. Sure he's around, but there are only one or two scenes of direct interaction between him and the humans of the tale. Most of the time, he's slinking around the countryside or Dr. Seward's sanitarium, leaving evidence of his presence. The second part of the book amounts to Mina Harker's friend Lucy being feed upon until and transfused, then feed upon and transfused, etc., until, well, you know. . . . The third section involves the hunt for Dracula in England and elsewhere. While it's somewhat more interesting than part II, it fails to live up to part I's narrative style and enjoyability. Plus you'll still be reeling from Part II and its rather two-dimensional characters, all of whom are cookie-cutter representations of fine, upstanding good people who neither fight with each other nor say anything antagonistic to anyone. While you might wish to read this to find out who Bram Stoker's Dracula really is (as I did), don't set your expectations too high. Frankly, John Badham's version of "Dracula" (circa 1979) starring Frank Langella does a far better job with the story (Dracula). While I didn't think Stoker's "Dracula" was terribly enjoyable, I would recommend his The Jewel of Seven Stars (Penguin Classics), which I have also reviewed. "For the dead travel fast" (30 January 2010)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 cylinders) 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. Put down the King and Koontz - this is the master (15 December 2009)Stoker's Dracula has been the most influential horror novel for a number of reasons - it is incredibly full of creativity, backed with incredible realism, and in very believable 'voices.' I read it for the second time in my life as an adult over the Halloween season, and I can not recommend this enough. Though it was written at the end of the 1800s, it is very easy to read while providing an atypical sense of surroundings and realism. Few books, let alone horror books, are as well conceived, and modern horrors seems 'crap' compared to this. The biggest reason to hesitate is that you have already been exposed to so many versions of vampires and even of dracula that you may think you will fail to find new entertainment here. That may be true, but I found that I had forgotten most of the details and surprised with the amount by which I got into each character's perspective. Put down the King and Koontz! That is, at least until you have read this one from one of the original masters. | |
