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A review by ethancf
Dracula by Bram Stoker
3.0
I had never actually read this, outside of probably a super-abridged version when I was a kid, so when I heard about Dracula Daily, I leapt at the chance to tackle this classic. Reading it in real time was very rewarding, and it worked very well to understand the scale of this story and immerse yourself into the character's mindset. A perfect example: there's a chunk of narrative where Mina hasn't heard from Jonathan in a while, and we haven't either, so when we finally do hear back from him, you really feel that length of absence.
As for the book itself, I found it mostly...fine. It rightfully deserves its place in the annals of horror, and Stoker's knack for atmosphere - particularly at the beginning, when we're still in Dracula's castle - is still marvelous. Although most of the book does not take place there, it's no wonder that the castle has become such an icon of horror today, and reused in so many ways.
I found a great deal of the book to be pretty dreadfully boring in the way a lot of classics from this time period are for me. I didn't really care about Lucy's suitors, and a great deal of the plot back in England did little for me. I feel perhaps a bit uncultured or silly for saying this, but basically whenever Dracula was not on-screen, I was saying, "where's Dracula? What's he up to?" because there's so much of the book where not much is happening.
This is both reinforced and contradicted by what is far, far and away the best section of the book: the log of the Demeter. Here was a section that was strongly improved by the daily digest format, but even read in a single marathon, it is riveting stuff. Dracula is off-screen for nearly all of it, but the menace of his presence drips over the entire section. I loved this section so much, and it's so strong that it does a disservice to the following section, where the pace absolutely grinds to a halt until they leave England again.
Still! A good book, and I'd definitely recommend the daily/real-time method of reading it to anyone who hasn't experienced it yet.
As for the book itself, I found it mostly...fine. It rightfully deserves its place in the annals of horror, and Stoker's knack for atmosphere - particularly at the beginning, when we're still in Dracula's castle - is still marvelous. Although most of the book does not take place there, it's no wonder that the castle has become such an icon of horror today, and reused in so many ways.
I found a great deal of the book to be pretty dreadfully boring in the way a lot of classics from this time period are for me. I didn't really care about Lucy's suitors, and a great deal of the plot back in England did little for me. I feel perhaps a bit uncultured or silly for saying this, but basically whenever Dracula was not on-screen, I was saying, "where's Dracula? What's he up to?" because there's so much of the book where not much is happening.
This is both reinforced and contradicted by what is far, far and away the best section of the book: the log of the Demeter. Here was a section that was strongly improved by the daily digest format, but even read in a single marathon, it is riveting stuff. Dracula is off-screen for nearly all of it, but the menace of his presence drips over the entire section. I loved this section so much, and it's so strong that it does a disservice to the following section, where the pace absolutely grinds to a halt until they leave England again.
Still! A good book, and I'd definitely recommend the daily/real-time method of reading it to anyone who hasn't experienced it yet.