Dracula is one of the few horror books to be honored by inclusion in the Norton Critical Edition series. (The others are Frankenstein, The Turn of the Screw, Heart of Darkness, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Metamorphosis.) This 100th-anniversary edition includes not only the complete authoritative text of the novel with illuminating footnotes, but also four contextual essays, five reviews from the time of publication, five articles on dramatic and film variations, and seven selections from literary and academic criticism. Nina Auerbach of the University of Pennsylvania (author of Our Vampires, Ourselves) and horror scholar David J. Skal (author of Hollywood Gothic, The Monster Show, and Screams of Reason) are the editors of the volume. Especially fascinating are excerpts from materials that Bram Stoker consulted in his research for the book, and his working papers over the several years he was composing it. The selection of criticism includes essays on how Dracula deals with female sexuality, gender inversion, homoerotic elements, and Victorian fears of "reverse colonization" by politically turbulent Transylvania. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Grade 7 Up "A naive young Englishman travels to Transylvania to do business with a client, Count Dracula. After showing his true and terrifying colors, Dracula boards a ship for England in search of new, fresh blood. Unexplained disasters begin to occur in the streets of London before the mystery and the evil doer are finally put to rest. Told in a series of news reports from eyewitness observers to writers of personal diaries, this has a ring of believability that counterbalances nicely with Dracula's too-macabre-to-be-true exploits. An array of voices from talented actors makes for interesting variety. The generous use of sound effects, from train whistles to creaking doors, adds further atmosphere. Lovers of mysteries and horror will find rousing entertainment in this version of a classic tale." Carol Katz, Harrison Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details:
- Paperback: 438 pages
- Publisher: Qualitas Classics (March 15, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1897093500
- ISBN-13: 978-1897093504
- Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
Easily the best horror novel ever written, August 13, 2002 By Daniel Jolley "darkgenius"
Bram Stoker's Dracula is, hands down, the greatest horror novel ever written. In addition, it is also an enduring classic of literature. You may have seen every Dracula movie ever made, but you do not know the real Count Dracula until such time as you have read Stoker's book. Of course, unless you have been living under a rock, you will know the general plot line, but I assure you there is a wealth of rich material buried throughout the text that is sure to excite, intrigue, and surprise you. Perhaps the ending is a slight anticlimactic, yet I, having read this novel before and being quite familiar with the Count, read the final pages with bated breath, an anxious mind, and the sense of exhilaration that only the most talented of writers can induce.
The most striking characteristic of Stoker's masterpiece is its solid grounding in late 19th-century Victorianism. This may prove frustrating to some readers. It is far from uncommon for the men in the tale to weep and bemoan the dangers threatening the virtuous ladies Lucy and Mina; virtue and innocence of women are hailed rather religiously. Mina, for her part, assumes the role then deemed proper for women, accepting and praising the men for their protection of her, worrying constantly about her husband rather than herself, shedding tears she must not let her husband see, etc. Yet, it is most interesting to see Mina rise above the circle of a woman's proscribed duties; she in fact becomes a true partner in the effort against Dracula, expressing ideas and conclusions that the men, with all of their wisdom, could not come up with themselves.
Another thing I find interesting is the lack of a clear protagonist in Dracula. Technically, I suppose, Jonathon Harker is the protagonist, but Mina, Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and the Count himself basically operate on an equal plane with him. It is Van Helsing who can be described as the anti-Dracula; he plans the moves by which he and his friends seek to thwart the Count's plans and destroy him; the second half of the novel can be compared to a chess match between two equally strong competitors. Minor characters such as the lunatic Renfield are also drawn clearly in our mind's eye by Stoker's incredible gift of characterization. While the format is unusual--the novel consisting fully of diary and journal entries by different characters--you cannot help but be drawn in closely to the group of heroic souls who pledge their very lives to one another as they take it upon themselves to combat a centuries-old evil.
One could expound upon a number of themes in this novel (and many literary critics have certainly done so), so I will just quickly mention a few. Is this an erotic story? Certainly, to some extent, but there is certainly nothing overtly sexual in these pages. Is it really horrible? One might wonder how much blood one would encounter in this product of the Victorian age, but there are indeed some rather shockingly gruesome descriptions of events--nothing to shock modern readers but probably quite surprising to Stoker's contemporaries. There are also subtle overtones of religion in these pages. Aside from the Christian objects that have the power to keep vampires at bay, the most striking scene in the novel is Dracula's perversion of the Lord's Supper in his own most nefarious deed.
I cannot recommend Stoker's masterpiece highly enough. The impatient reader may encounter sections that move too slowly than he/she would like, but such lulls are always wiped away by sudden spurts of activity and drama. Feminists will dislike the Victorian characterization of the women but can find unexpected pleasure in the strength and intellect of Mina. Literary critics will surely find in these pages a deep ocean of issues ripe for analysis. Of most importance, the common reader will find an absorbing storyline which may horrify him/her to some degree in places but which will certainly offer great rewards of enjoyment. I think most individuals would be won over completely by the great humanity of these characters and the unexpected richness and complexity to be found in this story of a fiend they thought they already knew.
It sucks, January 4, 2006 By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas"
"Dracula" was not the first vampire novel, nor was it Bram Stoker's first book. But after years of research, Stoker managed to craft the ultimate vampire novel, which has spawned countless movies, spinoffs, and books that follow the blueprint of the Transylvanian count.
Real estate agent Jonathan Harker arrives in Transylvania, to arrange a London house sale to Count Dracula. But as the days go by, Harker witnesses increasingly horrific events, leading him to believe that Dracula is not actually human. His fiancee Mina arrives in Transylvania, and finds that he has been feverish. Meanwhile the count has vanished.
And soon afterwards, strange things happen: a ship piloted by a dead man crashes on the shore, after a mysterious thing killed the crew. A lunatic talks about "Him" coming. And Mina's pal Lucy dies of mysterious blood loss, only to come back as an undead seductress. Dracula has arrived in England -- and he's not going to be stopped easily.
"Dracula" is the grandaddy is Lestat and Jean-Claude, but that isn't the sole reason why it is a classic. It's also incredibly atmospheric, and very well-written. Not only is it very freaky, in an ornate Victorian style, but it is also full of restrained, quiet horror and creepy eroticism. What's more, it's shaped the portrayal of vampires in movies and books, even to this day.
Despite already knowing what's going on for the first half of the book, it's actually kind of creepy to see these people whose lives are being disrupted by Dracula, but don't know about vampires. It's a bit tempting to yell "It's a vampire, you idiots!" every now and then, but you can't really blame them. Then the second half kicks in, with accented professor Van Helsing taking our heroes on a quest to save Mina from Dracula.
And along the way, while our heroes try to figure stuff out, Stoker spins up all these creepy hints of Dracula's arrival. Though he wrote in the late 19th-century manner, very verbose and a bit stuffy, his skill shines through. The book is crammed with intense, evocative language, with moments like Dracula creeping down a wall, or the dead captain found tied to the wheel. Once read, they stick in your mind throughout the book.
It's also a credit to Stoker that he keeps his characters from seeming like idiots or freaks, which they could have easily seemed like. Instead, he puts little moments of humanity in them, like Van Helsing admitting that his wife is in an asylum. Even the letters and diaries are written in different styles; for example, Seward's is restrained and analytical, while Mina's is exuberant and bright.
This edition also has a foreword by Elizabeth Kostova, writer of a hit historical novel about Dracula/Vlad Tepes. While I get the feeling Kostova could easily write another book about "Dracula," here she simply writes a literate, intelligent study of the importance of the book, and the Big Themes present in it.
Intelligent, frightening and very well-written, "Dracula" is the well-deserved godfather of all modern vampire books and movies -- and arguably among the best.
The one that started it all, February 19, 2004 By Rodrigo Llamozas
This is the original Dracula, the one that started it all. However, after years of Hollywood movies showing us what the Count "should" look like, reading this book can come as a little bit of a shocker as there are many (and I do mean *many*) differences from this story to the ones that the movies portray.
The Count is physically very different from the debonair looking, eyebrow rising, cow-licked hairstyle, tuxedo wearing vampire that Bela Lugosi made famous. He looks more like Count Orlock from the F. Murnau film 'Nosferatu'.
If you have seen Francis Ford Coppola's film, you have seen the closest approximation to the story the novel tells, as many of the events are portrayed similarly to those on the book, yet, the usual 'creative liberties' are taken in order to make the film more fluid.
Be warned that the book is written as a number of diary entries or letters from the different characters of the story, and that this being a book written at the waning years of the 19th century, the language used can sometimes seem confusing.
It's not as fluid a reading as you would expect from the first vampire story, but nonetheless a great book and certainly one of the classics that everybody should include in their collection.
Please Comment but No Spam !!!