About this title: Of the many admiring reviews, Bram Stoker's "Dracula" received when it first appeared in 1897, the most astute praise came from the author's mother, who wrote her son: 'It is splendid. No book since Mrs. Shelley's Frankenstein or indeed any other at all has come near yours in originality, or terror.' A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal atrocities are symbolic of an evil ages old yet forever new, endures as the quintessential story of suspense and horror. The unbridled lusts and desires, the diabolical cravings ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Studio
Date Published: 2006-09-21
ISBN-13:9780142005156ISBN:0142005150
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Description: Good. Publishers Overstock. A Good copy with a Remainder Mark and wear to the covers and the extremities. Buy with confidence from an Independent Bookstore where the owners, a husband and wife team, have over 30 years of combined bookselling experience. read more
Edition: First Edition By This Publisher,
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Drake pub. NY.
Date Published: 1975
Description: Very Good. Trade Paperback. 4to-over 9ľ"-12" tall. **** [ INTERNATIONAL {Non-USA & NON-Canada} ORDERS = SURFACE ONLY Please; SORRY, NO overseas AIRMAIL Orders will be accepted on this HEAVY BOOK]; WEIGHT = 490 GRAMS; **** History of Dracula thru ages, lots of photos & film stars, w Bela Legosi. 184pgs; VG, light wear & 1 crease to bottom right cover. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780142005156ISBN:0142005150
Description: Fine. Minor bumping to edges and extremities, otherwise brand new & unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Description: New in no jacket. pp. 387. From the dark woods of Transylvania to Britainís cobblestone streets, an evil force stalks the living, for through their blood Count Dracula renews his life. As strange events unfold across Europe, a steady band of friends confronts his evils while facing their own fears and desires in a ghastly struggle for their souls. Bram Stokerís ěDraculaî launched a literary sensation when it was first published in 1897, gripping readers with its imaginative and suggestive ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Studio
Date Published: 9/21/2006
ISBN-13:9780142005156ISBN:0142005150
Description: Fine. 0142005150 Book is slightly bent. Ships Within 24 Hours. Excellent Customer Service. Upto 15 Days 100% Money Back Gurantee. Try Our Fast! ! ! ! Shipping With Tracking Number. read more
"Admire it, certainly, but I can muster up precious little affection for Stoker's famous novel, for despite its reputation as the central progenitor of an enduring mythology I can't but help but find it more as a closing off point than anything else. It discards a lot of the more fascinating elements of vampire mythology that had been developing (I'm thinking specifically of Sheridan le Fanu's Carmilla, read just before), instead establishing precedents that are comparatively dull in their clean, unambiguous delineations (undead=evil, strict heterosexuality, etc). Nina Auerbach, whose Our Vampires, Ourselves I was reading concurrently, states many of my basic objections much more eloquently than I could: "Dracula is less in love with death or sexuality than with hierarchies, erecting barriers hitherto foreign to vampire literature; the gulf between male and female, class and class, England and non-England, vampire and mortal, homoerotic and heterosexual love, infuses the genre with a new fear: fear of the hated unknown." But there were things I did like: the structure and form, with its attempt at a kind of "scientific objectivity" that instead forms a chorus of shifting, perhaps even unreliable narrators; also, in retrospect, I've become more and more impressed with the character of Mina, who kind of inadvertently becomes this kind of omnipotent, mystical fusion of domestic goddess and "the modern woman" by the end of the novel (what couldn't she do? Unexpected talents and skills unveiled with each new plot development!).
An important text, without a doubt, but also, if I'm honest, disappointing.
"You do not let your eyes see or your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Do you not think there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see thing that others cannont?""
"Okay, up front I will admit that most of this book I did not "read", but listened to in audio version (hey, what else do I have to do on buses that are too crowded for me to move my arms?). By reputation I wasn't expecting much, but wanted to get to the bedrock of the vampire fiction genre.
It's a gripping story, well told. Not great literature, but really good story-telling. The standard interpretation of the book (vampire as a metaphor for sexuality) seems right to me, but part of the appeal of this book to me is that it seems that there is an unreal-ness to the facts as perceived by the protagonists. It seems to me that you can read this book with considerable skepticism about whether or not the Count is really a supernatural being. What if he is just an especially creepy sort of criminal and murderer? Is the "vampire" really a collective delusion brought on by social mores, the highly formalized requirements of propriety between men and women in Victorian England, and the influence of Van Helsing's superstitions?
If that were the case, then the book is terrifying beyond the simple terror of the Count on the loose. If the Count is not really a vampire, then the protagonists commit atrocities and murder in the name of protecting their Victorian morality."
"I decided to read Dracula inspired by the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and with the hope that it wouldn't be boring or irrelevant. Luckily, it turned out to be a compelling read, with a solid story and some likable characters (who double as narrators). Dracula also sets in stone much of what we still see in novels, movies, and tv today regarding the vampire myth. And though some things about the novel definitely belonged to another era, it didn't hinder the experience. In fact is was a bit of an escape to read a story where the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and there's basically no irony or sarcasm to be found.
I also enjoyed comparing the character of Mina here to her portrayal in the League stories. While her personality is constant -- intelligence, strength, and superhuman powers of organization -- the League books do take some liberties with the original narrative to give the character a more modern edge. Both make for good, though very different, stories."
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