Finished Dracula and Thoughts

[bunnyboo]

What a ride that was.

This is going to be less of an English major recap and more of a "dats wot I like"/"dats wot I dun like" summary. Rejoice or despair!

Maybe it had to do with the style or the multiple viewpoint characters, but I had a very hard time getting invested in the characters and story from about the mid-point on. That's not to say that it was awful or that I didn't care at all, but I think that the switching back and forth between characters was somewhat distracting and didn't feel entirely necessary.

Really, after the great scene of the men sending Lucy to her eternal rest, everything was downhill from there. Once Dracula's limits were defined and his plans starting to unravel, it felt less satisfying that they were hunting down this immortal being and ridding the world of evil. It was clear that Stoker wanted Dracula to be diminished in some way - to make him more vulnerable - and I think that the group sanctifying his resting places was excellent. Something put me off by the way Stoker kept using the words "child-brain" to describe Dracula's actions and thought processes. I get that children are selfish and evil is selfish, that children are inflexible and so is Dracula, but it just felt... odd. Like Stoker was commenting on something else that I just am not understanding.

All the scenes with Mina being the lynchpin of the group are great, following in the footsteps of Lucy before her. And it's interesting reading both the comments here and the actual text on how she straddles the division between male and female. I think in a different book, I would've been put off by her kindness and purity - a "too good for this sinful earth" type of character. I can't quite put my finger on why it works here, but it does.

As a whole, I enjoyed Dracula - more the build-up than the pay-off - and am looking forward to The Jewel of Seven Stars when I get around to it, recommended by earthspirits.

Thank you for reading. I'll start Emma next and then probably take a break from all these fancy books and just curl up with The Hobbit.

Comments

[silver_chipmunk]

Oooh! I have always loved Dracula! Glad you enjoyed it.

[bunnyboo]

It was definitely worth it!

[anirrationalseason]

I definitely struggled with Dracula after Lucy's part ended―it felt like they spent a lot of time standing around talking about how they were going to take down the vampire, and then there was a burst of rushed action at the end, and suddenly cut to Jonathan and Mina with a kid? I do still really enjoy the novel's rich commentaries on the religion/science divide, Anglo-Irishness, and sexuality.

(Wracking my brains and the scholarly articles I saved to figure out the significance of the "child-brain" bit. That was definitely odd, given how frightening and omnipresent Dracula seemed to be in the prologue.)

[bunnyboo]

Exactly. It felt like a lot of planning/logistics with very little fanfare once that plan was actually executed.

I really do appreciate Dracula's take on gender and sexuality. It feels very... risky, for lack of a better word. Quite modern, really.

There was just something about "child-brain" that really threw me off. I have no clue why, but I think you're right in that it tarnished Dracula's image as a master manipulator and planner in some ways.

[amejisuto]

It's been sixteen ages since I read Dracula. But I remember always having a difficult time to finish it. Glad you were able to make it through, despite your problems!

[bunnyboo]

I usually have a problem with endings. Once the climax happens, it's kind of hard for me to keep going - and I feel like Lucy's second death was the emotional climax of the story. I was really glad that I pushed through too! I've never been able to read like this before.

[earthspirits]

I agree that Stoker could have developed the second section of the book more than he did. A little more emphasis on Dracula and Mina and less on "child brain" (not sure that phrase really fits with an immortal like Dracula). Still, the original book is always an interesting read and the one that started it all.

Hope you enjoy "the Jewel of Seven Stars" - I'll be curious to see which of the endings you prefer. I've a fondness for all things Ancient Egyptian. This Stoker tale is another one that inspired others, especially in films.

[bunnyboo]

I agree that there should've been more on the relationship between Dracula and Mina... Though I did find it funny that Van Helsing made the same mistake twice by keeping her out of the loop (and it was clearly a problem both times).

It was an interesting read for sure. There's a lot of stuff to unpack that I'm just not qualified to do, but that's what academic interpretations are for! :)

I've been trying to remain as spoiler free about the rest of the books on my list as possible (with the exceptions of my rereads and Frankenstein of course) but saying that The Jewel of the Seven Stars is connected to Ancient Egypt... that probably bumped it up.