Book Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Now we all know the story of Dracula so this review is for those who haven't read the story yet.

The story begins with a young Jonathan Harker, a certified solicitor from Exeter, London, travelling to Transylvania to discuss the acquisition of property in London to a Count Dracula. As Harker finally reaches the Count's Castle following a very interesting trip (which sets the atmosphere of the book excellently) he is met by an elderly, tall and pale man who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bekons Harker to "enter freely and of your own will".

Harker decides to enter, ignorant to the fact to what he got himself into, and how deeply Count Dracula would control his life.

I won't say much more of the story, lest I give out any spoilers, but I will say one thing.

Forget everything you think you may know about Dracula.

I found myself ohh-ing and ahh-ing at nearly every turn of the page. I was gripped from start to end.

The book was very well written, you felt like you truly were in the story. That said, I did have some qualms with, albeit, minor parts of the story.

At a few stages Stoker attempts to write in the style of a newspaper clipping. I don't know if it's because Dracula was written in 1897 and the styles of writting in newspapers were different, but it just didn't seem real. It was far too personal and not nearly objective enough to be a newspaper article. But, like I said, this may have been how it was done in 1897.

My next qualm also, most probably, stemmed from the period the novel was written in. It was far too religiously toned. Now, I understand that Christianity was the law of the land back then so my gripe is over cultural differences which can not and, in my opinion, should not be remedied. It gives us, the readers, an insight into the world of yester-year and allows a greater appreciation of what the world was like back then.

My final qualm was with the ending. It didn't fit with what it was suppose to be like (not just my expectations, but the 'laws' laid down in the novel) and was far too anti-climatic. But all gripes aside, this is a marvelous book and most definitely worth the reading.

There is a reason this book is touted as a classic, it truly is an epic read and, with the way mainstream reading (such as Twilight) is going these days I'd be surprised if they don't do a port from book-to-movie for Dracula (though hopefully a closer translation than the previous, popular one was).

4/5