I had to read a Gothic or horror classic this year for my Back to the Classics challenge. I had been meaning to read Dracula for years, so I figured that now was the time to actually do it. The fact that it's Halloween season was an added bonus too - it made the reading extra spooky.
Dracula is narrated through a collection of letters and journal entries written from the perspectives of several different characters. The novel opens with the journal of Jonathan Harker, a young solicitor who is on his way to Transylvania to help a client purchase some real estate in London. This client, Lord Dracula, lives in a ruined castle situated in a gloomy and isolated forest. When he first arrives at the castle, Harker is intrigued by his eccentric and hospitable host. However, his interest soon turns to fear as the days go by and Dracula's true nature and intentions are revealed--he is a vampire that is looking to move to England for a fresh supply of victims. Unwittingly, Harker helps him travel to London. Once Dracula is loose in the city, the real adventure begins.
From this point forward, the story shifts perspectives between several different characters who are all drawn into Dracula's dark path. The cast includes Mina Harker, Jonathan's fiancee, Lucy Westenra, Mina's dear friend, Arthur Holmwood, Lucy's fiancee, Dr. Seward, the man in charge of a local asylum, and, of course, the vampire expert, Dr. Van Helsing. Their stories begin separately, but are gradually drawn together as they unite to try and put an end to Dracula's reign of terror. Their quest to track him down takes them across Europe and brings them face to face with many unspeakable terrors. Eventually, they arrive back where the story started, Transylvania, for one final battle.
Dracula is one of those larger-than-life characters that every lover of the classics should get to know. He is the source of all the characteristics we have come to expect from a vampire: He must sleep in his native soil, he doesn't have a reflection, he must be invited inside a dwelling before he can enter, he has very pointy incisors, and he fears garlic and crucifixes. He has super-human strength and an aristocratic, intelligent demeanor. He mixes being suave and personable with being animalistic and wild. He is absolutely the best part of the novel, but aside from the beginning section of the story when he imprisons Jonathan in his castle, he doesn't appear in it very much. I found myself wishing for way more of him, and way less of the supporting characters.
The exception to that is the character of Dr. Van Helsing, who has become a classic literary hero in his own right. Van Helsing serves as the source of knowledge about vampires in the novel, and becomes the fearless leader of the group as they work together to find and slay Dracula. His skills, intelligence, and calm, kind demeanor are indispensable to the story and make him stand out from the sea of rather interchangeable, bland supporting characters that surround him. As an additional bit of character-building, his journal entries in the novel contain quite a few comical misspellings and misinterpretations of English words, due to his Dutch heritage. He is one of literature's most famous "tough guys," so I'm glad to have met him.
I wish that I could spend a few more paragraphs talking about how much I loved this novel, but the truth is that aside from liking some of the characters, I found Dracula to be a little bit boring. This is primarily due to its epistolary format. The letters and journals of the characters go into such meticulous detail about their plans that the reading often felt very slow. In particular, their quest to destroy the boxes of Transylvanian dirt that Dracula brought to London with him take up way too many pages. I was expecting that a book focused on finding and killing a powerful vampire would have me on the edge of my seat, but alas, that was not how I felt while reading. Some parts were exciting and interesting. Many parts were not.
However, despite my dissatisfaction with some sections, I am still glad that I read Dracula. It was mostly enjoyable, and getting to know the classic literary characters it contained made it worth the read. I was expecting a little more excitement, but I have to cut the novel some slack--it was one of the first books of its kind, and the modern horror stories that thrill audiences today have grown out of what Dracula established. This was one of the last classic monster novels I hadn't read, so I'm glad to have experienced it.
On a happy side note, this was my very last book for my Back to the Classics Challenge this year! I'll be writing a wrap up post for that soon. I also managed to fit this into my Popsugar bonus challenge-Dracula is mentioned in To Kill a Mockingbird, which I noticed while reading it to my classes this year.
Challenge Tally
Classics Club Challenge (#47 on my list): 20/100
Back to the Classics Challenge (a Gothic or horror classic) 12/12 - Complete!
Popsugar Bonus Challenge (a book mentioned in another book) 8/12
TBR Challenge (previously owned): 48/60
Total Books Read in 2017: 62
I just read this for the first time, and in spite of many preconceptions, some right, some way off, I really enjoyed it. For me, I even liked the epistolary format, and changing first person narrators.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it - it's the perfect time of year to read it! It's one of those books that you basically have to read if you're a fan of the classics and it has some iconic characters in it that are fun to meet.
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