Dracula

Finally! I enjoyed the audiobook a lot (narrated by Simon Vance), but man it took me a long time to get through 14 hours! And especially towards the end when they're just like, waiting for the count's coffin to hurry up and get back to Transylvania so they can stake him, it dragged a lot. I fully zoned out for like 20 minutes while working at this coffee shop, and as far as I can tell I missed nothing.

This was my second time reading it, almost 10 years between, and color me surprised I remembered as much of it as I did!

But really I just want to tell you that we have the kids' board book “Dracula: A Counting Primer by Little Master Stoker” (lol) and Ethan already knows the names of all “Five Heroes” and is very proud of himself as he names them (“Doctor Helsing!”) but also he counts “one two three four five eight seven eight” for almost every page, so. Pretty good for not even being three yet. Starting him early on the good literature!

A disappointment, though recommended by quite a few people. The author employs a journal technique where nearly all the characters take part. It doesn't really work and I feel that some important facts were left out early on. Anyway, the real problem with reviewing the book is that what may have appeared intriguing or novel at the time the book was released is now, in fact, part of modern folklore and assumed.

The story is much grimmer than I remember. I think memory easily becomes tainted by what Hollywood does to books and they have romanticized this one properly.

Awful female voice actors.

Dracula is a masterpiece, but the narrators are another story. The male voice actors are fine. Some are great, others are OK. Unfortunately most of the material is read too fast, which takes away from the experience. The real problem are the female voice actors. They are simply unbearable. They read in an monotone drone that sounds like a flight attendant announcement, plus they make the stupidest voices when they try to imitate men. I was incredibly excited to read this full cast version, but the female voice actors just ruined it all for me.
Whoever cast the female voices should be flogged. They are the worst narrators I ever heard so far. Whoever supervised this recording should also be flogged. Somebody should have told the narrators to slow down.

Beware spoilers!

01/12/2024:

I've averaged the scores of my two readings of this book. When I read it in my teens I rated it 5 stars. I now rate it 4.

I still love this book: the myth-founding potency of the Dracula character portrayed in this book remains plain to see just by observing the impact on modern pop culture. Stoker dragged the Vampyre from the depths of folklore into common culture.

But as an adult I've seen some parts differently, too. The story is laced with a kind of benevolent sexism throughout, which is characteristic for its time, yet I find impossible to ignore. I feel the Dracula character did not make full use of all his powers and went out in a whimper rather than a bang. Stoker could have killed off his antagonist in a more befitting way. Also not sure why he kept Jonathan in the castle.

I read this on my nintendo ds originally back in the day, and I have my suspicions that I had read a strongly abridged version, since I didn't recall most of this story.

Silly and boring.

OK this is the second time I've tried to read this book and I just cannot get into it. I really want to be a person who loves Victorian suspense. So someday I will make an attempt at Wilkie Collins and the like, but Dracula just doesn't appeal to me. As vamps go, I'll take Angel, Spike, or even Edward Cullen any day over the original.