Review of Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula by Bram Stoker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I tend to enjoy books featuring magic, vampires, were-animals and supernatural creatures. Not because I'm such a big fan of horror and gore, but because I like reading about worlds similar to yet different from our own where people live mostly as we do, however with several huge differences. Dracula did not disappoint - I enjoyed the story and am glad I finally read this classic.

Written as a series of diary entries (and letters and a newspaper article) by the main characters, Dracula is a gripping tale and kept me reading right until the very last page. I like the Diary format as it allows one to really see events from a character's point of view; to get into their heads and experience events as they lived them. Even though I knew (in general lines) what would happen in the story, I still wanted to read a very detailed diary entry of how those events would play out, simply to experience the book to its fullest.

This book was written in an age when men were the heroic fighters and women were apparently fragile hysterical creatures unable to cope with blood or death or the horrors of life and thus needed to be protected and kept in the dark. This is certainly how 'poor, delicate Mina' seems to be treated and while part of me understands and appreciates the male desire to protect, I am also slightly disappointed that the brave and courageous Mina isn't more of a fighter, especially near the end of the book.


View all my reviews