Add Dracula to the list of classics I didn’t read until I was an adult. That being said, I didn’t like it much at all. I wanted to, I just…didn’t. In fact, it took me months to finish it because I got bored (and sidetracked with school) and didn’t finish until last night.
There were parts I did like, though. I think that Van Helsing and Dracula himself were the best parts of the novel. It’s kind of distracting because the book shifts narrators quite a bit and at times I had to go back to remember who was narrating. But when Van Helsing took over, his narrative voice seemed the most compelling.
I say that Dracula is one of the most interesting characters of the book (if not THE most interesting), but the bummer is that he’s hardly actually IN the book. The other characters talk about him, they plot against him, they hunt him down…but the Count is very elusive, which was disappointing. When he was truly in a scene, I was riveted by the sheer, utter creepiness of his character. Stoker did an amazing job making him so vile, yet so inviting at the same time. It was an oddity that I wish he would have explored more. I just didn’t find the story as interesting when Dracula was only on the periphery of the plot.
As for the characters I didn’t care much about, I have to go with Jonathan and Mina. They bored me, actually. Mina seemed a little too perfect–too saint-like in her womanly perfection, so much that the men hallowed her existence. Weird. I felt a little sorry for Lucy, but we didn’t really get a chance to explore her character for very long.
The end felt very abrupt; it seemed like the whole novel was leading up to this one event, only to come to a complete stop when that moment finally arrived. Overall, I was disappointed by the novel since it’s hailed as such a classic and masterpiece. I’m glad I finally read it, but I was expecting more.
I’m still reading it. I got really into it and then… stopped. I think for me it’s mostly interesting to see what (basically) all of these other people have based their vampire stories on. also, I’m getting a few more ‘pop culture’ mentions that I didn’t before (like, characters from the book, since I’ve never seen the movie, either!).
There are some things from the movie that I expected to be in the book, but they weren’t. I have to say that the movie definitely raised the creepiness factor, but it’s still really cheesy. I’m not sure which I prefer! lol