Dracula has been on my list of books to read for many years now, primarily because it's a 'horror' classic. Having read all of the vampire books by Anne Rice and being a huge fan of her writing style and her version of 'vampires' I have been reluctant to read any other books about vampires.
I know that Bram Stoker is the inspiration behind many of the vampire books today, but I imagined the book was going to be outdated and as unbearable as the old black and white film Dracula. In the way that Edgar Allan Poe was well known for his 'ghost stories' in his time, when you read his stories now, they're far from spooky. So you can imagine that I was shocked and excited to discover that despite being published in 1897, the novel is still quite creepy by today's standards.
I also didn't know that this classic novel is a compilation of letters and journal entries from the main characters. I thought that jumping from character to character and letter to journal without a sole narrator could hamper the pace of the plot but it actually enhanced the story and helped to build the suspense.
All in all, I really enjoyed Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I can certainly understand why it is a 'classic'.
I started this book before our trip to Fiji, and it didn't seem like quite the right book to read in the tropics, however I was so engrossed in the book I just had to pack it with me and finished it early on in the trip.
My rating = *****
Carpe Librum!
