Friday, May 8, 2009

Dracula

There will always be a nostalgia with this novel for me, because I’ve probably seen the movie like ten times since I was nine. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is such a power house. There’s so many strange mysteries in this novel. For one why is Dracula so determined to have John Harker? And why does he need him to teach him English? It seemed more like Dracula had Johnathan there so that he could observe him. The scene with the three vampire women and the mysterious love that Dracula once had goes unexplained or developed. Strangely Harker doesn't display guilt or shame of his desire for the women, or for them to bite him, like how Mina does after Dracula forces her to drink from him. Mina and Lucy are essentially polar opposites. Lucy all womanly wiles and lolita like playfulness. Mina is complimented for having a manlike efficiency and intelligence. They're both symbols for lust though, Lucy the whore and Mina the Mary. It's sort of hard to believe that they're friends, but  I guess maybe they admire the qualities the other has that they lack. Also the fact that the novel is all first hand accounts from multiple characters from their diaries or letters was an unexpected twist. It's really nice that it maintains the same time frame the entire novel, because sometimes authors like to jump around from time or location and Stoker doesn't do that. Usually who ever's speaking is the most important voice at that moment. I appreciate that, sometimes when contemporary authors do that it feels like they're waiting for their movie deal.

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