eBook Dracula ePub

You know that scene in a horror movie when it gets dark and ominous music begins to play and you know that at any moment the killer is going to suddenly appear and murder everyone in a horrible fashion. That intense build up, and the anxiety of wondering exactly when you’re going to be scared, because you already know it’s coming. That’s this entire book. I had to take breaks at times to read some short stories that were a bit lighter, because the unnerving fear for the characters, as we the reader know what’s happening, could be a bit much at times. However, it’s easy to see why this is a classic, and how it has inspired others to delve into the dark world of vampires. Though, considering I’ve mainly read paranormal romance, it’s a bit disconcerting to see how the original was so completely evil. The vampires in this are soulless, not misunderstood, and kill children and anyone that gets in their way without remorse. More so, it’s incredible all the powers they are given, not just immortality and strength, but real mystical sort of powers, that I wish hadn’t been pushed off to the side in the other stories I’ve read. Beyond all of that though, I don’t believe I have ever come across a story written in this style, and it was this style that really made the tale such an intriguing one. Sure there have been plenty who have done rotating first person, but this is told in pieces of people’s diaries, the letters they’ve written to others, and even newspaper clippings. You’re getting the events after the characters have experience them and have pondered over them, as they try to understand what exactly is going on. Because of this you get to see how it all slowly melds together, and what each character really is thinking, and a much more personal aspect of the story that allows you to really feel for each of them as if these were actual historical letters that someone has stitched together. And I do so hope people were ever like this, this goodness and bravery and the way in which they talk so passionately about everything. It’s really a wonderful book. Though I would advise getting a version that has footnotes to explain certain things. Such as words that are no longer used in this way. As well as some of things that are referenced. I’m sure you could easily enjoy this book without such, but it was rather nice to have.

The best thing about Dracula Unearthed is that many of Clive Leatherdale's annotations are informed by his examination of Stoker's original notes for Dracula. These notes, owned by the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, were re-discovered in the 1970s by Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu (authors of In Search of Dracula) and were finally published in 2008. Sporadically throughout his annotations, Leatherdale refers to Stoker's notes to shed light on the origins of the novel and its numerous internal errors or inconsistencies. I found this aspect of his annotations very helpful because neither of Leonard Wolf's two annotated versions of the novel (which are otherwise excellent) refer to Stoker's notes at all.

Aside from his annotations related to Stoker's original notes, I found Leatherdale's comments to be generally interesting but not much of an improvement over those of Leonard Wolf. Both men provide helpful explanations of historical references, literary allusions, and dated expressions in Stoker's text, and both men point out various themes that Stoker may or may not have been conscious of when he was writing. The main difference is that Leatherwood has an enormously larger number of theme-related annotations than Wolf does. This doesn't mean that Leatherwood identified more themes than Wolf did. Rather, Leatherwood hits upon those themes every single time they appear (or arguably appear) throughout the text, while Wolf points them out only occasionally and generally leaves it up to the reader to notice their recurrence.

If you're considering buying one annotated version of Dracula, I would still recommend Wolf's original Annotated Dracula (1975). It's out of print, but used copies are readily available. Unlike Dracula Unearthed, it contains numerous illustrations of people, places, and things that are mentioned in the text, plus maps and a calendar showing when different events in the story occurred (particularly helpful for the first half of the novel, when the various narrators are acting independently). Also, Wolf's original Annotated Dracula uses a reproduction (not a transcription) of the first edition (second printing) of the novel, so that you can be sure that any typos you find were in the original and were not introduced by a later publisher.

Wolf updated and expanded his annotations with The Essential Dracula (1993). While that work is very good, it includes only a fraction of the illustrations from his original Annotated Dracula and lacks the original's maps, calendar, and reproduced text (as a consequence of which, The Essential Dracula contains several typos not found in Stoker's original).

I hear people make references to Dracula and Vlad the Impaler and vampires in general, but I never really understood the more sophisticated ones because I had never read the book - well now I can say that I HAVE! My book arrived in excellent condition- better than I expected. The cover of this book by Bram Stoker is even more beautiful than the pictures show - in fact, it is the single most colorful novel on my bookshelf. The title letters are raised off of the front cover and are coated in same metallic-blue ink, which makes it unlike any book I have seen. The plot is very exciting (even though it seems unbearably slow and boring in the beginning) and it is very difficult to predict future scenes, which is a major bonus for me because I dislike books that are too predictable. The words are just the right size and the book is extremely lightweight so you won't have to rest it on anything. It is much smaller in size than other books of the same title and is therefore extremely easy to store. In addition, in my opinion, it is always better to use hard copy printed books because you read much faster, you focus on the material easily, you will not damage your eyes like you will glaring at lcd screens, and best of all, you get to smell and feel the pages between your fingertips. Moreover, this book was the cheapest priced version I could find. Everything combines to make this an excellent product.