Books like Bram Stoker's Dracula become so ingrained into our culture that we often let them slip by without ever reading them, assuming that we know what they're all about. There are many books that I've done this with. I'm guilty of making a comment on Nymeth's recent review of Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde about most probably not reading it because "I know the story." After reading Dracula, I think I'm going to make a special effort to go out and read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
I did know the basic story of Dracula, but it was so much more detailed than what I knew and told in such a beautiful language. It's a true gothic masterpiece, truly a work of literature. I never knew that it was told in the form of journal entries, telegrams, and letters. I didn't know a few of the characters that are in the book, and I certainly didn't know how gifted Stoker was as a writer.
It's amazing how these works of horror have lived on in our culture and have moved from a work of minor fiction in it's origins into a major piece of mythology today. The character of Dracula has morphed into something that I'm sure Stoker could've never imagined. I only wish that everyone actually knew Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula as well as they know the novel's namesake character. The story of Lucy Westenra is truly one of the most horrific and tragic stories and one that I would've never known had I never read this book. Mina Harker's slow battle with Dracula's bite is one of the most suspenseful plot lines that I've read and I can't even imagine being her husband, Jonathan Harker!
Then there are characters like the delightfully creepy and insane Renfield...the subject of my next RIP book. There is the keeper of the sanitarium where Renfield lives and the doctor who seeks Lucy's hand and treats her, Dr. Seward, and then there is of course the wonderful Dr. Van Helsing.
I'm glad to have finally read this one, and it's the perfect kick off to the RIP Challenge! It will set the mood nicely for the next two months. The next two books will continue the Dracula theme. Next up is Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly, which focuses on our spider and fly eating friend; and then, of course, is The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova.
