Dracula by Bram Stoker

                

Being a huge fan of books based around vampires, I felt that it was about time I read about the original vampire himself. Classics have always been a difficult read for myself, as I have always struggled with the language and the writing style. But my determination to read more types of styles, got the better of me and so I pressed on with it. I will admit that this perhaps took me longer than what I estimated, mainly because NaNoWrimo has stolen my attention and time, however, thats not to say that I never had the time to appreciate the novel, which I did. I did find it a little slow and hard to get into at the beginning, but was insistant that I carried on with it. Im one of those people who doesn't like to put a book down once it has been started. so i read on.

I enjoyed the fact that the book was in the view point of all those involved as this seemed to give a wider perception on the story and therefore added more interest and detail to the piece. I did feel that it was cleverly structured, though a little confusing, for me anyway, in some places. There was a lot of detail within the pages, but I didn't find myself actually imaging the world in my mind like I would with other books that I read. Im not sure if this is just because it is a style that I am unuse to or if its just me, being slow. I would have liked to have read the view point from dracula, as I feel that this would have added a lot more variety to the tale and really would have given it that extra push of life if you like.

The book though did make me think about the way in which vampires are displayed today. Some of them sparkle, whilst others can only turn humans into vampires with a single bite that releases a venom. I have to admit that I have always been a big fan of the old fashioned vampires. the ones that got burnt if they went out into sunlight, and who died when a stake was pierced through their heart. But the other novels do add an advantage of wider imagination and creativity.

The book did flow well together, and I felt that the story was well written. however I did find myself wondering over and over again when would the book end? It just felt very slow to me, almost as if the writer was purposely dragging it out. There just seemed to be very little involvement with dracula himself, merely that he did something and was known of. I do think that the style of writing has changed since the time of Bram stoker and who knows, perhaps if it were to be written today it would be different altogether?

My rating