Dracula

Well, I can check off another book from my list of the 100 greatest novels. I'm not so sure how I feel about Dracula- the book actually took me a rather long time to read, and I'm not exactly sure why. The entire story is told through journal entries of various characters and through letters written between said characters. Count Dracula himself is ever-present in the sense that the entire story is about his actions and plans, but of course there are no letters or journals from his perspective. Though this is admittedly not a favorite literary technique of mine, the suspense is heightened somewhat because of the elusive quality of the Count. Stoker is excellent at presenting a very visual image; in fact, I was reading one of the first chapters of the book while in the waiting room of a doctor's office. The specific scene was so intense and realistic that I found myself breathing faster and jumping at virtually every sound. Yes, I was frightened...while sitting in the very-bright waiting room in the middle of the day. Now, if that's not literary ability- to scare someone out of their wits (without spewing gore and guts all over the page), I'm not sure what is. Eventually, I tried not to read the book before going to bed because I realized just how much my dreams were affected by the characters' plights.

I appreciated the story for what it's worth and for its significant role on other literary and film works, as well as a significant impact on pop culture. Also enjoyable to myself and other lovers of Latin are the numerous Latin phrases dispersed throughout the entire novel. But in the end, it's not necessarily a book I would read twice.