Comments on: Dracula Postmortem, Part I

By: Book Clubs « DuncanWritingEditingPublishing

Book Clubs « DuncanWritingEditingPublishing — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:47:07 +0000

[...] great David Foster Wallace. They followed that up with reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and that’s just wound up too. Anyone across the world who wants to join in can, reading a set amount of pages each day, [...]

By: kfan

kfan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:14:31 +0000

Excellent.

By: LemmusLemmus

LemmusLemmus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:41:33 +0000

I was going to ask the same thing. May I suggest Great Expectations by Dickens, which is (1) generally considered a classic (2) relatively short and, as coincidences go, (3) on my reading list anyway?

By: Todeswalzer

Todeswalzer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:19:54 +0000

So what's next for Infinite Summer? People have been asking on the forums, but, strangely, no one's replied.

By: William.K.H.

William.K.H. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:06:29 +0000

MB: The amazing qualities of the first four chapters almost worked against the novel, as their promise of a real potboiler was not always fulfilled. But I thought it was pretty engrossing through-and-through.

I was looking forward to the rest of the novel continuing at this pace as well. I tore through the first Harker sections in no time, then felt like I had to force through the rest.

It was still an immensely enjoyable read.

By: JayCruz

JayCruz — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:27:28 +0000

I think it’s safe to say that the films are more interesting than the book. Not that it isn’t a great piece of fiction, but since we all knew about Dracula through zillion of interpretive portrayals, when getting to the original source, the whole idea about Dracula as an anti-hero isn’t as fleshed out as in films. It was kind of like reading the Bible’s New Testament and realizing that there isn’t that much info in there about Jesus. At least not as much as one would think. But it started a dominant world religion. Also see Star Wars Boba Fett.

By: webslog

webslog — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:45:25 +0000

You are all getting at something I couldn’t get over as I read the last 2/3rds of the book … that had this been a movie, we would have seen writer credits for Bram Stoker and then like three other writers brought in by the producers about halfway through first shooting to holy things up a little.

Through Harker’s writings, Stoker begins writing a compelling tale of how what we fear, who we love, and what we do are inextricably linked to each other. But then as we draw on to a conclusion which could have been much more ambiguous (and in my way of thinking rewarding), we get the spirituoquackery and pontification from the hired gun. After the creepfest that was the first four chapters, Stoker must have really changed how he felt about Harker to place all the story’s momentum in the hands of the pendantic deus ex machina that is Van Helsing.

Do I really think Stoker had to submit to re-writes to get his piece published? No. But what if Stoker showed the first four chapters to his employer/braughheem Sir Henry , who suggested he might butch it up a little with the addition of a boorish Dutchman?

Yeah, the book definitely felt like it wandered off a bit. Fun read though.

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:04:53 +0000

Thanks, Martha! My DVD player broke and I haven’t got a new one, and all this week I’ve been wanting to watch the movie. While reading the book I kept waiting for Dracula, wearing super cool sunglasses, to have his absinthe date with Mina.

Matthew, I agree: the first four chapters were so creepy I was a bit disappointed in the rest of the novel. But it was entertaining.

By: martha

martha — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:55:49 +0000

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula” is available over at hulu right now: http://www.hulu.com/watch/104930/bram-stokers-dracula