DRACULA

Not so long ago I read Bram Stoker's 'Dracular,' which I found to be a fabulously dark and imaginative novel. Having watched Francis Ford Coppola's 90s movie-version several times, and having experienced countless other vampire stories as well, I entered the book with a somewhat preconceived and tainted picture of the world of 'Dracula' and its characters - which at times I found quite hard to shake off. For instance, so many of the myths and tales surrounding vampires (which I imagine would have appeared fresh for the times) came across as quite cliché and predictable. Also, no matter what angle I took, I just couldn't detach Kiano reeves from Mr Harker and Wyona Ryder from Nina  - although by the end of the book these characters did mutate into something more abstract and personal. Interestingly enough though, I did manage to quickly re-mould Dracula himself into something very different - without even the slightest memory of Coppola's character lingering.

All in all, I found the novel to be an excellent and engaging read. I actually haven't read all that much from 100 years ago and was surprised how contemporary a great deal of the language/writing appeared.  for me, the greatest strength in 'Dracula' lay in Stoker's exquisitely descriptive writing style, which I found to be highly captivating and immersive. These passages, which mainly manifested through everything to do with the Count; possessed a hypnotic rhythm, bending and distorting the flow of time and space, and very much evoked strong imagery and sensations - which surprised me, as I don't think I have had such experiences watching any explicit modern day horror films.

in hindsight, I think what interests me the most about this novel though, is the delicately balanced dichotomies such as: Good/evil - order/chaos - tamed/wild - that the story plays with, and how these polarities modulated and aroused my attention throughout the chapters . For instance the overly polite and composed language/interactions between the "good" characters (which I was initially irritating by), turned out to actually strengthen the book's dark qualities; as these contrived and controlled twee sensibilities provided  great contrast and added perverseness to the encounters with the unbridled, wild, and brutal Dracula and Renfield. Although, it definitely did have its difficult and often annoying moments that challenged my attention and at times disengaged me from the book. Mainly, the alliance formed to fight Dracula felt contrived and absurdly far-fetched. It sort of painted this all too clever 'murder mystery' type situation where the characters/investigators devise unusually sophisticated and intricate plans with endless well thought-out contingencies - which I felt greatly compromised any sense of panic, confusion, and chaos in the story. Moreover, it really bugged me that through order and planning, the alliance prevailed, to defeat Dracula. Of course, I understand a certain amount of planing had to take place to track his whereabouts, but it just felt all too calculated; I would of much preferred for blind and passionate persistence to lead the characters to a chance encounter with such a supernatural (and I would think to be an incalculable) being, instead of some clever wit.