Chapter 13 - Dracula by Bram Stoker

Welcome back to my Never-ending Book Story! Thanks for joining me. This lockdown gets stranger and, in many ways, harder as we go along. But, thankfully, this week I have come up with a much better way to test your eyesight than going for a test drive - read a book instead! In other news, I reached 500 followers on Twitter. It's not that big a number, I know, but still - it feels like an achievement. If you want to find me on Twitter, my handle is @blogneverending. 

In this chapter, I've been reading Bram Stoker's classic novel, Dracula. And if you've never read it, then you really should. It's a fantastically entertaining novel and it's probably rather different to your expectations or preconceptions. There have been so many different versions and so many iconic images associated with the book have become part of the cultural landscape that it's difficult to separate them from the novel. I don't think I have seen a really faithful adaptation of the novel, though. Every version I have seen diverges from the source text. Some wildly, some less so. I'm going to assume that almost everyone has a vague idea of the gist of the novel so - be warned - there may be the odd spoiler here if you're a Dracula virgin (how apt?!).

On the off chance that you are completely clueless as to what it's all about. Here's some blurb for you:

Young lawyer Jonathan Harker journeys to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula only to discover that his nobleman client is a vampire who is thirsty for new blood. After imprisoning Harker in his castle, Dracula travels to England to seduce Jonathan’s fiancée, Mina, and the battle against an ineffable evil begins.

Led by philosopher and metaphysician Professor Van Helsing—Dracula’s most indomitable adversary—Harker, Mina, and a band of allies unite, determined to confront and destroy the Count before he can escape.

When Chapter 12 pushed me in the direction of Dracula, it meant I could revisit the novel for the first time in many years. I was extremely glad of this as it enabled me to erase the painful memories of the recent BBC adaptation from my mind. It had all started well with the first episode which successfully refocused the attention of the novel onto a character of hardly any note within the novel. I can see why they did this. But the final two of the three episodes got steadily worse to the point of being laughably unwatchable by the end, for me. I didn't see it through, I'm afraid. And I'd advise extreme caution for those of you who haven't seen it and are tempted. If you really must, don't go beyond episode one (or don't say I didn't warn you!). It's a shame because it started out so well and the performance of Dolly Wells as Sister Agatha was nothing short of electrifying.

I've read Dracula 3 or 4 times now and I'm always astonished by the first section of the book. it's so terrifyingly gripping it must surely be responsible for that well-known cliche 'it had me on the edge of my seat'. Jonathan Harker's meeting with Count Dracula and his experiences while incarcerated at Castle Dracula are intense and horrifying. I always forget that this an epistolary novel (told through diary entries and letters of correspondence between characters) and this lends the story a factual feel. It feels real. This. of course, heightens the sense of dread and terror. 

Another aspect I always feel only dimly aware of outside of reading the novel is the character of Renfield. I think Renfield is one of the best characters in the novel and, in some ways, he feels quite separate from the rest of the story. He's almost an aside or a footnote. A spin-off. Renfield is an inmate in the local lunatic asylum. He spends much of his time collecting and eating live insects and spiders. He wants to consume their life-force, In order to consume more and more of this primal vitality, he begins to catch flies which he then feeds to spiders which he then feeds to birds and so on. What a hideous scheme! It transpires that he has been under the spell of Dracula and it was he - Renfield - who had invited the vampire inside, allowing him access to poor Mina.

Another striking aspect of the novel is how little Dracula actually appears in the novel itself. He is mostly an ominous figure always just out of reach, out of view. Hiding somewhere in the shadows, watching, waiting and biding his time. The recent BBC drama attempted to make Dracula more visible. It is more specifically about him than it is about Harker or Van Helsing. I prefer that in the original novel he remains an enigmatic mystery - unknowable and almost invisible.

I was thinking more about epistolary novels while writing this chapter of the blog and decided to recommend a few more you might like to try in some other genres. Firstly, you could try The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins which, like Dracula., put a modern spin on Gothic themes. This is another novel that will have you gripped. If you want to read a modern take on Dracula then you really should give The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova a try. It's a towering achievement in my view. For something very different, try The Martian by Andy Weir (the movie version starring Matt Damon is great, too, but the book is much, much better). Finally, if you really want to take yourself to a strange place, go for The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost. Awesomely mindmelting!

Since Christmas, a book has been sitting on my TBR pile and it's been looking at me, begging me to pick it up. And now I have the ideal opportunity to read it! It's Dracul by Dacre Stoker. The author is the great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker himself. The novel is a prequel to Dracula and centres around events involving a young Bram which lead him to write his famous novel. Join me on the next chapter of the Never-ending Book Story for more on that.