Audiobook (abridged)1 hour
Dracula: Timeless Classics
Written by Bram Stoker and Emily Hutchinson
Narrated by Saddleback Educational Publishing
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
Why are the Transylvanian peasants so fearful of Count Dracula's castle? When a young businessman discovers the truth, it is nearly too late. Will Jonathan have enough time to save his beloved fiance from the vampire's deadly embrace?
Author
Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker was an Irish author of nearly twenty novels, best known for his gothic horror novel Dracula. Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, he joined the Civil Service before becoming the personal assistant of Henry Irving and manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London.
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Reviews for Dracula
Rating: 4.063492063492063 out of 5 stars
4/5
315 ratings201 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5this is probably one of my most favorite books ever. i loved how Jonathan Harker had to deal with and try and figure out who the count really was. the part about Dracula taking the blood of the innocent and virgins was a little creepy but other than that it was and still is one of my favorite books.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two things. First - Buffy (and everything else) have trained me to expect a climactic battle. Not so here. They just got him in the box, snicker-snack! Second - this book could have been shorter if Van Helsing would have gotten right to the point every single time he opened his mouth. Oh, one more thing - the intro by Elizabeth Kostova is really good.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bram Stoker’s The Illustrated Dracula features illustrations from Jae Lee, who’s worked on X-Factor, Inhumans, and Fantastic Four: 1234 for Marvel Comics as well as other work for DC and Image Comics. The book itself reprints Stoker’s text, which uses the epistolary novel format that was popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and introduces the reader to Count Dracula, Jonathan and Mina Harker, Renfield, Abraham Van Helsing, and Lucy Westenra. Lee includes multiple black-and-white illustrations throughout the story as well as four full-color illustrations that capture the gothic, dreamlike quality of the narrative. Lee’s portrayal of Dracula appears to borrow from the depiction of Count Orlok in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film, Nosferatu, rather than Stoker’s own description or the appearance of the historical Vlad Țepeș. Those benefits aside, there are some typographical errors throughout the work. That said, the illustrations and the high-quality materials of which this book is constructed make it a good gift edition for those new to the story or friends in need of a new copy.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Probably my favorite book ever. I think people are put off reading it because of the cheesy fanged depiction of Dracula in the movies but the book is far removed from these interpretations.It is a gloriously dark novel with lots of different locations to get your teeth into (I honestly didn't mean the pun!) from the castle in Transylvania to the dark coast at Whitby to a London mental asylum.I really like the "journal" style of writing although some people may not get on with it.The end is a little abrupt and probably not exactly what the reader expects after the build up it is given. A brilliant book none-the-less.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Probably the best vampire novel ever written and set the standard for all other efforts.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It started out a bit slow, but once the characters figured out that Dracula was a vampire it picks up quickly! I'm glad that I had a chance to read it!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this in about 1.5 hours while subbing and I found that it was a very simple story introducing Dracula and then finishing him off. It starts out following Jonathon where you are first introduced to Dracula. He is a very smart and cunning person who traps Jonathon and then leaves for London to try his hand there. I found it was an interesting read that compelled me to the end to know exactly what happens.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Audiobook narrated by Alexander Spender and Susan AdamsDoes anyone really need a synopsis? If you’ve seen any of the movies, you know the basic plot, but the original novel is so much more!Stoker wrote the work as a series of journal or diary entries, letters and newspaper clippings. This could easily become disjointed, but in this case, it serves to give a certain immediacy to the writing. It also builds suspense, as we leave one character to jump to another’s perspective, frequently with a disconnect in terms of what each of the characters knows about the full situation. The danger they are in is frequently a result of not having the full picture, of not truly understanding the force against which they are pitted. But the novel is more than just a horror story. There are several themes which would be great for book group discussion. To begin there is the typical Victorian theme of strong men coming to the rescue of pure damsel in distress. However, Stoker turns the tables a bit when he gives Mina the intelligence, foresight and courage to fight the evil forces in her own way. Yes, the men do the actual fighting, but it is Mina who first puts together all the individual notes into a coherent chronological story, and ultimately gives the men what they need to go up against Dracula. The woman has steel!Stoker also includes a fair amount of sexual – or at least sensual – tension. Bosoms heave, blood quickens, breathing is rapid, and people are completely overcome and overwhelmed by desire. They are simply helpless in the face of their base instincts … or are they?The novel is wonderfully atmospheric; from the delights of a new culture as Harker first experiences the loveliness of Eastern Europe, to the growing sense of doom when surrounded by howling wolves, to the creepy, skin-crawling scene with the hordes of rats (I feel squeamish as I type this), and finally to the “pure-white” snow of the mountain blizzard, time and again Stoker puts the reader smack dab in the middle of the scenes.There are several different audio versions. The one I had from my library was masterfully performed by Alexander Spander and Susan Adams. Each voiced the journals / diaries based on the gender of the character writing that segment.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Will not go into the story, as it is all too familiar, at least elements of it, to all.Told mostly in the form of personal diaries and journals. The style of writing reflects the time it was written, verbose and not filled with constant action, like a lot of today's (vampire) thriller books. Try to look at this freshly, not influenced by the myriad of books, movies, comics, etc. and you will see it as Stoker drew up the horror of living corpses preying on human, vital, people.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5"Dracula" is the classic vampie tale from 1897, a mix of mystery and adventure, full of gentlemanly huffing and puffing and unironic sexism.This abridged but digitally-enhanced version of Dracula starts off well: The interactive elements got me to read closer and the plot is strongest when it's in single-protagonist mode. But towards the middle, momentum wears off, and the novelty of interactivity turns into a minor annoyance -- there are only so many pages where I could stand having the text legibility tampered with. Yet it does show promise -- some moments work, and really do help modernize the 1897 classic.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Obviously a classic, but a little slow!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My measure of a great book of suspense is whether or not it reads well out loud, and if that's a good criteria, I think this book succeeds admirably. ((I grew up with folks telling ghost stories around campfires, trying to scare each other.)) Folks might argue that _Frankenstein_ is the more thought-provoking book, but this one scares me on a primal level.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A classic. I LOVE the movie dearly and watched it before I read the book, so I was a bit disappointed that they were so different, but I really liked this book, anyway
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I read and loved Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian and with the modern fascination with vampires (Twilight saga, True Blood, etc) I wanted to go back to see where it all began. I loved the book. The way Bram Stoker tells the story from different points of view builds up the tension and keeps you wanting to read more. More than a horror story, this book is about how friendship, love, perseverance and ingenuity triumphs over evil.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The grandfather of all modern vampire fiction - what more can you say
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I found this to be interesting even captivating at times. Well written for an older book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At times this book did grab my attention, but the years were not kind overall. I first read as a senior, 24 years ago. It left a memory of real horror, but on returning the beginning and end were the only sections that really drew me in. Van Helsing's character is laughable, and the chauvinistic attitude of saving the women just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.If you pick this up, just skim past any sections where Van Helsing speaks.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dracula movies told me what the original story was like, I thought - mistakenly. From the first page, I was as amazed at the skill of Bram Stoker in writing his story as I was at another time in opening Richard Nixon's autobiography and being stunned by the clarity of thought and excellence of perfection that he had achieved.I read Dracula for a university course. Had I know it was as excellent a story as it is, I would have read it much earlier. I consider the book a true classic, something has already lasted for a short time, but will likely last a lot more time. A few weak points were pointed out to me. But as long as I must engage my "suspension of belief" for the book as a whole, I have no problem excusing such errors. I've thought of other authors I've read and tried to decide where Stoker's Dracula fits in among them. I don't think he does! I think Bram Stoker's Dracula is somehow unique. If I am able to read other tales of mystically powered, soulless masters of men's minds, then I may have a home for Dracula. Until then, his is a lone story that starts nobly apart from the other fictions there are - of Asimovian robots, Burroughnian warrior kings, C.S. Lewis' adventures in Pereland', and even Twilight.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So much better than I thought it would be. You know what interests me about Dracula? That a vampire book written in the 1800s has a more kick-ass female character (that would be Mina Harker) than a certain popular sparkling pony princess series I could name.Sure it's denser than it needs to be, with far more words than necessary, but that was the style of the times, no?And frankly, the bit about Dracula crawling down the wall (early on in the book) somehow managed to be one of the single scariest things I've ever read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I listened to the free audiobook from Librivox. I guess it's only a few years since I read this in actual book form, but I had managed to totally forget everything except the first part, where Jonathan Harker stays with Count Dracula in his castle and everything is creepy. Anything to do with Lucy, Mina, Van Helsing or Renfield had gone from my mind completely. Which is odd, because the parts of the book that actually contain Dracula are few and far between! I do really enjoy this book, but it does sort of bother me how all the main male characters are in love with Lucy. Couldn't you have come up with a more interesting way to assemble your cast, Mr Stoker?
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although I am a big horror fiction reader and devour everything I can find about Vampires and Werewolves, I had never actually gotten around to reading Dracula. I am happy that I can now say I have read it, although I don't think I would read it again. I did enjoy the story and how it was written as a collection of journals and news entries. "If ever a face meant death - if looks could kill - we saw it at that moment."
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Written in 1897, it is a testament to brilliant writing that Dracula can still be enjoyed today as a work of literature. Written in the form of diary entries and from the viewpoint of several different characters, Dracula captures your attention from the first page and holds your interest until the last. This is the book that started the Vampire craze in the 20th century and which continues on into the 21st. Bram Stoker defined the rules of vampires, although now those rules are terribly twisted by television and other novelists. A must-read for any vampire fan.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story, told in an epistolary format, of infamous Count Dracula's attempt to settle in England, and the battle to thwart this attempt, and finish the vampire, by a small group of righteous people, led by equally well-known Professor Abraham Van Helsing. I've seen numerous film-versions based on this story, but this is the first time I've managed to get through the original and I must say it's absolutely fantastic. There isn't much new to say about the actual story since most people are fully aware of what a great and monumental literary masterpiece it is, but I must note that the (unabridged) full-cast audio-version with Alan Cumming and Tim Curry is absolutely excellent and highly, highly recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quite good, and surprisingly funny in spots. It really was a "technothriller" of sorts in its time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't bother with lame movies: read the real story. It's chilling, spooky, moody and exceedingly creepy. Excellent!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book has many flaws. First of all, it's not a first edition, and second of all, it's a summary of the original novel. Even though the paper quality is fairly good, the content has been reduced, and that adds dissapointment to it. However, if you'd like to know at least the main plot of the novel, I'll recommend it, otherwise, forget it!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book is not only tedious it is also nauseatingly Christian to the point of anti-semitism. It also adheres blindly to sexual stereotypes. I can see why people in the Victorian era would have found it exciting, but I can't understand why anyone now shares that opinion. Granted, it is a delight not to be awash in sparking, sexy vampires, but the ultra pure, self sacrificing female characters remain the same.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I believe this was my third read of this book, but the only time I've listened to it on audio. This was a full cast performance and it was excellent. I highly recommend it to horror fans that dislike reading in epistolary form, the voicing here really brings the diary entries and letters to life.
Highly recommended for fans of classic horror stories! - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Generally I enjoyed [Dracula]. It had a sort of action adventure quality while maintaining the dark and moody tone. Each characters letters and journals were usually distinct, although at times some of the denser material read like standard prose. I could not bring myself to like Mina. I found her insufferable and boring most of the time and a ‘product of her time’ at the best.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not very scary or compelling. The first part was absolutely awesome, but Stoker failed to hold the reader enthralled for the entire novel.