Saturday, August 29, 2009

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Narrator: Robert Whitfield
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Length: 14 hours and 32 minutes
Genre: Fiction (Classic)
Series: No
Publication Date: 1897

Synopsis (From Amazon.com):
When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries about his client and his castle. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the imminent arrival of his 'Master'. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count Dracula and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre.
Review:

Apparently there is a lot of misrepresentation on what exactly is Bram Stoker's Dracula. I was under the impress that this was a more bloody, horror filled book than it really was. In fact, Dracula is more of a collection of diary entries, newspaper clippings, and letters describing the events in the story. It's not scary or gory.

The narrator Robert Whitfield was great at doing the voices for all the male characters. When Whitfield did the voice of the none English characters, his talent really stood out. It at times seemed that a different person was reading those parts. The female voices were all done in the same manner, where it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

The audiobook version of Dracula was hard to focus to for a large portion of the story. At the end it was easier to focus and get caught up in what was happening but not at the beginning.


Pros: Narrator, plot, characters
Cons: Hard to follow

Overall Recommendation:

I think the audiobook version is a great way to read Dracula. It makes the writing easier to digest.

Challenges:

1% Well Read (7 out of 10 Books)
TBR Challenge (15 out of 12 Books)

3 comments:

  1. http://www.historyofshe.wordpress.comAugust 29, 2009 at 6:44 PM

    Ooo, I loved Dracula-- especially the part on the ship. Sorry if it fell a little short for you!

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  2. When I read Dracula first it was different from what I expected. But I liked it anyway. Can't read audio versions though.

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  3. The ship part was really cool. I also like when the lunatic appears. I think he was one of my favorite characters.

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