dracula

here is my first book review of 2010:

dracula by bram stoker

i really enjoyed this book! i am kind of a vampire nut--i greatly enjoy good-quality vampire stories, but NOT ones that are gratuitously bloody or lack depth and plot. i have seen the old dracula movies with bela lugosi (a hungarian, and historically it is thought that dracula was based on a wallachian count from transylvania--historically part of hungary--so lugosi is an appropriate choice!). i have also seen the german film, nosferatu, which might be my favorite old movie ever. it's only natural that i went back to the dracula story source--finally--for a good vampire book.

the book chapters are sections out of the various characters' journals, so everything is from someone's first-person point of view. and what i like about the story, what i didn't know really, is that mina harker is the true heroine! she is jonathan harker's new wife. they get married after jonathan's ill-fated trip to transylvania to meet with count dracula and discuss the new property he has just purchased in london. what starts out as a business trip turns sinister, as jonathan realizes he is actually held captive in the count's castle.

i don't want to ruin any of the book if you haven't read it, so i will just say that eventually jonathan gets out, mina goes to him at a mental hospital and they get married. once funky things start happening back in england, they get wrapped up with a man named dr. van helsing and mina (more than once) saves the day with her feminine wit and smarts.

overall, a great read and i highly recommend it for anyone who likes vampires, victorian literature, classic stories, or just a wonderful book :)