This is the book that started it all! All the vampire movies and all the vampire books that came after were inspired by what Stoker wrote way back when. It dawned on me recently that even though I have read many other books about vampires, I had never actually read this Classic. And now, I know why.

It is not an easy read! I usually fly right through a book once I have started reading it, and this one took a long time. It is not written in a narrative format, but rather, in a series of letters and journal entries written by each of the characters. Some characters know things that the others do not, and that makes things a bit confusing. The letters and journal entries are written in a loose chronology, but not exactly. The reader ends up jumping back and forth in time in places, and sometimes ends up reading the same event twice from different characters points of view.

To add to the complexity, Stoker has included many incidental characters, who all seem to speak a different form of slang English. The words themselves are confusing, and there are apostrophes appearing in odd places. Some I could figure out, such as when the text said ‘ouse, I knew it meant house. But other words were a mystery. There is a point in the story where one of the characters that is difficult to understand is describing a storm at sea, and a boat affected by it. There were sailing terms and weather terms that were unfamiliar to me, and I ended up having to go back and reread parts just to figure out what the heck was going on. The copy of Dracula I was reading is a Barnes And Noble Classic, and has notes in it to help describe many things in plainer English. The notes were especially helpful when Stoker was refering to different countries and cities in Transylvania, and naming off different groups of people who lived there. None of that was familiar at all. The notes also make it more clear when Stoker has his characters using railroad stations in England, some of which I was familiar with, others I had forgotton the name of.

Then there is Van Helsing. Forget anything you think you know about that character from other books and other movies. In Stoker’s Dracula, Van Helsing is an almost elderly Dutch doctor/professor. He speaks English, but puts together sentences in blocky, choppy, ways. He refers to other characters as “Friend John”. There are two characters with that name, one a John, and one a Jonathan, so it made things a bit difficult to follow in parts.

If you are determined to read Dracula, it does get a bit better, once you get through these difficulties with the language. The action is really slow and subtle, however, so, don’t expect a big, exciting, fast moving, vampire story with this one. In fact, don’t assume that this book is much like the movie that was based on it called something like “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”. (I think it had Winnona Rider and Keanu Reeves in it, and Gary Oldman as Dracula). The movie is only loosely based on the events in the book, and moves the story along much faster.

I am glad that I did struggle through this book, because it really is the Father of all other vampire books. If I ever read it again, I think I am just going to skip over many of the more confusing parts!
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This book has suddenly become popular once again, due to the movie that came out recently based on it. I have not yet seen the movie, and am not sure if I want to. The book was wonderful! The best parts were the sarcastic and witty comments on society that Austen writes, and, since many of these are written from her viewpoint of her anonymous narrator, and not her characters, how could the movie version even touch that?

Its about a family of five sisters and their parents, who live in England in around 1811 or so. The book is intentionally vague about the exact years. The girls are old enough to be married, and their mother is desperate to make this happen. The father is less interested in his wife and most of his silly daughters, (except Lizzy, his favorite, who is smart), and more interested in reading books and being left alone. The story twists and turns in unexpected ways, and was much more interesting than I expected it to be! I was constantly finding hidden gems of great sentences, many of which were also really funny. I had heard that Austen wrote sarcastically about society, but I didn’t know she was funny!

The entire mindset of the book can be summed up rather well in the opening sentence. Austen writes: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Nearly everyone in the book has decided that their goal in life is to be married, and to have all of their daughters, sons, nephews, and nieces married. Most of the characters in the book are more interested in having people marry “well”, that is, for financial gain and social status, than marrying for love. Some of the characters in the book marry for money, and some for love, and the results are compared and contrasted with Austen commenting on every outcome.

The book also is a window into the very regimented social rules that were the normal way of behaving at the time. It’s much more formal than anything we do today, and makes for an interesting view into another time, another culture. Its a great book, and I didn’t expect it to be half as great as I found it to be!

Jane is the oldest sister, who falls for a new neighbor, named Mr. Bingley. Of course, Jane is quiet, and he doesn’t really know she likes him for most of the book. Bingley’s sisters don’t want him to marry Jane, since her family does not have much money or status. One of Bingley’s sisters is interested in his friend, Mr. Darcy, who doesn’t seem to like her much. Darcy doesn’t seem to like anyone much at all, especially Elizabeth, Jane’s sister, and the feeling is mutual. And then, things change around. Very nicely woven plot lines.
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This was one of my favorite books when I first read it. I must have been ten or eleven years old at the time, and had not encountered many other books that were “for kids” and were anything like this book. I was impressed that it was as big as the books for adults, and, that it was not “dumbed down”, like many of the other books I had read at that time. (The world still had some years to go before bookstores and libraries created a “young adult” or “teen” section, and, there didn’t seem to be many authors who were seeking that particular audience back then). As I read Little Women now, as an adult, I find that I still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I did when I was much younger.

The story is basically about the lives of the March family. Its around the time of the Civil War in America, and the father of the family is off involved with that for a big chunk of the book. The Civil War, and the political environment that surrounds it are barely mentioned in this book. Its really about four sisters, their mom, and some friends and extended family.

Mrs. March, or “Marmee”, is the perfect example of what a mother should be. Meg, the oldest girl, is working as a governess, is almost old enough to begin to think about marriage, but is much to innocent to have even realized it. Jo is second oldest, an exuberant tomboy, who has a job reading to an elderly aunt. She reads every book she can get her hands on, and also writes quite a bit herself. Beth, the next girl, is sweetness itself, and overwhelmingly innocent and good. She plays the piano and sings, and cares for pets, dolls, and the family in small ways. Amy, the youngest, is beautiful, (the only blond haired blue eyed child in the family) and a bit self-centered about both her beauty and her developing art talent. Also, there is Laurie, the boy next door, who is more or less unofficially adopted by the March family. He is sometimes brother, sometimes friend, and later on, something more to some of the girls.

The girls grow from little girls to “little women” as the book continues, and have various experiences along the way. Many of the chapters are almost like little lessons, that the young girl who would be the intended reader can take away with her after she is done reading the book. It also shows a good picture of what life would have been like if you were a woman living in America at that time. Completely different social rules from what one sees today! Its an interesting read.
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