Monday, August 08, 2011

Teaser Tuesday 96: Dracula

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few “teaser” sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


I have wanted to read Dracula for some time now, especially more recently with all of the vampire books I have devoured. I have finally cracked the spine on it and have not been disappointed. Though I was not expecting the novel to be told as a series of letters and journal entries, I have quite enjoyed it thus far.

The following excerpt is from fairly early on. One of the characters, Lucy Westenra, has gone out sleepwalking along a cliff path. Upon waking in the middle of the night to find her friend missing, Mina Murray goes looking for her...




Whatever my expectation was, it was not disappointed, for there, on our favorite seat, the silver light of the moon struck a half-reclining figure, snowy white. The coming of the cloud was too quick for me to see much, for shadow shut down on light almost immediately; but it seemed to me as though something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it.
(pg 112)





ABOUT THE BOOK:
Dracula by Bram Stoker

The aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside has captivated readers' imaginations since it was first published in 1897. Hindle asserts that Dracula depicts an embattled man's struggle to recover his "deepest sense of himself as a man", making it the "ultimate terror myth".

. . . . .

Most of us have some idea of the "Dracula" myth. Though I had heard of Dracula before then, my first "memorable" encounter was in reading a scene from a stage version in Weekly Reader magazine, way back in the sixth grade. Though I have never seen any of the many film adaptations, a few were discussed in a college film criticism course. The ancient vampire routinely shows up in various incarnations—or is mentioned—in numerous vampire books or movies (more than 200!) of the modern era. Though Stoker did not create the vampire, it is his book that is largely responsible for popularizing the vampire myth, and an entire catalog of books today.

You can read more about the book and its influence on modern literature and culture here.


21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Geez who could be disappointed with Dracula - it's a classic. Love it.


Here's mine: http://tfwalsh.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/teaser-tuesday-amara/

Heather said...

Tania: I know, right? Apparently, though, there are those who do not like it, either because they find it too "wordy" or because they do not like the format.

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

Dracula is an excellent choice.


Here is mine

Jessica said...

I have this as an eBook on my Nook and eventually I'll read it :)
Great teaser!

Jess @ The Midnight Bookworm

Anya Millar said...

Dracula is great! I have it in both print and eBook, lol.

Teaser Tuesdays - House Millar books

Kyanara_BJD said...

What a wonderfull teaser!
I love the classics
Have a great day!
Kyanara from laced little muffin's reading corner

Shelley Munro said...

Sounds good. I've never read Dracula.

Here’s My Teaser

Jenny Q said...

Good for you! I really wanted to read this, too, after reading Dracula in Love, but I haven't had time. That's a great teaser! I have a teaser and a giveaway today: The American Heiress!

Bex said...

I actually tried reading this a while back, but I couldn't quite get into it. No idea why though. I might have to try it again later. Great teaser though! :) My teaser can be found here!

Kinde Fever

Pam (@iwriteinbooks) said...

Beautiful teaser from a serious classic. Love it!

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Now that's a vampire book I might be able to get into...thanks for sharing.

Here's MY TT POST

TBM said...

My teaser last week was from Dracula. Great book!

Here's mine:

http://50yearproject.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/teaser-tuesdays-aug-9/

Anonymous said...

Intriguing teaser.

here's mine:

http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/08/teaser-tuesday_09.html

Frances said...

I love Dracula! Great choice!
http://alaskanbookcafe.blogspot.com

Heather said...

Brooke: Thanks! *g*

Jessica: I do hope you get round to reading it, and that you like it as much as I have.

Anya: I have an electronic version (on "100 Classic Books" for the DS) as well as this print copy and have switched back and forth between the two. Much prefer the print version, though.

Heather said...

Kaynara: I too love the occasional classic. Am enjoying this one much more than I did Woolf's To the Light House, which I read last month.

Shelley: No??

Jenny Q: Thanks! It was my winning of Dracula in Love that inspired me to finally read this, and to read it before the book inspired by it. Hope to devote the coming weekend to DIL!

Unknown said...

Isn't this book great?

Here's mine:
http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/08/teaser-tuesdays_09.html

Heather said...

Rebecca: Sorry you had difficulty getting into the book, but do hope you give it another go. Was it the multiple point of views or perhaps the epistolery format you did not care for?

Pam: Thank you! *G*

Laurel-Rain: You never know! Perhaps you should give it a try? *vbg*

TBM: Thank you! I tried visiting your Dracula post last week, but was having trouble commenting.

Cristina: Thank you. It's nice to see so many who appreciate the book!

Heather said...

Tribute: Thanks, and thanks for visiting.

LibrarySnke: It is indeed quite good!

Emma: That is the one drawback of Teaser Tuesday. Too many books to tempt us!

Alice Audrey said...

It's been ages since I've read it. I forgot about the format.

kayerj said...

interesting teaser today. Kaye—the road goes ever ever on