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Das Geheimnis der See
When Archibald Hunter comes to Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire for his annual holiday he is looking forward to a tranquil few days by the sea, but he is disturbed by strange visions and portents of doom. Where are these terrible visions taking him? And what is the significance of the pages of cipher?
544 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1902
84 people are currently reading
1036 people want to read
About the author
Bram Stoker
2,595 books5,857 followersIrish-born Abraham Stoker, known as Bram, of Britain wrote the gothic horror novel
Dracula
(1897).
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society."
In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.
The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society."
In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.
The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
August 4, 2011
I started out loving Stoker's follow-up to Dracula, but time schedules just pushed it out of my interests. Finally, I picked it up again and shot through it in a month. As it turned out, right where I left off the first time turned out to be right when it started to decline unfortunately.
The middle of this book dragged! It went from a supernatural mystery to a boring love story. This, once again, was turned around in the last third of the book. It became a really interesting story on political intrigue. But this book was fifty-three-fucking-chapters.
Seriously, for the amount of time invested in it ... it wasn't worth it. It would make a much better movie, because it could cut out all of the sexist middle section, and it would tie everything in a lot better. Seriously, I could not believe the chauvinistic attitude that was spun around the story.
All said and done, it literally took me a year to finally get into this book and finish the damn thing. Skip Mystery of the Sea unless you are a hardcore Stoker fan.
The middle of this book dragged! It went from a supernatural mystery to a boring love story. This, once again, was turned around in the last third of the book. It became a really interesting story on political intrigue. But this book was fifty-three-fucking-chapters.
Seriously, for the amount of time invested in it ... it wasn't worth it. It would make a much better movie, because it could cut out all of the sexist middle section, and it would tie everything in a lot better. Seriously, I could not believe the chauvinistic attitude that was spun around the story.
All said and done, it literally took me a year to finally get into this book and finish the damn thing. Skip Mystery of the Sea unless you are a hardcore Stoker fan.
September 7, 2016
I want to give this 3.5 stars but I don't have the option so I'll round it off to 4 since I enjoyed the adventurous elements, but the love story part is rather boring...
A good classic adventure by Stoker though...
A good classic adventure by Stoker though...
November 14, 2020
Bram Stoker is most famous his classic, Dracula. I have to say I've never read it as I've been kind of intimidated by the look of it. (Silly reason). I had previously read his Jewel of the Seven Stars, a mummy story. The Mystery of the Sea is my 2nd attempt at his work and I quite enjoyed.
The story starts off on one tangent, very mystical / ghost story, with the protagonist, Englishman Archibald Hunter, followed by a strange Scottish spiritualist, Gormala MacNeil. Archie sees the ghosts of sailors who have died off the coast of Cruden Bay, where he vacations and plans to have a house built. Amongst these spirits are ghosts of the Spanish Armada. Archie also saves Marjory Drake, a wealthy American, and her companion, Mrs Jacks.
The story slowly changes into an adventure and romance as Archie and Marjory begin a search for hidden Armada treasures. It's a slow burn as Archie tries to break down the code of a document he has found, so he can try to locate the treasure. As well, a group of kidnappers are on the hunt for Marjory and Archie must fend them off as well as American detectives trying to protect Marjory.
It sounds a bit convoluted but as the story wanders about at the first portion, it quickly begins to take off. The search for the Armada's treasure is fascinating and dangerous. The threats from the kidnappers quickly endangers Marjory's life. The story moves from mystical (although even that plays a part later on) to a thrilling adventure, a la John Buchan's best. The characters are excellent. I liked Archie's ability to break down codes, his loyalty and love for Marjory and his steadfastness and dependability. Marjory is a joy, a strong, independent, intelligent woman. Gormala is difficult to understand with her strong Scottish accent and is somewhat a caricature, but she comes through very much in the end. All in all, I was surprised how the story turned out, pleasantly so. It was an excellent adventure. Maybe I'll try Dracula some day. (4 stars)
The story starts off on one tangent, very mystical / ghost story, with the protagonist, Englishman Archibald Hunter, followed by a strange Scottish spiritualist, Gormala MacNeil. Archie sees the ghosts of sailors who have died off the coast of Cruden Bay, where he vacations and plans to have a house built. Amongst these spirits are ghosts of the Spanish Armada. Archie also saves Marjory Drake, a wealthy American, and her companion, Mrs Jacks.
The story slowly changes into an adventure and romance as Archie and Marjory begin a search for hidden Armada treasures. It's a slow burn as Archie tries to break down the code of a document he has found, so he can try to locate the treasure. As well, a group of kidnappers are on the hunt for Marjory and Archie must fend them off as well as American detectives trying to protect Marjory.
It sounds a bit convoluted but as the story wanders about at the first portion, it quickly begins to take off. The search for the Armada's treasure is fascinating and dangerous. The threats from the kidnappers quickly endangers Marjory's life. The story moves from mystical (although even that plays a part later on) to a thrilling adventure, a la John Buchan's best. The characters are excellent. I liked Archie's ability to break down codes, his loyalty and love for Marjory and his steadfastness and dependability. Marjory is a joy, a strong, independent, intelligent woman. Gormala is difficult to understand with her strong Scottish accent and is somewhat a caricature, but she comes through very much in the end. All in all, I was surprised how the story turned out, pleasantly so. It was an excellent adventure. Maybe I'll try Dracula some day. (4 stars)
September 21, 2020
Come i mostri di ferro sopiti sul fondo del mare:
“La morte ha un solo volto, qualunque sia il nome che le diamo!”
“Il mistero del mare” è un romanzo in cui il padre di Dracula è riuscito a miscelate diversi generi e tropi letterari: passiamo dal romanzo d’avventura al gotico e macabro, dalla storia di spionaggio al senso angoscioso del thriller, che mettono in allerta un tumulto di sensi.
Portandoci in Scozia Stoker riesce a farci assaggiare le meraviglie di un posto tanto ricco di folklore e di paesaggi sconvolgenti che in questo caso specifico diventano spaventosi, conditi in modo magistrale dalla cultura del luogo che emerge anche dalla lingua, il gaelico, idioma simbolo dell’arcaico e del senso di mistero.
Il protagonista, Archie Hunter, si trasferisce in un villaggio scozzese (Cruden Bay) perché ammaliato da quel paesaggio così caratteristico che spesso porta il mare a ribollire di rabbia infrangendosi contro spiagge e scogli. Qui Hunter incontra una vecchia strega che gli riconosce il dono della preveggenza; tale dono riesce a portarlo alla conoscenza del “Mistero del mare” sepolto da secoli. Archie, grazie ad una serie di eventi, inizia a dedicarsi alla scoperta di questo tesoro che modificherà il corso della sua esistenza portandolo ad avere incontri funesti e una sorte non comune ad altri uomini.
Questo è un testo estremamente bilanciato che ci restituisce situazioni al limite del possibile, ricche di suspance. Visioni notturne, morti che camminano in processione, la ricerca spasmodica di un tesoro e sussurri nelle ombre sono solo pochi elementi che caratterizzano l’opera, ricca com’é di sottotesti e trame secondarie che finiscono per collimare, alla fine, com’è d’abitudine nello stile dell’autore.
Ció che caratterizza tutto il romanzo è il senso di inquietudine dovuto ad eventi paradossali e soffocanti che ne sanciscono la validità e una spiccata incisività.
È un testo che ho apprezzato molto, pieno della fascinazione d’un tempo passato.
Ne parleremo meglio nella recensione completa sul canale!
“La morte ha un solo volto, qualunque sia il nome che le diamo!”
“Il mistero del mare” è un romanzo in cui il padre di Dracula è riuscito a miscelate diversi generi e tropi letterari: passiamo dal romanzo d’avventura al gotico e macabro, dalla storia di spionaggio al senso angoscioso del thriller, che mettono in allerta un tumulto di sensi.
Portandoci in Scozia Stoker riesce a farci assaggiare le meraviglie di un posto tanto ricco di folklore e di paesaggi sconvolgenti che in questo caso specifico diventano spaventosi, conditi in modo magistrale dalla cultura del luogo che emerge anche dalla lingua, il gaelico, idioma simbolo dell’arcaico e del senso di mistero.
Il protagonista, Archie Hunter, si trasferisce in un villaggio scozzese (Cruden Bay) perché ammaliato da quel paesaggio così caratteristico che spesso porta il mare a ribollire di rabbia infrangendosi contro spiagge e scogli. Qui Hunter incontra una vecchia strega che gli riconosce il dono della preveggenza; tale dono riesce a portarlo alla conoscenza del “Mistero del mare” sepolto da secoli. Archie, grazie ad una serie di eventi, inizia a dedicarsi alla scoperta di questo tesoro che modificherà il corso della sua esistenza portandolo ad avere incontri funesti e una sorte non comune ad altri uomini.
Questo è un testo estremamente bilanciato che ci restituisce situazioni al limite del possibile, ricche di suspance. Visioni notturne, morti che camminano in processione, la ricerca spasmodica di un tesoro e sussurri nelle ombre sono solo pochi elementi che caratterizzano l’opera, ricca com’é di sottotesti e trame secondarie che finiscono per collimare, alla fine, com’è d’abitudine nello stile dell’autore.
Ció che caratterizza tutto il romanzo è il senso di inquietudine dovuto ad eventi paradossali e soffocanti che ne sanciscono la validità e una spiccata incisività.
È un testo che ho apprezzato molto, pieno della fascinazione d’un tempo passato.
Ne parleremo meglio nella recensione completa sul canale!
March 18, 2020
Adventurous and gloomy atmosphere, whole story search for the ancient treasure, the destiny that holds many surprises, deceptions, kidnappings, enigmas...Keep reading 🤗📖
October 7, 2024
Первые процентов 10% книги - 9/10, последние 5% книги - 10/10. 85% посередине - унылейший и банальнейший любовный роман с клише формата «наши сердца пели в унисон», «она поняла, что я ее судьба и мы неразделимы» и тп. Большую часть книги герои прогуливаются между двумя локациями и вяло разгадывают тайны, обозначенные в начале книги. Северный мистицизм, тайны моря и приключения, заявленные в начале, выстреливают только с великолепной концовкой в конце. Все это приправлено нюансами викторианской эпохи - Английский Ура!Патриотизм и откровенный расизм - к испанцам в частности. В общем - не самая лучшая книга, 15% которой - прекрасны.
March 26, 2025
Законы, шифры, любовь
Все мы знаем Брэма Стокера благодаря его «Дракуле», однако, Стокер написал еще 12 книг и множество рассказов. И я очень рада, что «Подписные издания» совместно с «Букмейтом» переводят такие шедевры и издают для читателей, открывая новые грани знакомого писателя.
Я немного не понимаю негативные и неоднозначные отзывы об этом романе, не разделяю их. Мне книга очень понравилась и сравнивать роман с «Дракулой» как минимум странно. Роман «Тайна Моря» вышел в 1902 году и был воспринят публикой очень хорошо, но до русского читателя эта история дошла только сейчас. Отдельно хочу отметить очень красивый и качественный перевод Сергея Карпова, а еще в романе опубликовано послесловие переводчика и я советую его прочесть всем, даже если вы не читали «Тайну Моря». В послесловии больше рассказывается про военные действия, происходившие в то время (в романе события разворачиваются на фоне испано-американской войны 1898 года), расовое неравенство, положение женщин в обществе. Изучая послесловие улавливаешь детали романа, на которые не обратил внимание во время чтения.
Сам же роман - увлекательное приключенческое путешествие в попытках разгадать вместе с главным героем таинственную загадку моря. Здесь красиво все: и готическое настроение, и линия, где главный герой видит призраков и у него открывается Второе Зрение, и сильная любовная линия, но абсолютно не затмевающая все остальные, и политическая подоплека. Для меня «Тайна моря» - очень сбалансированное произведение, где сплетается реальность и мистика, все это на фоне военных действий и увлекательных тайн. А еще, например, в середине романа главный герой выдает читателям лекцию по юриспруденции в разрезе найденных кладов и права собственности на них, так что никогда не знаешь, куда тебя выведет повествование.
Отдельно хочу отметить издание в бумаге: на протяжении всего романа главные герои пытаются разгадать тайнопись и даже придумывает свой двухбуквенные шифр, чтобы общаться между собой. И самое интересное заключается в том, что читатель может попробовать разгадать и шифр, и тайнопись. В книге есть Приложения, где описывается данный шифр с примерами и объяснениями, как же его разгадать и прочесть.
После прочтения захотелось вновь перечитать Дракулу и продолжить такое удачное знакомство с писателем. Для этой книги нужно определенное настроение, а также понимание, в какое время она была написана, и тогда ваши ожидания совпадут с тем, что вы получите в процессе чтения.
Сам же роман - увлекательное приключенческое путешествие в попытках разгадать вместе с главным героем таинственную загадку моря. Здесь красиво все: и готическое настроение, и линия, где главный герой видит призраков и у него открывается Второе Зрение, и сильная любовная линия, но абсолютно не затмевающая все остальные, и политическая подоплека. Для меня «Тайна моря» - очень сбалансированное произведение, где сплетается реальность и мистика, все это на фоне военных действий и увлекательных тайн. А еще, например, в середине романа главный герой выдает читателям лекцию по юриспруденции в разрезе найденных кладов и права собственности на них, так что никогда не знаешь, куда тебя выведет повествование.
Отдельно хочу отметить издание в бумаге: на протяжении всего романа главные герои пытаются разгадать тайнопись и даже придумывает свой двухбуквенные шифр, чтобы общаться между собой. И самое интересное заключается в том, что читатель может попробовать разгадать и шифр, и тайнопись. В книге есть Приложения, где описывается данный шифр с примерами и объяснениями, как же его разгадать и прочесть.
После прочтения захотелось вновь перечитать Дракулу и продолжить такое удачное знакомство с писателем. Для этой книги нужно определенное настроение, а также понимание, в какое время она была написана, и тогда ваши ожидания совпадут с тем, что вы получите в процессе чтения.
November 3, 2021
Such a weirdly inventive and charming mashup of plot threads. It's a treasure hunt, complete with modern relatives looking for their claim. It's a supernatural thriller about a young man whose powers are just awakening and his troubled bond with an old expert in supernatural ways. It's a bouncy romcom as an average man falls in love with a runaway celebrity with secret service agents trying to track her down to keep her safe from a kidnapping plot. It's a war drama where the Spanish-American War could be decided by the aforementioned treasure left behind by the Spanish Armada.
It doesn't quite stick the landing, and oof does it definitely suffer from occasional punches of racism from the time. But it's an impressively engaging and entertaining read in how deftly it juggles its tones and wild ideas, that feel like they shouldn't all tie together into the same story, but it's marvelously rich as a result of how well they actually do.
It doesn't quite stick the landing, and oof does it definitely suffer from occasional punches of racism from the time. But it's an impressively engaging and entertaining read in how deftly it juggles its tones and wild ideas, that feel like they shouldn't all tie together into the same story, but it's marvelously rich as a result of how well they actually do.
March 16, 2025
This novel is written in a nice style with polite phrases that are uncommon now. I enjoyed it because it’s portrays relationships and other connections from former times. Enjoyable.
The story doesn’t tie all ends and is a bit all over the place hence only three stars.
The story doesn’t tie all ends and is a bit all over the place hence only three stars.
August 14, 2024
Who doesn't know Bram Stoker, the literary father of Dracula? If it weren't for him, the whole vamp-oriented culture of our time: from "Interview with a Vampire" and the Cullen family from "Twilight" to "Lindquist's "Let Me in" and the Lukyanenkovskys' "Everyone get out of the twilight!"- nature probably would not tolerate emptiness, but it would be different. And I also don't remember tens of thousands of fanfiction of varying degrees of goodness. Does anyone know any other works of the novelist? Well, offhand? No, no, and no. The bookmaker, in collaboration with Subscription Publications, makes up for the lack of Stoker in the body of the Russian-speaking reader by entrusting the translation to one of our best translators, Sergei Karpov (Moore's Jerusalem, if anything, not counting fifty others).
To be honest, I looked at this book with suspicion, the reader's intuition is a trainable thing, mine suggested that it was not worth it. But she took it up and began to listen. The story is this: moderately well-off linguist Archibald Hunter travels without frills, but with dignity, in a gentlemanly way through various dolbens, collecting folklore. Another road took him to the coast of Scotland (and I must tell you that Stoker, working as a theater administrator, went to those places himself to collect material for the production of Macbeth). The old seer of Garmala. Looking like one of the Macbeth witches, she told him that a powerful prophetic gift was dormant in him, which was about to awaken. After that, a series of events began, gloomy, mystical, frightening, like the death of a young sailor (the "golden man"), whom Archibald tried but failed to save, and the subsequent passage of a crowd of dead people who drowned in local waters since the dawn of civilization.
But in general, he should get a job on the local coast as a lifeguard, because very soon fate rolls out a challenge to our Archie again - this time to save a young lady and her elderly companion from death in the waves. Here he even worked hard to overfulfill the plan, he also saved a family heirloom, a gold brooch, for which the girl, according to her, would not hesitate to sacrifice everything she has. And this statement was bold, because the young American Marjorie, no less, is the richest heiress in the world, hiding in these inhospitable lands (ah, the author's ponderous style is contagious. I'm sorry) from the crowd of potential suitors. In fact, she is hiding from possible kidnappers. Because the patriot Marjorie is involved in the intrigues of the Spanish-American war and actively donated to the needs of the military-industrial complex of the motherland, which could not but cause discontent on the opposite side of the conflict.
So, the special services and bandits are hunting for the baby, intending to kidnap for ransom. And she herself, in company with the savior, with whom they break out in love, begins to hunt for a treasure hidden somewhere here in the caves of the coast. There will also be such a thing, in the style of "Tom Sawyer": "Calm down, Becky, I'm Dubrovsky", when, after finding the treasure, the tide will overtake the couple in the cave and he will offer his beloved to stand on the head of his own cooling corpse to be taller, but it did not take, fortunately. The already poor lovers become even richer, having taken possession of the countless treasures of the papal treasure, but then the girl and the treasure are kidnapped. And her secret spouse (they managed to get married, but still had no time to get laid) has to save his beloved with the help of special services and his own superpower.
There is also about the role of women in society, emancipation, responsibilities towards her husband and love that conquers everything (except racial prejudice against people with a different skin color and eye shape, whom the author would not hesitate to kill to stop the overpopulation of the planet - yes, you can also put environmental thinking in a plus). In general, it's a mess, but Bram Stoker is still the author of one good novel.
Дракула мертвый и довольный этим
Кто не знает Брэма Стокера, литературного отца "Дракулы"? Не будь его, вся вамп-ориентированная культура современности: от "Интервью с вампиром" и семейства Калленов из "Сумерек" до " линдквистова "Впусти меня" и простигосподи лукьяненковских "Всем выйти из сумрака!"- появилась бы, наверно, природа не терпит пустоты - но была бы иной. И это еще я не вспоминаю десятков тысяч фанфиков разной степени хорошести. А кто-нибудь знает другие произведения романиста? Ну, навскидку? Нет, нет и нет. Букмейт в коллаборации с "Подписными изданиями" восполняет недостаток Стокера в организме русскоязычного читателя, доверив перевод одному из лучших наших переводчиков Сергею Карпову ("Иерусалим" Мура, если что, не считая полусотни других).
Честно говоря, я с подозрением смотрела на эту книжку, читательская интуиция вещь тренируемая, моя подсказывала, что не стоит. Но взялась и стала слушать. История такая: в меру обеспеченный лингвист Арчибальд Хантер путешествует без излишеств, но достойно, по-джентльменски по разным долбеням, собирая фольклор. Очередная дорога привела его на побережье Шотландии (а надо вам сказать, что Стокер, работая театральным администратором, сам ездил в те места для сбора материала к постановке "Макбета"). Старая провидица Гармала. похожая на одну из макбетовских ведьм, сказала ему, что в нем дремлет мощный пророческий дар, который вот-вот пробудится. После чего начался ряд событий, мрачноватых, мистических, пугающих, вроде гибели молодого моряка ("золотого человека"), которого Арчибальд пытался, но так и не сумел спасти, и последовавшего за тем прохождения толпы мертвецов, утонувших в здешних водах со времени зарождения цивилизации.
Но вообще, ему стоило бы устроиться на здешнем побережье спасателем, потому что очень скоро судьба снова выкатывает перед нашим Арчи челлендж - на сей раз спасти от смерти в волнах юную леди и ее пожилую компаньонку. Тут он даже с перевыполнением плана потрудился, спас еще и семейную реликвию, золотую брошь, за которую девушка, по ее словам, не колеблясь пожертвовала бы всем, что имеет. И заявление это было смелым, потому что молодая американка Марджори, ни много, ни мало - самая богатая наследница в мире, скрывающаяся в этих негостеприимных краях (ах, авторский тяжеловесный стиль заразителен. простите) от толпы потенциальных женихов. На самом деле, прячется она от возможных похитителей. Потому что патриотка Марджори вовлечена в интриги испано-американской войны и активно жертвовала на нужды ВПК родины, что не могло не вызвать недовольства противной стороны конфликта.
Итак, за малышкой охотятся спецслужбы и бандиты, намеревающиеся похитит ради выкупа. А сама она в компании со спасителем, с которым у них вспыхивает любовь, начинает охотиться за спрятанным где-то тут в пещерах побережья кладом. Там еще будет такое, в стиле "Тома Сойера": "Спокойно, Бэкки, я Дубровский", когда, после нахождения клада, пару настигнет в пещере прилив и он предложит любимой встать на голову собственного холодеющего трупа, чтобы быть повыше, но не потребовалось, к счастью. Без того не бедные влюбленные становятся еще богаче, завладев несметными сокровищами папского клада, но тут девушку и клад похищают. А ее тайному супругу (они успели обвенчаться, но перепихнуться до сих пор все не было времени) приходится спасать любимую с помощью спецслужб и собственной суперпауэ.
Там еще о роли женщины в обществе, эмансипации, обязанностях по отношению к мужу и любви, побеждающей все (кроме расовых предрассудков в отношении людей с иным цветом кожи и разрезом глаз, которых автор не колеблясь поубивал бы, чтобы остановить перенаселение планеты - да, можете еще и экологичность мышления поставить в плюс). В общем, та еще муть, а Брэм Стокер все-таки автор одного хорошего романа.
To be honest, I looked at this book with suspicion, the reader's intuition is a trainable thing, mine suggested that it was not worth it. But she took it up and began to listen. The story is this: moderately well-off linguist Archibald Hunter travels without frills, but with dignity, in a gentlemanly way through various dolbens, collecting folklore. Another road took him to the coast of Scotland (and I must tell you that Stoker, working as a theater administrator, went to those places himself to collect material for the production of Macbeth). The old seer of Garmala. Looking like one of the Macbeth witches, she told him that a powerful prophetic gift was dormant in him, which was about to awaken. After that, a series of events began, gloomy, mystical, frightening, like the death of a young sailor (the "golden man"), whom Archibald tried but failed to save, and the subsequent passage of a crowd of dead people who drowned in local waters since the dawn of civilization.
But in general, he should get a job on the local coast as a lifeguard, because very soon fate rolls out a challenge to our Archie again - this time to save a young lady and her elderly companion from death in the waves. Here he even worked hard to overfulfill the plan, he also saved a family heirloom, a gold brooch, for which the girl, according to her, would not hesitate to sacrifice everything she has. And this statement was bold, because the young American Marjorie, no less, is the richest heiress in the world, hiding in these inhospitable lands (ah, the author's ponderous style is contagious. I'm sorry) from the crowd of potential suitors. In fact, she is hiding from possible kidnappers. Because the patriot Marjorie is involved in the intrigues of the Spanish-American war and actively donated to the needs of the military-industrial complex of the motherland, which could not but cause discontent on the opposite side of the conflict.
So, the special services and bandits are hunting for the baby, intending to kidnap for ransom. And she herself, in company with the savior, with whom they break out in love, begins to hunt for a treasure hidden somewhere here in the caves of the coast. There will also be such a thing, in the style of "Tom Sawyer": "Calm down, Becky, I'm Dubrovsky", when, after finding the treasure, the tide will overtake the couple in the cave and he will offer his beloved to stand on the head of his own cooling corpse to be taller, but it did not take, fortunately. The already poor lovers become even richer, having taken possession of the countless treasures of the papal treasure, but then the girl and the treasure are kidnapped. And her secret spouse (they managed to get married, but still had no time to get laid) has to save his beloved with the help of special services and his own superpower.
There is also about the role of women in society, emancipation, responsibilities towards her husband and love that conquers everything (except racial prejudice against people with a different skin color and eye shape, whom the author would not hesitate to kill to stop the overpopulation of the planet - yes, you can also put environmental thinking in a plus). In general, it's a mess, but Bram Stoker is still the author of one good novel.
Дракула мертвый и довольный этим
Кто не знает Брэма Стокера, литературного отца "Дракулы"? Не будь его, вся вамп-ориентированная культура современности: от "Интервью с вампиром" и семейства Калленов из "Сумерек" до " линдквистова "Впусти меня" и простигосподи лукьяненковских "Всем выйти из сумрака!"- появилась бы, наверно, природа не терпит пустоты - но была бы иной. И это еще я не вспоминаю десятков тысяч фанфиков разной степени хорошести. А кто-нибудь знает другие произведения романиста? Ну, навскидку? Нет, нет и нет. Букмейт в коллаборации с "Подписными изданиями" восполняет недостаток Стокера в организме русскоязычного читателя, доверив перевод одному из лучших наших переводчиков Сергею Карпову ("Иерусалим" Мура, если что, не считая полусотни других).
Честно говоря, я с подозрением смотрела на эту книжку, читательская интуиция вещь тренируемая, моя подсказывала, что не стоит. Но взялась и стала слушать. История такая: в меру обеспеченный лингвист Арчибальд Хантер путешествует без излишеств, но достойно, по-джентльменски по разным долбеням, собирая фольклор. Очередная дорога привела его на побережье Шотландии (а надо вам сказать, что Стокер, работая театральным администратором, сам ездил в те места для сбора материала к постановке "Макбета"). Старая провидица Гармала. похожая на одну из макбетовских ведьм, сказала ему, что в нем дремлет мощный пророческий дар, который вот-вот пробудится. После чего начался ряд событий, мрачноватых, мистических, пугающих, вроде гибели молодого моряка ("золотого человека"), которого Арчибальд пытался, но так и не сумел спасти, и последовавшего за тем прохождения толпы мертвецов, утонувших в здешних водах со времени зарождения цивилизации.
Но вообще, ему стоило бы устроиться на здешнем побережье спасателем, потому что очень скоро судьба снова выкатывает перед нашим Арчи челлендж - на сей раз спасти от смерти в волнах юную леди и ее пожилую компаньонку. Тут он даже с перевыполнением плана потрудился, спас еще и семейную реликвию, золотую брошь, за которую девушка, по ее словам, не колеблясь пожертвовала бы всем, что имеет. И заявление это было смелым, потому что молодая американка Марджори, ни много, ни мало - самая богатая наследница в мире, скрывающаяся в этих негостеприимных краях (ах, авторский тяжеловесный стиль заразителен. простите) от толпы потенциальных женихов. На самом деле, прячется она от возможных похитителей. Потому что патриотка Марджори вовлечена в интриги испано-американской войны и активно жертвовала на нужды ВПК родины, что не могло не вызвать недовольства противной стороны конфликта.
Итак, за малышкой охотятся спецслужбы и бандиты, намеревающиеся похитит ради выкупа. А сама она в компании со спасителем, с которым у них вспыхивает любовь, начинает охотиться за спрятанным где-то тут в пещерах побережья кладом. Там еще будет такое, в стиле "Тома Сойера": "Спокойно, Бэкки, я Дубровский", когда, после нахождения клада, пару настигнет в пещере прилив и он предложит любимой встать на голову собственного холодеющего трупа, чтобы быть повыше, но не потребовалось, к счастью. Без того не бедные влюбленные становятся еще богаче, завладев несметными сокровищами папского клада, но тут девушку и клад похищают. А ее тайному супругу (они успели обвенчаться, но перепихнуться до сих пор все не было времени) приходится спасать любимую с помощью спецслужб и собственной суперпауэ.
Там еще о роли женщины в обществе, эмансипации, обязанностях по отношению к мужу и любви, побеждающей все (кроме расовых предрассудков в отношении людей с иным цветом кожи и разрезом глаз, которых автор не колеблясь поубивал бы, чтобы остановить перенаселение планеты - да, можете еще и экологичность мышления поставить в плюс). В общем, та еще муть, а Брэм Стокер все-таки автор одного хорошего романа.
June 12, 2022
Great story, BUT the way the male protagonist treats his love interest is SO sexist and patronizing. Not sure if that was Bram Stoker’s sexism coming out or if he was trying to criticize the way women were treated when he published this book. At the end, when a person of color is introduced into the story, it gets very racist, very fast 😡😡😡. Again would love to read some lit on feminist theory and stokers writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2024
A largo della Scozia, il mar del Nord imperversa senza pietà sulla fragile terra dei fati; giorno e notte si susseguono, secoli senza rimorsi. Tutto cambia, il mare cambia tutto. Paziente assassino del tempo, custodisce i segreti che solo l’occhio attento del destino conosce; solo ai fati è dato di custodire il passato che fu ed il futuro che deve ancora essere. Come essi operano non è dato di sapere agli uomini del presente che, come scogli di una terra le cui origini sono dimenticate, sono in balia del destino che è stato scelto per loro, succubi al cambiamento di ogni marea della loro vita. Così Archibald Hunter seguirà il corso del suo destino. Senza conoscerne il motivo sarà scelto per far riemergere un passato dimenticato da molti e custodito da pochi. Alla scoperta di tutto ciò che è celato all’occhio umano, la vita di Archibald verrà stravolta da un susseguirsi di eventi che lo porteranno tra le gentil braccia
della dolce inarrestabile Marjory; confrontandosi con l’onore di una promessa che i morti e la loro progenie soltanto custodiscono, tenterà la scoperta di ciò che fu da Dio e per Dio demandato e dagli uomini tumulato. Che prezzo ha una promessa se paragonata ad una vita?
della dolce inarrestabile Marjory; confrontandosi con l’onore di una promessa che i morti e la loro progenie soltanto custodiscono, tenterà la scoperta di ciò che fu da Dio e per Dio demandato e dagli uomini tumulato. Che prezzo ha una promessa se paragonata ad una vita?
December 30, 2024
Mystery of the Sea is an adventure/romance by the author of Dracula. The story is full of elements: there’s a romantic storyline, a treasure hunt and a kidnapping plot, all with the Spanish-American war of 1898 in the background. Because this is Stoker, there is a supernatural element as well, but this serves mainly to explain the plot’s many coincidences. Stoker builds up all of his plot elements separately - all the other elements fall away while Archibald and Marjory fall in love, and must be built back up later in the story. A modern writer would have built the elements up simultaneously; or more likely, cut them down to one or two.
I was drawn to this story because of the character of Marjory. She is intelligent and strong-willed. Stoker had traveled to the United States. He was clearly writing from experience when portraying the American characters. He had also spent much time in the area of Scotland that is the setting for the action. Though this is technically a 20th century novel, it has a 19th Century novel feel with a heightened, gothic plot and bold, clear stereotypes for good and evil characters. I was disappointed that the one African-American was portrayed with an ugly, racist stereotype. Otherwise, the story is entertaining.
I was drawn to this story because of the character of Marjory. She is intelligent and strong-willed. Stoker had traveled to the United States. He was clearly writing from experience when portraying the American characters. He had also spent much time in the area of Scotland that is the setting for the action. Though this is technically a 20th century novel, it has a 19th Century novel feel with a heightened, gothic plot and bold, clear stereotypes for good and evil characters. I was disappointed that the one African-American was portrayed with an ugly, racist stereotype. Otherwise, the story is entertaining.
November 1, 2023
This was very disappointing. I read Dracula a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so I added some of Stoker’s other books to my to-read list. But this felt like it was written by a different author entirely. The melodrama is still there, and the outdated social mores and (occasionally) the creeping sense of sublime dread.
But most of this novel is a boring slog. Stoker describes uninteresting things in such tedious detai; yet in the final chapter drops the ball completely and gives us the fates of all these characters in a few meager lines. He’s obsessed with race, ancestry and the supposedly innate characteristics nationality bestows on people. Okay, it’s not surprising to find racism and outdated ideas in a turn of the century work — but Stoker’s racism seems more overt and disgusting than many, making it difficult to actually read this.
Worst of all — and what makes all these sins unforgivable — is that the book is simply boring, with a meandering plot that feels stitched together like Frankenstein’s monster. There are at least two separate novels here vying for the author’s attention, and one of them gets almost completely forgotten until late in the book.
But most of this novel is a boring slog. Stoker describes uninteresting things in such tedious detai; yet in the final chapter drops the ball completely and gives us the fates of all these characters in a few meager lines. He’s obsessed with race, ancestry and the supposedly innate characteristics nationality bestows on people. Okay, it’s not surprising to find racism and outdated ideas in a turn of the century work — but Stoker’s racism seems more overt and disgusting than many, making it difficult to actually read this.
Worst of all — and what makes all these sins unforgivable — is that the book is simply boring, with a meandering plot that feels stitched together like Frankenstein’s monster. There are at least two separate novels here vying for the author’s attention, and one of them gets almost completely forgotten until late in the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2023
This book is strange, and not necessarily in a good way. Read some of the reviews that go in more detail, but let me just comment on the three different phases (parts?) of this book.
The old Scottish witch/seer - This first part is very descriptive and creepy. However, even with the internet there was a lot of the witch's dialog I just couldn't translate, and believe me I searched for it. If an interested reader or scholar has had more success than I did and produced an annotated version, I'd love to hear about it.
The second part, the "love story" part was just too darned repetitive. If you like romance, you might enjoy this more than I did. If you're a second-wave feminist, you might have similar qualms that I had.
The third part, the "action/spy part" was probably okay, but at this point I just wanted to get to the end of the book. It didn't help that there was a heavy bit of racism at the end. Yeah, I know we've got to consider the time in which Stoker lived and wrote, but it made it difficult for me to push through to the end, but I did.
Not really recommended.
The old Scottish witch/seer - This first part is very descriptive and creepy. However, even with the internet there was a lot of the witch's dialog I just couldn't translate, and believe me I searched for it. If an interested reader or scholar has had more success than I did and produced an annotated version, I'd love to hear about it.
The second part, the "love story" part was just too darned repetitive. If you like romance, you might enjoy this more than I did. If you're a second-wave feminist, you might have similar qualms that I had.
The third part, the "action/spy part" was probably okay, but at this point I just wanted to get to the end of the book. It didn't help that there was a heavy bit of racism at the end. Yeah, I know we've got to consider the time in which Stoker lived and wrote, but it made it difficult for me to push through to the end, but I did.
Not really recommended.
February 7, 2021
I tried so hard to give 4 stars but seeing the ending I could not. The work would have been better without the supernatural elements. I felt like there were too many co incidents and several x machina. And in true Bram Stoker fashion, of course the Spaniard dies so conveniently(I'm looking at you Lucys suitor from America in Dracula). The ending was rushed and many questions remained unanswered.
Any way, I did enjoy this book. I'm glad I read it. It's worth reading despite all its shortcomings
Any way, I did enjoy this book. I'm glad I read it. It's worth reading despite all its shortcomings
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2020
Adventure story set on the coast of Scotland, in 1898, during the Spanish-American War. Plot revolves around a buried Spanish treasure dating back to the Spanish Armada. Some supernatural elements (Second Sight). A small amount of anti-black racist attitudes, not uncommon in 1902, when this book was published, but it doesn't form a major part of the plot.
February 7, 2024
Best gothic/romantic adventure book ever! might even be better than Dracula. very likely gonna be the favourite book of the year for me. This is pushing Bam Stoker on top of my favourite writer of all time list!! very exciting.
October 15, 2025
A rather nice (for Stoker) adventure and love story. Many exciting qualities. For me, Stoker is very reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe and other sleuth novelists of that era. There are many mentions of technique common to the intelligent protagonists. QED
November 1, 2019
I enjoyed that book.
April 9, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It simmers rather than boils and the story is one to get lost in rather than charge through.
August 24, 2021
Decent spy story and cringey romance for the most part. Could have done more with the ghost story aspects. Got pretty racist towards the end.
October 12, 2022
a great adventure
Mention of Bram Stoker brings to mind Dracula, but this book rarely gets a mention. Yet it is just as good in its style.
Mention of Bram Stoker brings to mind Dracula, but this book rarely gets a mention. Yet it is just as good in its style.
June 2, 2024
A mess of a story.
November 29, 2025
Intrigante ma troppo lento.
July 30, 2014
In truth I didn't manage to finish the book. However by 60% the way through all of my patience was worn out.
This is by far the worst book I have ever read.
It started off good with normal bram stoker Gothic flare. The ghosts were introduced far far earlier than I expected.
Then came Marjory... The Mary sue from hell.
At this point the book's plot grinds to a halt as the main characters just go full stupid.
Absolutely NOTHING Marjory does makes a bit of sense. She has the most inappropriate reactions to situations and has the depth of a single sheet of rice-paper.
The next part will be a synopses of the story up until I finally decided I had enough.
Marjorie introduction:
Her and her friend mrs james finds themselves stuck on a rock in the middle of rock while the tide is coming in and a nasty storm. The main hero, Archie Hunter, swims out and saves both girls by tying a rope to them and swimming back.
They go back to the inn to rest after their near death experience. The storm raging, wind howling ect ect. After maybe an hour mrs james falls asleep and Marjory decided she would like to take a stroll on the beach near where she was almost killed while the storm is still present.
The main character decides to spill the beans of whats been happening up to now to Marjory.
She was informed that: he has second sight, recently followed a bunch of ghosts while caring a dieing man, after seeing the dead man's ghost drops him into a well, and that several of the ghosts are guarding a treasure who took notice and acted menacingly towards him.
She takes this entirely too well. Her response was pretty much "oooooh treasure!? Where? We should go find it!"
At this point Archie goes full stupid:
On the second meeting he takes her to the well mentioned above so the can look around. The whole time walking to the well he is thinking to himself "I'm sure people have proposed and knew each other for a shorter period of time. It works out well for them right? oh heck I'm going to go for it!" He at this point proposes to her. She turns him down. (This is one of Marjorie's more sane moments.) He then goes back to tried to win his girls love with deciphering a cryptograph. Because the lades love those cryptographs.
Later a government agent, by the name of Sam Adams, informs Archie of who the girl he is stalking truly is. Apparently she is a heiress of the largest fortune in America, so large in fact she bought a battleship for the US on a whim and gave it to them so they could kill the Spanish. By the way shes very racist towards Spanish people. Her parents have also recently died so she is an orphan millionaire. (How convenient for the main character)
So Archie confronts her. She admits she left America to avoid all those awful love letters and people proposing. At the end of this conversation she proposes to Archie.
Apparently 2 days is too soon but 3 days is just right. Especially when you flee a country to avoid marriage >.< WTF!?
She also goes on about how she is independent but needs a man to make decisions for her and this makes her just like Joan of arc. I kid you not she compares herself to herself to THE Joan of arc.
She also claims that the secret service knows nothing because they are getting information from their supervisors, the only way to find out about international affairs is by consulting the hired help that mops your floors.
She manages to get stupider as it goes on.
It is then revealed that there is a plot by some Spanish people to kidnap her to hold her for ransom. When Archie explains this her reaction is "ooh what good fun. Tell me more, we can play a prank on them." When she realizes he is being serious and is worried she blows him off and then laments that she would be engaged to someone who would burden her with not getting herself killed. After this... for no good reason at all she throws herself at the hero and begs for sex. I guess the thought of being murdered and kidnapped turns her on.
Next day they marry and then try to keep everyone else from every knowing.
At this point I was so aghast at Marjory's behavior I started to wonder if this was a strange satire. I don't believe it is, the other characters take themselves so seriously and actually plan things out so it's hard to imagine it being a satire or parody. Marjory is the only one that acts completely out of place.
Marjory continues her crusade of being stupid. Once they survived the rising tide of the cave with a kiss I just decided I had enough.
I really can't believe bram stoker wrote this. This is so absolutely atrocious it's beyond belief. I may eventually try to finish it to see just how deep a whole it digs itself but for now I am done with this horrible book.
This is by far the worst book I have ever read.
It started off good with normal bram stoker Gothic flare. The ghosts were introduced far far earlier than I expected.
Then came Marjory... The Mary sue from hell.
At this point the book's plot grinds to a halt as the main characters just go full stupid.
Absolutely NOTHING Marjory does makes a bit of sense. She has the most inappropriate reactions to situations and has the depth of a single sheet of rice-paper.
The next part will be a synopses of the story up until I finally decided I had enough.
Marjorie introduction:
Her and her friend mrs james finds themselves stuck on a rock in the middle of rock while the tide is coming in and a nasty storm. The main hero, Archie Hunter, swims out and saves both girls by tying a rope to them and swimming back.
They go back to the inn to rest after their near death experience. The storm raging, wind howling ect ect. After maybe an hour mrs james falls asleep and Marjory decided she would like to take a stroll on the beach near where she was almost killed while the storm is still present.
The main character decides to spill the beans of whats been happening up to now to Marjory.
She was informed that: he has second sight, recently followed a bunch of ghosts while caring a dieing man, after seeing the dead man's ghost drops him into a well, and that several of the ghosts are guarding a treasure who took notice and acted menacingly towards him.
She takes this entirely too well. Her response was pretty much "oooooh treasure!? Where? We should go find it!"
At this point Archie goes full stupid:
On the second meeting he takes her to the well mentioned above so the can look around. The whole time walking to the well he is thinking to himself "I'm sure people have proposed and knew each other for a shorter period of time. It works out well for them right? oh heck I'm going to go for it!" He at this point proposes to her. She turns him down. (This is one of Marjorie's more sane moments.) He then goes back to tried to win his girls love with deciphering a cryptograph. Because the lades love those cryptographs.
Later a government agent, by the name of Sam Adams, informs Archie of who the girl he is stalking truly is. Apparently she is a heiress of the largest fortune in America, so large in fact she bought a battleship for the US on a whim and gave it to them so they could kill the Spanish. By the way shes very racist towards Spanish people. Her parents have also recently died so she is an orphan millionaire. (How convenient for the main character)
So Archie confronts her. She admits she left America to avoid all those awful love letters and people proposing. At the end of this conversation she proposes to Archie.
Apparently 2 days is too soon but 3 days is just right. Especially when you flee a country to avoid marriage >.< WTF!?
She also goes on about how she is independent but needs a man to make decisions for her and this makes her just like Joan of arc. I kid you not she compares herself to herself to THE Joan of arc.
She also claims that the secret service knows nothing because they are getting information from their supervisors, the only way to find out about international affairs is by consulting the hired help that mops your floors.
She manages to get stupider as it goes on.
It is then revealed that there is a plot by some Spanish people to kidnap her to hold her for ransom. When Archie explains this her reaction is "ooh what good fun. Tell me more, we can play a prank on them." When she realizes he is being serious and is worried she blows him off and then laments that she would be engaged to someone who would burden her with not getting herself killed. After this... for no good reason at all she throws herself at the hero and begs for sex. I guess the thought of being murdered and kidnapped turns her on.
Next day they marry and then try to keep everyone else from every knowing.
At this point I was so aghast at Marjory's behavior I started to wonder if this was a strange satire. I don't believe it is, the other characters take themselves so seriously and actually plan things out so it's hard to imagine it being a satire or parody. Marjory is the only one that acts completely out of place.
Marjory continues her crusade of being stupid. Once they survived the rising tide of the cave with a kiss I just decided I had enough.
I really can't believe bram stoker wrote this. This is so absolutely atrocious it's beyond belief. I may eventually try to finish it to see just how deep a whole it digs itself but for now I am done with this horrible book.
October 10, 2021
I had thought this was Stoker's longest book but, no, actually Dracula beats it ever so slightly (5-10 pages, if you count the appendices, which you probably shouldn't). I think he preferred shorter materials and he certainly, certainly preferred romance to horror and the supernatural, as evinced by the unfailing presence of romance in every single one of his large works (even if it transmogrifies, as in The Primrose Path).
Not just romance, but emergency weddings (and not at all for the usual reasons one has an emergency wedding) factor big in Stoker's works, as do maritime conventions and real estate deals—all prominent herein. The thing I look for these days, however, is the research. The esteemed author liked to cement his works in some sort of solid scientific (or quasi-scientific, in the case of Seven Stars and White Worm) grounding which culminates in the several page treatise on bogs in The Snake's Pass.
I feel like a well-intentioned editor had a discussion with the author on the length and entertainment value of these segments as this books places most of the material in the appendices. And what is the topic? Well, in modern parlance, it's what we would call binary code. Technically, a five-bit binary encoding. (Apparently Francis Bacon dreamed this up and hid it all in Shakespeare's plays that he wrote.)
Hey, it becomes a critical plot point, and you don't have to read it. You can't ask much more of an author. Likewise, while the book's strong spooky start wherein we discover our hero has "second sight" (a topic quickly raised and peremptorily dismissed in White Worm) and sees a virtual "march of the damned" gets quickly derailed by a romance/espionage/adventure story, only to become the vital point at the end of the book.
I didn't mind, but it didn't quite grab me, either. I found myself thinking, "Wow, I should really care about [some passage or other]," which is a level removed from where authors usually like their readers to be.
Another Stoker tradition is "monster's dead, movie's over" (as Roger Corman once said) and the ending can feel a little abrupt given the length of the book. (Of all of Stoker's works, I think The Snake's Pass which has a quite concise ending, has the least rushed feel.)
I think he's trying to get less focused, here, than in previous works, if that makes sense. This would end in the unfortunate sprawling chaos of White Worm, but if his health had held out, it might not have. The effect here is that the supernatural element is diluted—and I see some are saying it feels like a "deus ex", but I think that's less significant than the dilution. I think that's part of why this one took me so long to read. (There were other external factors as well.)
It's not bad, but unless the next three books show some unexpected brilliance—Seven Stars does not—I'm going to go with "the '90s were his time to shine".
Not just romance, but emergency weddings (and not at all for the usual reasons one has an emergency wedding) factor big in Stoker's works, as do maritime conventions and real estate deals—all prominent herein. The thing I look for these days, however, is the research. The esteemed author liked to cement his works in some sort of solid scientific (or quasi-scientific, in the case of Seven Stars and White Worm) grounding which culminates in the several page treatise on bogs in The Snake's Pass.
I feel like a well-intentioned editor had a discussion with the author on the length and entertainment value of these segments as this books places most of the material in the appendices. And what is the topic? Well, in modern parlance, it's what we would call binary code. Technically, a five-bit binary encoding. (Apparently Francis Bacon dreamed this up and hid it all in Shakespeare's plays that he wrote.)
Hey, it becomes a critical plot point, and you don't have to read it. You can't ask much more of an author. Likewise, while the book's strong spooky start wherein we discover our hero has "second sight" (a topic quickly raised and peremptorily dismissed in White Worm) and sees a virtual "march of the damned" gets quickly derailed by a romance/espionage/adventure story, only to become the vital point at the end of the book.
I didn't mind, but it didn't quite grab me, either. I found myself thinking, "Wow, I should really care about [some passage or other]," which is a level removed from where authors usually like their readers to be.
Another Stoker tradition is "monster's dead, movie's over" (as Roger Corman once said) and the ending can feel a little abrupt given the length of the book. (Of all of Stoker's works, I think The Snake's Pass which has a quite concise ending, has the least rushed feel.)
I think he's trying to get less focused, here, than in previous works, if that makes sense. This would end in the unfortunate sprawling chaos of White Worm, but if his health had held out, it might not have. The effect here is that the supernatural element is diluted—and I see some are saying it feels like a "deus ex", but I think that's less significant than the dilution. I think that's part of why this one took me so long to read. (There were other external factors as well.)
It's not bad, but unless the next three books show some unexpected brilliance—Seven Stars does not—I'm going to go with "the '90s were his time to shine".
December 29, 2016
THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA (1902) is a combination adventure, romance, mystery, and fantasy. It is an exciting and engaging story, and is a great example of the quality and power of Stoker's writing. While at times gets somewhat bogged down in peripheral details, it is still one of my favorite overlooked classics.
Wonderful characters, including Archie Hunter, Marjory Drake, and Gormala, carry this story. They demand your attention and your admiration, and you can't help but to get involved in their story as they go through the adventure of a lifetime. Marjory and Archie's developing love is subtle but powerful, as the two timid individuals turn into a powerful couple. Archie's obsession with Marjory is realistically portrayed and watching his emotional roller-coaster as he wins her love makes for great reading. Their adventures together to find lost treasure and defeat the evil kidnappers are well told and just plain enjoyable to read.
One of the things Stoker is most well-known for is his ability to bring his settings to life with history and local color. This novel demonstrates this ability wonderfully. Taking place on the shores of Scotland during the Spanish American War, THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA is really able to get the reader involved with detailed descriptions of landscapes, climate, local accents, and customs. The political intrigue found here is asumedly an accurate portrayal of the times, with hostilities high between the various powers of the world. One thing that you do not get here is a dose of Stoker's otherwise frequent sexism. While Marjory might not be a 'New Woman' in the strictest sense, she certainly displays many admirable traits such as courage, independence, intelligence, and strength. Besides the obvious Dracula, she might be my favorite character in all Stoker's work.
My only real complaint about this book is the remarkable absence of Archie's fantastic ability of 'second-sight' for the middle 5/6 of the book. While I enjoy reading about decoding bilateral ciphers and about the characters' developing love, I really got drawn in by the mysterious powers displayed in the beginning of the book, and found myself missing the unknown for much of the middle part. Luckily, it all comes back towards the ending for an incredibly exciting finish.
Recommended for fans of Stoker and fans of well-written adventure/romance/mystery/fantasy.
Wonderful characters, including Archie Hunter, Marjory Drake, and Gormala, carry this story. They demand your attention and your admiration, and you can't help but to get involved in their story as they go through the adventure of a lifetime. Marjory and Archie's developing love is subtle but powerful, as the two timid individuals turn into a powerful couple. Archie's obsession with Marjory is realistically portrayed and watching his emotional roller-coaster as he wins her love makes for great reading. Their adventures together to find lost treasure and defeat the evil kidnappers are well told and just plain enjoyable to read.
One of the things Stoker is most well-known for is his ability to bring his settings to life with history and local color. This novel demonstrates this ability wonderfully. Taking place on the shores of Scotland during the Spanish American War, THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA is really able to get the reader involved with detailed descriptions of landscapes, climate, local accents, and customs. The political intrigue found here is asumedly an accurate portrayal of the times, with hostilities high between the various powers of the world. One thing that you do not get here is a dose of Stoker's otherwise frequent sexism. While Marjory might not be a 'New Woman' in the strictest sense, she certainly displays many admirable traits such as courage, independence, intelligence, and strength. Besides the obvious Dracula, she might be my favorite character in all Stoker's work.
My only real complaint about this book is the remarkable absence of Archie's fantastic ability of 'second-sight' for the middle 5/6 of the book. While I enjoy reading about decoding bilateral ciphers and about the characters' developing love, I really got drawn in by the mysterious powers displayed in the beginning of the book, and found myself missing the unknown for much of the middle part. Luckily, it all comes back towards the ending for an incredibly exciting finish.
Recommended for fans of Stoker and fans of well-written adventure/romance/mystery/fantasy.
October 3, 2025
Intrigued by Stoker's masterpiece, Dracula, I decided I needed more Stoker on my TBR. Here's the thing though; so far, the only other better-than-decent read has been Dracula's Guest, a short story anthology that has some pretty good horror offerings. The Mystery of the Sea and Lair of the White Worm, both, kind of suck.
The two works just mentioned suffer from the same problem: the exposition is way too long, and the n-word is used way too frequently. I don't hold classic writers to the same standards that I would typically expect from a post-modern writer. Language and culture are constantly changing, adapting to the current societal norms. Our tolerance for vocabulary deemed culturally insensitive has changed, and so words that were once acceptable have become taboo.
Stoker is no longer alive to adapt his works to conform, and so he should be read with the original language unchanged. Usually this is not a problem for me, although I must admit that the usage of the slur seems gratuitous in both works.
The Mystery of the Sea involves intrigue during the Spanish-American War, second sight, attempts at kidnapping, espionage, hidden treasure, and the things that establish our nationalist identities. The book is too long by at least 100 pages, but still sufficiently interesting to warrant attention. Good book, not great.
The two works just mentioned suffer from the same problem: the exposition is way too long, and the n-word is used way too frequently. I don't hold classic writers to the same standards that I would typically expect from a post-modern writer. Language and culture are constantly changing, adapting to the current societal norms. Our tolerance for vocabulary deemed culturally insensitive has changed, and so words that were once acceptable have become taboo.
Stoker is no longer alive to adapt his works to conform, and so he should be read with the original language unchanged. Usually this is not a problem for me, although I must admit that the usage of the slur seems gratuitous in both works.
The Mystery of the Sea involves intrigue during the Spanish-American War, second sight, attempts at kidnapping, espionage, hidden treasure, and the things that establish our nationalist identities. The book is too long by at least 100 pages, but still sufficiently interesting to warrant attention. Good book, not great.
October 3, 2016
Has ever a book squandered so much potential? Or am I simply coming at it as a man from a hundred years later?
The promise of this book is an intrigue set to a treasure hunt that involves ghost processions and pirate feuds and hidden passages. The reality is a book that is uneasy about how to create a complex woman and doesn't end up using half of its setup.
There are very interesting things here in a scholarly reading. Most notably, I love the turn-of-the-century viewpoint on Americans. Marjory is an American heiress who seems super capable of things, until she isn't, and Archibald is just the man to tame her! It reeks of sexism, but that's over a hundred years of social evolution that leads me to that point.
Another really, really interesting character is the old crone Gormala. But her use in the story is never quite flushed out, and I was left disappointed.
And that is the crux of my problem here. The Mystery of the Sea is a great idea, but its execution was just disappointing. I'm glad to have read this book (though I will be honest -- it literally took me a year to get through it), but there isn't much more to say about it. I have heard other Stoker books are better, so I look forward to continuing on past Dracula to find a niche Stoker book to enjoy.
The promise of this book is an intrigue set to a treasure hunt that involves ghost processions and pirate feuds and hidden passages. The reality is a book that is uneasy about how to create a complex woman and doesn't end up using half of its setup.
There are very interesting things here in a scholarly reading. Most notably, I love the turn-of-the-century viewpoint on Americans. Marjory is an American heiress who seems super capable of things, until she isn't, and Archibald is just the man to tame her! It reeks of sexism, but that's over a hundred years of social evolution that leads me to that point.
Another really, really interesting character is the old crone Gormala. But her use in the story is never quite flushed out, and I was left disappointed.
And that is the crux of my problem here. The Mystery of the Sea is a great idea, but its execution was just disappointing. I'm glad to have read this book (though I will be honest -- it literally took me a year to get through it), but there isn't much more to say about it. I have heard other Stoker books are better, so I look forward to continuing on past Dracula to find a niche Stoker book to enjoy.
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