The Ocelot Clubhouse discussion

Who's reading along? What do you think of Alice's choice to be Dracula rather than one of the other characters?

I'm reading this for the first time, and really liking it so far!

The first 60 pages - Harker in Dracula's castle - were interesting because I felt like every other sentence I was saying "Oh, honey, noooo," to Harker because it was just SO OBVIOUS what was going on. But that's to us, today, in part because of THIS BOOK and everything it has inspired. I'm curious - the readers of the time would have known what was going on, but would it have seemed SO head-slappingly obvious then? It's fascinating to read this book now in this culture that has been so shaped by this book! If that makes any sense?

Now I'm on to the next section - Mina and Lucy are writing each other letters - and it seems so like a traditional Victorian "young women in society" novel that it's cracking me up. I'm impressed by how well Stoker executed the various tones and formats.

I'm also really enjoying the language in general and especially the descriptions. And I say that as someone who sometimes has to stop herself from skimming descriptions of settings, etc.!

As Cara would say:

"Exactly what your videos need. Letter writing scenes."

This is my first time reading Dracula, and I'm really enjoying it. I really like the letter/journal format of story telling, I feel like you get to know the characters' personalities quicker in this format. And on that subject... I'm already annoyed by Lucy. So naturally I'm thinking that Lucy = Ewan (annoying, and the 3 suitors Lucy had vs Ewan having 3 classes to pick from). My initial thought is that Alice wants Andrew to be the Harker of the story because of her "never to be seen again" comment in the last video.

Samantha wrote: "My initial thought is that Alice wants Andrew to be the Harker of the story because of her 'never to be seen again'"

OH. Huh. Interesting. (I hope we don't NEVER SEE ANDREW AGAIN. What if we never see Andrew again, you guys??)

Yesterday I kept trying to read parts involving Renfield eating various insects/animals while I was eating. That was a mistake.

So, this new development... is Ewan Lucy?? (Then who is Mina?)

Sarah wrote: "So, this new development... is Ewan Lucy?? (Then who is Mina?)"

Hmm. Hmmmmm. I think I need to read more. I also saw someone suggest that Ewan is Renfield.

(And, of course, the characters don't necessarily exactly correspond. But it's still interesting to think about.)

Got to a part in chapter 19 where Mina says she wishes she hadn't left because then maybe the *spoilers* wouldn't have happened to Lucy. Made me think that maybe this is how Cara(Mina) will react when she gets back and sees what Alice is doing. I know Alice is Dracula, but that part in the book made me think of the Cara/Alice friendship.

Also if ANYBODY starts eating flies/spiders/other creatures, I'M OUT.

Samantha wrote: "Also if ANYBODY starts eating flies/spiders/other creatures, I'M OUT."

Yeah, just FYI, Kate, that's probably where I draw the line too.