The eclecticist of eclectic book club discussion

This month I am going to go all English major with a book on my uni reading list since it's the first book I have to read.

Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Bet you guys thought it was gonna be something weird....

Great! I'm already reading this in "real time" as part of the "Dracula Daily" project. It began in May and continues through to November.

Dracula by Bram Stoker is made up of letters, diaries, telegrams, newspaper clippings - and every part of it has a date. The whole story happens between May 3 and November 10.

If you sign up with "Dracula Daily" here: https://draculadaily.substack.com/about you can have each entry sent to you by e-mail. There isn't one every day, and some are much shorter than others. But all the back numbers are there, so you can start when you like.

(At first I thought I'd be able to read along on Gutenberg, but you can't really do that, as the order is different. This is a fun way though, and really increases the tension, as long as you don't mind taking it slow!)

That's pretty cool.
What has your experience been reading it this way?

I've havered for and against, Georga. When there have been days without anything, or perhaps just a telegram, I've thought "I can't stand this, l'm going to read it all!"

But at the moment it's quite exciting, with an email every day. It's definitely the right sort of book to try this with. The characters are in different countries, and don't know about the deadly danger (but we do, sort of). We have to wait for events to happen for the same length of time as they do!

It feels very different from reading a book in the normal way (and probably speeding up to see what happens). This way really ratchets up the fear and foreboding 😨

Awesome, I haven’t reread it a long time and not for book club’s sake. It’s just chilling on my bookshelf. A favorite but never gone read again. I guess this is the chance to reread it.

I plan to read this to. I read it (once) years ago and didn't like it but I honestly think i'll like it more now so i've been wanting to reread it and I got an audible book borrowed through audible plus for it, it's narrated by a whole bunch of people including Tim Curry. So I think that's really going to help to :).

Haven’t started the story yet, reading the intro that’s at the front, and it pretty much aids my memory of this book being gay. And Bram Stoker was most likely gay and that a lot of the male authors and actors who are remembered today are gay and wrote love letters to each other. But everything’s tired as friendship. I love all of these lifelong undying friendships that were most definitely platonic in all forms.

“Stoker was prone to hero-worship. One of his first idols was Walt Whitman, whose revolutionary poetry celebrated democracy, comradeship, and live between men; his “Calamus” poems, most famously, came close to being specifically homosexual manifestos. Stoker wrote the older man emotional, revealing letters: “How sweet a thing it is for a strong healthy man with a woman’s eyes and a child’s wishes to feel that he can speak to a man who can be if he wishes father, and brother and wife to his soul” (Belford, p.43) ” (pg xx. Dracula Introduction by Brooke Allen).


Anyways, it’s gay. They all were gay. The end. (Also remembering why I never finished it after doing research last time but I will power through even if I’ll wrap like a baby.”

“[…] his true marriage was to Henry Irving, a selfish, devouring man who soaked up the talent, time and devotion of his acolytes, of whom Stoker was the foremost;” (xxi-xxii, Dracula Introduction by Brooke Allen)

Okay, gonna start reading now.

I've been gatekeeping my own love of vampires. I read Dracula a few years ago, I didn't like it. I thought i'd like it given some time, if I just "matured" enough. I love vampires so how could I not love Dracula? I just had to I tell ya! Well ... I don't. It's not for me. And i've finally realized i've been gatekeeping my own love of vampires lol. I hope others enjoy Dracula more than I do.

Yes, it's gay. He was gay. Rumor is he modeled Johnathan a bit sheet himself.

I like the idea of an edition narrated by a whole bunch of people including Tim Curry, Tyler. How's that going?

Reading it in real time means that we haven't seen Jonathan Harker for ages :( But apparently the people who have organised this are publishing it as a book.

Like I said in my previous comment "I read Dracula a few years ago, I didn't like it. I thought i'd like it given some time, if I just "matured" enough. I love vampires so how could I not love Dracula? I just had to I tell ya! Well ... I don't. It's not for me." and "I hope others enjoy Dracula more than I do."

I DNF'd it after 2 chapters. The narration wasn't the issue though. The narration is great so if you enjoy the story I think you'll enjoy the narration. I just, don't like the story.

Maybe after a while I'll try it, thanks. This weird way of reading goes on until November though.