Vintage Children's Classics Dracula

Review of the BARNES FLEXIBOUND EDITION. I wish more people would state which edition they were reviewing, since Amazon group them altogether!Bought as a gift and this edition is beautiful. I love the vibrant colour and the flexible cover.My only gripe was a few fine scuffs here and there due to Amazons poor packaging/postal handing. Not much to say...let my photos do the talking!

I'm not sure it's worth my reviewing the story in this book, since everyone is so familiar with it. But if you haven't actually read this original version then it is well worth doing so, if you can cope with the beautiful classic writing style.The main reason I wanted to do this review was to let you know just how nice this book is physically.The format is a Flexibound Edition by Barnes & Noble. It's basically a faux leather-bound cover. Obviously not real leather, it is a soft feel plastic or rubber which is marginally flexible in the hand.The first and last pages are backed in the old-world style using frantically patterned end papers.The page edges are colour sprayed to complement the cover.There is also a page marking ribbon.Even the relatively thick paper stock has slightly off white colouring and lends itself to the feel of an old original collectable.In short, for the incredibly low retail price of this book you get an absolutely stunning edition, which looks fantastic on the shelf in a collected set and feels great in the hand as you read. Barnes and Noble do a nice collection in this format. Just search for (Barnes Noble Flexibound editions) on Amazon.

I bought this because it is described as a Penguin Classics edition and is as described but the text of the story is not original: it has been amended. It is a pity Maurice Hindle [Editor] and Christopher Frayling [Professor of Cultural History] didn't mention that fact. Maybe they didn't know or maybe they feel that the reader doesn't need to know that the text is different from Mr Stoker's original.Q:How is it different?A:Like so many books nowadays the punctuation has been changed to suit publishers' custom and practice. At school, I was taught that the spoken word appears on the page enclosed in double commas [speech marks]. No doubt you were too. Quoted speech appears between single commas. Sadly, the British publishers have corrupted our written language by transposing the use of those punctuation marks. It seems unlikely, but true, that publishers in the USA have retained the correct use of punctuation marks.So, now that we know two highly qualified experts in English literature collaborated to adulterate a classic piece of work, what other amendments have they made to the text?I can't yet tell you but if I ever find an original copy, or as close to one as possible, I will let you know.

Like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Frankenstein and A Woman in White, this is a must read Gothic classic which doesn’t disappoint. Forget Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, this is a much more nuanced and detailed work which delivers more psychological than visceral horror.The topographical detail of Transylvania and Whitby is thoroughly researched and vivid. This Penguin edition comes with detailed footnotes which give relevant context and accompanying essays examining Stoker’s inspiration for the novel as well an exploration of sub themes such as Victorian sexuality and desire.First and foremost however this is a thrilling horror story, populated by convincing characters the reader cannot help empathise with and root for. Read it for the description of the scenery, the fast moving, tense plot and the multi perspective narrative told unusually by diaries, journals and telegrams.

Bram Stoker's iconic novel 'Dracula' begins with a young man, Jonathan Harker, arriving in Transylvania where he has an appointment to keep with a certain Count Dracula. The count is looking for a London home and Jonathan, who has the details of a large house that might suit Dracula, is keen to make the count's acquaintance and visit him in his castle. However, the Transylvanian locals, who are terrified of the count, try to warn Jonathan about the wiseness of his visit, and when Jonathan arrives at Count Dracula's castle and finds himself practically a prisoner of his strange host, he begins to wish that he had listened to them. Meanwhile back in England, Jonathan's fiancee, Mina Harker, is staying in Whitby with her friend Lucy Westenra, when a series of unusual and discomfiting events occur which include an unmanned ship with the dead captain lashed to the wheel being wrecked during a violent storm; Lucy being found sleepwalking in a churchyard where she comes into contact with a tall, dark, mysterious figure; and the appearance of some strange puncture marks on Lucy's neck that will not heal. And in a lunatic asylum run by Lucy's doctor friend, an inmate tells of the imminent arrival of his 'Master'...Dramatic, claustrophobic, full of gothic tropes and touching on themes such as: love, religion, feudal aristocracy, promiscuity, female sexuality, the pitting of primitive forces against modern and so forth, this novel - which is told entirely in the form of letters and journals - pulls the reader in from the very first pages and keeps us involved from beginning to end. It is true that this is not my preferred genre of literature and I did find aspects of the book to be overly dramatic and so on, but I have to admit to being gripped by parts of this story and having had this novel on my 'to read list' for years and years, I'm really glad that I've finally got around to reading it.4 Stars.