LD4all Book Club: [Ishmael by Daniel Quinn]

I think I can start with some pre-reading thoughts. There are no spoilers, just some random comments based on the cover and the index (I really enjoy books thoroughly, you see :lol: )

Let me introduce you guys to the edition of the book I got.

It’s a cool Wordsworth paperback edition I got for US$4, considering my buddies at the book store always give me discounts :razz:

My thoughts when looking at the cover:

  • I don’t like the fact that the cover somehow manipulates my mental representation of Count Dracula.
  • That picture gives me the creeps at night
  • It’s going to be an amazing literary adventure
  • I like the solemn and deep look of the forest in the back. My mental scenario for the story starts to builds itself just by looking at the very cover.

I’ve been reading the index in the third page and I see this story will unfold by means of characters’ diary fragments. I think it’s going to be very interesting to be led by different characters and different perspectives of the same event. Having first-person narrators will probably add to the dramatic effect of the story being told. It will also let us compare how a same event can be perceived differently by different persons.

Those are my two pre-reading cents :wink:

BTW: I already had three ND involving the Count after two days of reading, so take this into account to gain lucidity! :razz: (I almost got it last night! Literature-induced Lucid Dream?? LitILD?)

As I’m currently dirt poor I’ll be making use of Project Gutenberg to read Dracula. :razz:

Interesting that you’ve already had several dreams about it, Lucho. Heh.

I’ll likely start reading and throwing in my findings sometime next week as I’ll be very busy in the next few days with university work.

We’ll have to see how it goes with the first one. See at what pace people read and such. Keep in mind, the holiday season is close at hand, so people are a little more pressed for time than they usually are. We’ll eventually settle into a rhythm in the future in all likelihood.

Lucho - I’ve got the UK Wordsworth Classics version. The cover is similar, but slightly different:

I like the dark castle with the full moon and mountains behind it; really sets the scene. I don’t like the picture of Dracula though, he looks different and much more alien-like to how I imagine him.

Lol :cool:

What were the dreams like, scary at all?

I stickied the topic and changed the title.

Let’s get it started! :happy:

Thanks for the link. Norwegian libraries are pretty bad when it comes to english books.
Any way I can get the book on my Iphone? Import it to Ibooks or something…

Thanks Bruno, that’s great! :smile:

Spasm - According to this link https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dracula/id395541616?mt=11 you can get it for free on Ibooks. If there are any problems with that, or if you want to read it on both your Iphone and pc and sync the pages, you could download Amazon’s kindle app https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_iphone_mkt_lnd?docId=1000301301 and get it for free from amazon’s kindle store.

So, on to book comments!

Up to end of chapter 1

SPOILER - Click to view

I really like how the book starts. I think that having the first chapter in the form of Jonathan Harker’s journal works very well, and it allows for lots of little nice touches such as his notes to get the recipes for the meals he’s had for Mina.

I love the descriptions of the countryside in this part of Europe, and how remote and far away it makes it sound. Tension and a feeling that something is wrong is gradually and skillfully built up by the warnings of the local people and the carriage ride in the night.

My one criticism is that the local people seem a bit stereotypical. The different nationalities are all wearing very different clothing, that is both traditional and pretty much identical for each person, and they seem consumed with their superstitions. However, I’m looking at this from a modern perspective, and maybe this would have been what remote places in Europe were like in the late 1800s.

About to start on chapter 5. I like the book so far. Harkers’ diary is very exciting. I like how the book is written, although it’s a bit hard to read.

Apparently, my school’s library isn’t one of those. I’m going to have to read it from a computer then. I would’ve preferred something in my hands though. :neutral:

I am so tempted to read along with all of you! I even considered to read it on my work… But I think that just goes too far :sad: . I hope I can join on the next book. Good luck everyone! :read:

Edit:
Wow, I am at chapter 3 now, and this story is getting really good/interesting. I had some trouble with the ‘old English’ way of writing, but it gets easier on the way. It also looks less as a diary, and more as a book. I still come along sentences that I do not fully understand, but I prefer to read the book and enjoy it, then to look up everything I don’t get at first sight. I am sure it will get easier if I read more :smile:. I catch up quickly :content: .

Err, yes I am reading on my work after all. I needed inspiration to write the content of my portfolio. It helped a lot.

Big spoiler: Finished chapter 8

SPOILER - Click to view

I was really dragged into the story of Jonathan, and went through the chapters at some rate. That ended when his diary logs stopped, and we started to follow Mina. I knew Jonathan would end that way, but I found it hard to like Mina just as much.

I got my hopes up for him a lot now there was send a letter from the hospital. I don’t think the Count would send something so detailed about poison and wolves (and he probably is at the village right now, poor Lucy). Now the Count is in England, and the possibility of Jonathan returning, the story gets interesting again.

Welcome back!

Am I far behind with the rest of you? Who finished the book already :smile: ?

*edit: Wow I posted this post almost exactly 24 hours (except of 1 minute) after the last one :tongue:

*edit2:
Big spoiler: Reading chapter 9

[spoiler]“I have written to my old friend and master, Professor Van Helsing, of Amsterdam, who knows as much about obscure diseases as any one in the world.” -John Seward

Wow… how could I NOT know Van Helsing’s origin is Dracula?

*edit3: Why did I have to Wiki Van Helsing, WHY?? Don’t do it yourself, unless you want a lot of things spoiled… [/spoiler]

Up to the end of Chapter 8

[spoiler]Guys, the story is really creepy, but you just can’t stop reading! Just some comments:

  • The story of the ship commanded by a dead man left me :bored: Too cool and terrifying! I thing the Count may be somehow related to that dog, what do you say? I wonder if Dracula needs to use vessels and stuff to travel from one location to another. If so, maybe he used the ship?
  • I cannot but associate vampires with sexual topics. The blood, the way they are described as lusty creatures… Jonathan’s experience with the three women was really… hot? Don’t take me wrong. I’m just saying that the lust factor revolving around vampires is very strong.
  • I like the way sleep-walking is described, particularily this quote: “It is a very strange thing, this sleep-walking, for as soon as her will is thwarted in any physical way, her intention, if there be any, disappears, and she yields herself almost exactly to the routine of her life.”
  • To Wulf: Do you really think Jonathan is going to make it? I think he may have got to get out of the castle, but what about the wolf-infected forest?[/spoiler]

Chapter 8 and speculations

Where Jonathan’s diary’s stopped was very sad, but the perfect way for him to die. If they, after so many chapters, start about him again in so much detail, then I think he will be used again :content: . It’s a gut feeling.

I thought so too :hmmm: . But I thought that he might would have been able to transfer into a dog (or wolf?) as well, and not only as a bat. But what you describe sounds logical too.

:yes: Vampires are associated with sex and also the fear for it. That’s why they prefer virgins. Those are afraid for their first time. And males are afraid of penetration :eek:. A lot of vampires behave homosexual :tongue: .

I’m glad you guys are enjoying the book! Re-reading it has reminded me just how much I love this book. I still find it gripping and exciting, even though I already know what’s going to happen.

Chapter 8 discussion[spoiler]

Oh yes this is definately true. There’s something very sexual about vampires and the whole biting of the neck thing.

I think we also have to remember that this was written in Victorian England, which was a time when sex was never mentioned and people were rather obsessed with being pure and proper. The female vampires in Dracula’s castle are described as being voluptuous to add to their dark and deadly seductive image. I can only think that this would have had even more of an effect in Victorian times than in the modern day, where we don’t consider voluptuousness to be a dark and deadly thing :wink: [/spoiler]

Can we have Bruno’s badge on the first page? Also, can people update their badges to say the current book the club is reading? Or something along these colour lines…

Good idea! I’ll edit the first post…

How far along is everyone? I’m considering joining this, but you’re all probably miles ahead of me by now :tongue:. I may just wait till the next book.

I’m at chapter 23 now, no idea where the rest is. Hopped on the book-wagon later then the rest :razz:.

/me finished Dracula by Bram Stoker

[spoiler]I can’t believe the story ended. It all went really fast!
The story was easy to follow, except at the point when they started to chase Dracula himself. I did not fully understand the purpose of His earth boxes :neutral: Anybody cares to explain it a little better to me? I know he needed them to rest in… but why were those boxes special? Did he need the earth from his home ground? I mean, he could have slept in a dark area as well if he was afraid of sunlight.

I don’t really get why the brides of Dracula came to Mina, but then left again. What stopped them? Were they afraid of the holy circle? In my opinion, I think they died too easily. We barely know anything about them (at first I did not even know they were his brides!).

One last thing. I think I missed the point of the group separating from each other. Why was that?

I hope someone can explain these points for me, since I find it hard to form an opinion on this book now it ended so quickly, and I feel like I missed important points of the story. Did anybody else had things he did not fully understand? Or was the book clear enough, and I should blame my English?

Thanks![/spoiler]

Wow, Wulf, that was fast! My December has been very busy: graduation, family over for xmas, preparing my backpacking trip bla bla bla… So I’m reading a bit slowly. I’m starting chapter 11, yet looking forward to finish the book this week. I got a lot of free time ahead. :lol:

When you guys get to the next book I’m definately signing up! :content: I love to read, but I’m miles behind you guys now.