Anyone who has seen the movies based on this book have no clue what they're missing out. Sure, it can be a bit boring at times since it was written over 100 years ago, but Stoker had a good grasp of his characters and wrote as if they were real. Although I didn't "relate" to any character as again it was outdated, I have read enough historical fiction to understand these people and where they came from.
Bram Stoker wrote this book as a narrative, using journal entries to take us along the story. This gives a more realistic style to the story, as it's not biased or one-sided. The only downfall is that it's mainly Mina or Jonathan's entries, where was Dracula's? It was nowhere in the book and I would've loved to have read that. There was also a downfall to this format of Stoker's, some characters have accents or know limited English and Stoker writes those characteristics in, leaving us readers with a headache trying to understand it all.
My problem with this book is that the character of Dracula is supposed to be evil and scare you. I, however, saw him as more of a tragic figure. I wanted Dracula to win, get the girl and flee from those who didn't understand him. Sure, he killed people, but he has to do so to feed and survive. I guess I sympathize too much with the monsters in a book. In fact, I cried at the end of the book and if you read it, you'll know why.
One can see when reading this book why it has never been out of print since it's first publication in 1897. It's definitely a classic novel and a must read for any horror fan.
Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Review by: CL5 Cynara