What are you reading at the moment?

You've no idea how close I came to submitting this one...

I think Dracula must be one of the strangest, best bad books out there. Disturbing, certainly. I found Stoker's treatment of his female protagonists awful; even for nineteenth century sensibilities. The staking of Lucy, with the ‘hammer of Thor' reference seems akin to nothing more than sadistic voyeurism, I feel. It's almost as if Stoker is over compensating for the ‘this man is mine!' statement by Dracula earlier on (not implicit whether Dracula and Jonathan had a bit man-on-man beforehand?) Or is it he tying into wider Victorian fears of female sexuality; what with Lucy being flirty and voluptuous?

His treatment of Mina, for all he extols her virtues, is a bit clumsy too. I often wonder if it was entirely wise to leave her alone in Seward's asylum, before the old wine-press routine.

The atmosphere can be tremendous though. I agree with you re. the voyage of the Demeter (goddess of the earth...boom, boom); especially the incremental fear in the ship captain's diary. The part where Lucy is sitting with Mina in the graveyard where Dracula is nearby with ‘...red eyes...' is particularly effective.

What always impressed me was how ‘modern' the book is: phonographs, typewriters, blood transfusions, mesmerism, railway timetables and so on. Fear of contagion, invasion, the ‘other'. Plus ca change...

I have the same Penguin edition as you, Iain. There's also a good Norton Critical Edition which looks at the wider socio-political contexts over the milieu with supporting textual critique (see below).

I've always liked the book; ‘flawless in spite of its flaws' (the Dutch Van Helsing exclaiming ‘Mein Gott!' q.v.)

Tomorrow's recommendation is ‘nante' dissimilar.

@Digimonkey, @patw, @Barry Giddens


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A collection of five tales that deal with hauntings.'Green Tea'; ‘The Familiar'; ‘Mr. Justice Harbottle'; ‘The Room in the Dragon Volant' and ‘Carmilla'.

Le Fanu was an Irish protestant of Hugenot extract. Living in Abington, Co. Limerick, at a time of great tension between protestant land owners and catholic populace, much of his work can be seen as comment on Anglo-Irish socio-politics. Dubbed ‘The Invisible Prince' because of his reclusive, nocturnal habits following his wife's death, he is best known for his ‘mystery' novels, including Uncle Silas, The Wyvern Mystery, Checkmate and The House by the Churchyard.

It's been argued that much of his work would have fell by the wayside, had a collection of his tales not been championed by the English writer and historian M.R. James (whose excellent ghost stories nearly made it in my recommendations this week).

In a Glass Darkly is a series of case studies by one Martin Hesselius; an ‘occult doctor' who is influenced by Swedenborgian teachings, i.e. we all have an ‘innner eye' by which we can see beyond our natural worlds (even unwillingly, in the case of Mr. Jennings, the protagonist in ‘Green Tea').

I won't give too much away, but stories two and three above are reworkings of previous tales: ‘The Watcher' and ‘An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street' respectively.

The final tale (almost a novella, really), ‘Carmilla' is a vampire story. Surprisingly daring with its Sapphic content, its location apparently inspired Stoker to set Dracula's castle in Transylvania* Again, setting in the early chapters, with references to deserted villages and ruins can be seen as a metaphor for the displacement of Protestant families under catholic legislation at that time.

A great read if you like mysteries and Gothic horror.

*Interestingly, Stoker left out a proposed chapter from Dracula. An early one, it has become known as ‘Dracula's Guest' and is very heavily influenced by ‘Carmilla'. Perhaps it was excised for that reason. It can be found in various anthologies.

@Digimonkey, @patw, @Barry Giddens
 
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Dead Man's Chest: Travels after Robert Louis Stevenson by Nicholas Rankin

Rankin literally does follow in Stevenson's footsteps; from Howard Place and Heriot Row in Edinburgh, to Samoa. Part travelogue and part biography, this is a fascinating read.

I've always loved Stevenson's writing; whether it's the political observations of some of his Pacific tales, or his ‘bogey' inspired stories, such as ‘Markheim', ‘Thrawn Janet' or the beautifully crafted vampire tale ‘Olalla'.

Dead Man's Chest just pipped ‘ Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' as my final recommendation for this week's fascinating wee divertissement. Many thanks for suggesting it, Iain!!

@Digimonkey, @patw, @Barry Giddens
 
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Seven days - seven books - day the last - 'Greenmantle' by John Buchan

Thought to finish with an underappreciated classic - the second outing for the square jawed action hero Richard Hannay - the '39 Steps' is good but this is superior - it deserves to be better known.

It has been an interesting experiment - to share a book a day - thanks to others influence my list of 'must buy' grows ever longer. I'm quite impressed by my self-restraint - nothing too willfully obscure - not a mention of Babylonian theology - must try harder next time. @Scotshave - its been dolly to varda your livre de poche - that's your actual French. Ha ha. Cheers - I.

@Barry Giddens @patw
 
Digimonkey said:
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Seven days - seven books - day the last - 'Greenmantle' by John Buchan

Thought to finish with an underappreciated classic - the second outing for the square jawed action hero Richard Hannay - the '39 Steps' is good but this is superior - it deserves to be better known.

It has been an interesting experiment - to share a book a day - thanks to others influence my list of 'must buy' grows ever longer. I'm quite impressed by my self-restraint - nothing too willfully obscure - not a mention of Babylonian theology - must try harder next time. @Scotshave - its been dolly to varda your livre de poche - that's your actual French. Ha ha. Cheers - I.

@Barry Giddens @patw
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It has been fun using my orbs to viddy the various libres. None of them are yarbles either!
 
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I felt that I hadn't been 'willfully obscure' enough in the last seven days. Let's redress the balance. @Scotshave - a pig to read - I think its the guy's PHD - lacking in any authorial finesse - at all. On the other hand - he has obviously been translating cuneiform - for years - he knows his shit. Hard work - as I say - but there is a straight line between their culture and ours. No pictures. Yours - I.

@Barry Giddens
 
Digimonkey said:
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I felt that I hadn't been 'willfully obscure' enough in the last seven days. Let's redress the balance. @Scotshave - a pig to read - I think its the guy's PHD - lacking in any authorial finesse - at all. On the other hand - he has obviously been translating cuneiform - for years - he knows his shit. Hard work - as I say - but there is a straight line between their culture and ours. No pictures. Yours - I.

@Barry Giddens
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Thanks @Digimonkey. How are you getting on with ‘Underland'?
 
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