Many images come to mind when one says the word ‘vampire.’ There are, of course, the horrifying blood-sucking vampires of Eastern European legends, zombies from Africa, modern vampires from Twilight, and of course, vampires that draw from all of these categories, as in Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. This was a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it to anyone, even if they are not into stories about vampires or the horror genre.
This book is centered on, as the title indicates, an interview with the vampire Louis, who has been around for hundreds of years. I would guess that the modern part of the book is set in the late 20th century. The vampire was born in the 1700’s. The vampire is interviewed by a nameless boy, who is extremely nervous at first about being in a room alone with a creature that could kill him at any time he wanted. Luckily for the boy, this is not Louis’s goal.
The focus of the story is not on the boy and the vampire, but rather the vampire’s experiences that have led up to him being where he is at that point in the story. Namely, how he loses his humanity as time progresses. The vampire commences to tell his story to the boy, who is recording it through a cassette tape player.
Louis started out as a human, just as any other vampire does. He has a nice family (brother, sister, and mother) and a lovely plantation home near New Orleans. Everything is going well until Louis’s brother talks about visions he has had, telling him to sell everything and completely devote his life to God. He dies not too long after, and Louis is an absolute wreck. He wanders around for days, hoping to die. During one of these nights, he is found by a vampire named Lestat, who transforms him.
At first Louis sticks to merely eating animals instead of humans, and he hangs onto his old sadness for his brother and love for Babette Fenrier, the woman in charge of a nearby plantation. He feels just as humans feel and he upholds morals just as most people do. He resented Lestat for not teaching him properly and showing him what sort of an experience one might have during the kill, as opposed to killing mindlessly.
As Lestat and Louis live in New Orleans, Louis comes to realize that he needs to feed on humans in order fully sustain himself. He realizes this, yet he still thinks of himself as evil. One night he feeds upon a small child but leaves her alive. She is later transformed into a vampire and raised by Louis and Lestat, who name her Claudia. She is just as inquisitive as Louis, but she also has no problem killing, just like Lestat. Unfortunately for her, she is eternally stuck in her five-year-old’s body, unable to live completely on her own even if she wants to.
Louis and Claudia have an inseparable bond, beyond that of a father and child, even to the point of being the passion between two lovers. Louis acutely feels this as a human would, but more intensified. Claudia, like most vampires, merely feels a watered-down detached sense of the emotion. For a while, tensions have been building between Lestat and the other two. One night, Claudia follows through on her plan she has been formulating and she kills Lestat. Louis takes the body and dumps it into a swamp far away from the house. Louis was opposed to this killing and tried to talk Claudia out of it, but she was determined.
On the eve of Louis and Claudia’s departure to Paris to find other vampires, they see another vampire outside of their window and they hear the unmistakable footsteps of Lestat on the stairway. Claudia and Louis end up burning the place down while narrowly escaping.
Once the pair arrived in Europe, they decided to take a detour to the heartland of vampire legends- Eastern Europe. What they found were not civilized vampires like themselves, but untamed and horrifying monsters out of the Eastern European legends. They had no minds or anything, just the drive to kill. The trip to Paris is very somber after this horrible experience with other vampires.
While in Paris, Louis is found by another vampire who follows him and the two vampires fight. Eventually another vampire steps in to stop the fight and invites Louis and Claudia to the Théâtre des Vampires. Louis and Claudia attend one of the performances, and Louis acutely feels the pain of the victim that the audience doesn’t seem to realize is actually being fed upon by real vampires. After the show, the vampires all meet and talk. Louis decides that he loves the leader, Armand; Claudia does not like him one bit. The other vampires don’t like the pair. Louis does get to ask some of his most pressing questions that he came to Paris in search of the answers. His biggest questions were: was he was evil, a child of Satan, and does God really exist? Armand answers these as no, and not really. This has a huge impact on Louis, but it doesn’t change things for him too much yet.
Claudia and Louis are growing progressively further apart and colder towards each other. Louis has Armand to talk with and share his company, but Claudia becomes lonely and resentful. Eventually she finds a woman, Madeline, who makes dolls in the image of her deceased daughter who wants nothing more than to be a vampire and take care of Claudia. Louis had said earlier in the story that he absolutely would not turn anyone into a vampire, but he ends up granting Claudia this wish. They may have grown apart, but he still feels her pain and loneliness and an attachment to her.
Everything seems to be going pretty well, when suddenly the vampires of the Théâtre des Vampires storm into their room and take all three away (Louis, Claudia, and Madeline). It turns out that Lestat was still alive, despite of all that he’d been through, albeit greatly changed. He was weak and feeble and ugly, and not his former arrogant self. The other vampires found out that Claudia had attempted to kill Lestat, and in the vampire world, killing one of their own kind was the ultimate crime for which the punishment was death. Louis tries to save her but there is nothing he can do. He is absolutely torn with grief, and not even Armand can fully comfort him. Louis burns down the Théâtre des Vampires, killing all vampires there except Armand. The two go and travel the world together, but they no longer are passionate or long to be with each other. Louis was losing his human side and was becoming detached, like all the other vampires. Louis’s passionate emotions were what Armand most loved about Louis.
The two return to New Orleans, where they live in relative happiness, until Armand realizes that he is having a hard time adapting to the modern world, and he has no desire to continue, and the two vampires part ways. Louis barely feels any emotion about this, just as he felt no emotion when he saw Lestat again, old and feeble, begging him to stay and take care of him. And so the story ends, with Louis cold and emotionless, the complete opposite of what he once was- an immortal human with magnified emotions.
The boy interviewing the vampire (you’ve probably forgotten about him by now) is extremely distraught that the story ended this way, and demands that the vampire change him into a vampire. The boy believes he would live with all of the passion that Louis had at first, but the vampire refuses to change him, though he does drink from the boy to the point of unconsciousness. When the boy awakes, he has a plan- Louis did mention on the tapes where Lestat was currently living, so maybe…
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Dracula Chapters 25-27
Chapter 25: Mina makes all of the men promise that if she ever loses control of herself and completely changes into a vampire, they will kill her so she doesn't kill anyone else. All of the men struggle with this, but Jonathan has a particularly hard time with it. I wonder if Van Helsing had touched her with the Wafer during dawn or dusk she wouldn't have the red mark on her forehead, since her soul is free during those times of day. Mina's reports are still the same: lapping water and darkness. Everyone is grateful that bribery works in those parts of the world. Everyone is ready for Dracula's coming, but he doesn't come. Mina seems to be changing further into a vampire. Dracula's ship doesn't end up docking where/when it was reported that it would, so then the group has to travel to the actual port. It is decided that Dracula is too concerned with escaping to read Mina's actions, so they take her back into their confidence.
Chapter 26: The penultimate chapter! Mina's report is finally different, showing that Dracula is close to shore. They can finally go get him! Unfortunately, it is becoming harder to hypnotize Mina to get her reports of Dracula's actions. I wonder if that's because he cut her off and she's trying to see through a connection that's not there? The men speak to the captain of the ship, but the box was already taken away. They conclude that Dracula is traveling by boat up a river, and they're pretty sure as to which river it is. Jonathan and Arthur decide to travel by boat upriver to try to overtake the box, and Quincey and Dr. Seward decide to go along the river bank on horseback. Van Helsing is to go with Mina by carriage. Everyone is grateful for being loaded with cash. The hunt seems to be going pretty well.
Chapter 27: Mina is changing even further into a vampire. She sleeps all day and doesn't eat. She is constantly becoming more pale, and her trances are nigh impossible to bring about. When they stop for the night, Van Helsing makes a ring around Mina with the Wafer. This proves really useful because later the three vampire women come by and try to get Mina to join them. Mina refuses, which is really good. It shows that she may be changing, but at least she still has control over her soul to some degree. Poor horses. It's really bad that the boat Jonathan and Arthur are on is broken. I wonder if Dracula had a hand in this? Van Helsing comes across the tombs of the three women and he destroys their bodies, thus freeing their souls. It's a good thing he saw their expressions of relief after they were killed, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to go on. A recurring theme in this book is the notion that vampires can easily lure others to join their ranks by being beautiful. The tomb and chapel of Dracula are sterilized forever. Van Helsing and Mina hide out in a cave, and they witness both parties (Quincey and Dr. Seward, Jonathan and Arthur) closing in on the men transporting Dracula's body. Time is running out, since no one want to fight Dracula while he has his complete power. Quincey is injured while obtaining the box, but he and Jonathan open it and kill Dracula. Luckily for all, he has an expression of sheer relief at being released from his curse. It's really sad, though, since Quincey Morris dies. He was my favorite character, too! At least it was for a good and noble cause. The little epilogue is a nice conclusion to the book, since it shows that yes, all of what the band went through was worth it.
I really enjoy this book, as it is so well written. It's also captures the reader's attention by having so much happen in one chapter. I really recommend re-reading it some day since you pick up on so much more and it has much more meaning the second time around.
Chapter 26: The penultimate chapter! Mina's report is finally different, showing that Dracula is close to shore. They can finally go get him! Unfortunately, it is becoming harder to hypnotize Mina to get her reports of Dracula's actions. I wonder if that's because he cut her off and she's trying to see through a connection that's not there? The men speak to the captain of the ship, but the box was already taken away. They conclude that Dracula is traveling by boat up a river, and they're pretty sure as to which river it is. Jonathan and Arthur decide to travel by boat upriver to try to overtake the box, and Quincey and Dr. Seward decide to go along the river bank on horseback. Van Helsing is to go with Mina by carriage. Everyone is grateful for being loaded with cash. The hunt seems to be going pretty well.
Chapter 27: Mina is changing even further into a vampire. She sleeps all day and doesn't eat. She is constantly becoming more pale, and her trances are nigh impossible to bring about. When they stop for the night, Van Helsing makes a ring around Mina with the Wafer. This proves really useful because later the three vampire women come by and try to get Mina to join them. Mina refuses, which is really good. It shows that she may be changing, but at least she still has control over her soul to some degree. Poor horses. It's really bad that the boat Jonathan and Arthur are on is broken. I wonder if Dracula had a hand in this? Van Helsing comes across the tombs of the three women and he destroys their bodies, thus freeing their souls. It's a good thing he saw their expressions of relief after they were killed, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to go on. A recurring theme in this book is the notion that vampires can easily lure others to join their ranks by being beautiful. The tomb and chapel of Dracula are sterilized forever. Van Helsing and Mina hide out in a cave, and they witness both parties (Quincey and Dr. Seward, Jonathan and Arthur) closing in on the men transporting Dracula's body. Time is running out, since no one want to fight Dracula while he has his complete power. Quincey is injured while obtaining the box, but he and Jonathan open it and kill Dracula. Luckily for all, he has an expression of sheer relief at being released from his curse. It's really sad, though, since Quincey Morris dies. He was my favorite character, too! At least it was for a good and noble cause. The little epilogue is a nice conclusion to the book, since it shows that yes, all of what the band went through was worth it.
I really enjoy this book, as it is so well written. It's also captures the reader's attention by having so much happen in one chapter. I really recommend re-reading it some day since you pick up on so much more and it has much more meaning the second time around.
Dracula Chapters 21-24
Chapter 21: This is the chapter in which Renfield's story of involvement with Dracula is revealed. All of the hints dropped earlier in the book are explained here. Renfield reveals his role in letting Dracula into Dr. Seward's home, and the men finally realize what in happening to Mina. Soon afterward, Renfield dies from his horrendous injuries inflicted by Dracula. I'm surprised that they didn't notice that Mina was being preyed upon long before they did, especially after seeing those exact same signs in Lucy before she 'died.' Mina tells about being controlled by Dracula and having been forced to drink his blood. The chapter ends with everybody extremely unhappy and distraught.
Chapter 22: It's incredible to see the faith exhibited by all of the protagonists in this book. All of these dark events are occurring and yet they all are trusting that they will be delivered safely. Everybody decides that it is for the best that Mina is kept in full confidence. At the meeting, they all discuss the ligistics of going and destroying all of the earth boxes of Dracula's. When Van Helsing goes to bless Mina with the Wafer, it sears her skin since she is 'unclean' now. The men then set off to destroy the boxes and are successful in destroying all but one of them. They must then wait for Dracula to come.
Chapter 23: Jonathan, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing have to wait for Quincy and Arthur to come back, hopefully before Dracula does. That way they could have more people to fight him when he comes. Van Helsing tries to keep Jonathan calm while waiting. Eventually Quincy and Arthur show up, and not long after that Dracula comes to the Picadilly house. He's absolutely furious, and makes a lunge at the men. Jonathan tries to slice him but misses. Dracula escapes, but at least the boxes are sterilized and he can't return to London. Mina makes everyone feel sorry for Dracula by explaining what it would feel like to be outcast for so long. During times of dusk and dawn, Van Helsing hipnotizes Mina since through here connection with Dracula she can see and hear what he sees and hears. They all find out that he is on a boat somewhere in his last earth-box.
Chapter 24: Van Helsing instructs Jonathan to stay with Mina while they search out Dracula, who has gone back to Transylvania. Mina is extremely happy about the fact that Jonathan is staying and that Dracula is far away. Van Helsing describes talking with the men who loaded the box onto the ship and dealt with Dracula. After looking back at the history of Dracula and his bloodline, the main characters see that his actions make more sense than they did before. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward have a discussion and decide to keep Mina out of the meetings since she is changing and can subconciously transmit information to Dracula. Luckily for them, Mina had reached this same conclusion and wasn't too upset about it. She decides that she must go with the men to kill the Count since her times of hipnotism can tell them lots about what he is doing. The men make plans for the journey, and write up their wills.
Chapter 22: It's incredible to see the faith exhibited by all of the protagonists in this book. All of these dark events are occurring and yet they all are trusting that they will be delivered safely. Everybody decides that it is for the best that Mina is kept in full confidence. At the meeting, they all discuss the ligistics of going and destroying all of the earth boxes of Dracula's. When Van Helsing goes to bless Mina with the Wafer, it sears her skin since she is 'unclean' now. The men then set off to destroy the boxes and are successful in destroying all but one of them. They must then wait for Dracula to come.
Chapter 23: Jonathan, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing have to wait for Quincy and Arthur to come back, hopefully before Dracula does. That way they could have more people to fight him when he comes. Van Helsing tries to keep Jonathan calm while waiting. Eventually Quincy and Arthur show up, and not long after that Dracula comes to the Picadilly house. He's absolutely furious, and makes a lunge at the men. Jonathan tries to slice him but misses. Dracula escapes, but at least the boxes are sterilized and he can't return to London. Mina makes everyone feel sorry for Dracula by explaining what it would feel like to be outcast for so long. During times of dusk and dawn, Van Helsing hipnotizes Mina since through here connection with Dracula she can see and hear what he sees and hears. They all find out that he is on a boat somewhere in his last earth-box.
Chapter 24: Van Helsing instructs Jonathan to stay with Mina while they search out Dracula, who has gone back to Transylvania. Mina is extremely happy about the fact that Jonathan is staying and that Dracula is far away. Van Helsing describes talking with the men who loaded the box onto the ship and dealt with Dracula. After looking back at the history of Dracula and his bloodline, the main characters see that his actions make more sense than they did before. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward have a discussion and decide to keep Mina out of the meetings since she is changing and can subconciously transmit information to Dracula. Luckily for them, Mina had reached this same conclusion and wasn't too upset about it. She decides that she must go with the men to kill the Count since her times of hipnotism can tell them lots about what he is doing. The men make plans for the journey, and write up their wills.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Dracula Chapters 16-20
Hooray! I finally finished the book! Now for all of the blogging...
Chapter 16: Yay for grave debauchery! This chapter is full of suspense and a sense of sadness for all of the men really, but especially for Arthur, who has to come to terms with the fact that his beloved is indeed a vampire and must be slain by him. At least Lucy is at peace now before her soul could get too plagued by evil. It would have been pretty terrifying to be one of those people in the graveyard when the vampire came back to her lair. It's a good thing they all had the necessary equipment!
Chapter 17: Mina arrives at Dr. Seward's home/lunatic asylum, and she and Dr. Seward decide to tell each other all that has been going on. I believe that this is the chapter in which Mina goes through and types up all of the diaries and documents and compiles them in a book in chronological order (much like the book we're reading!). I'd guess that this was Bram Stoker's intent to make the characters seem more real by having them 'write' the book. It's a really neat device and I really like it. But I digress. Not too much really happens in this chapter. Jonathan goes off to find out about the boxes of earth, and Mina meets Quincy Morris and Arthur Holmwood. She becomes good friends with them both.
Chapter 18: In this chapter Mina meets Renfield, and he seems more sane than he has ever been. She seems to have some sort of a positive effect on him. Everybody reads the compilation of the texts and diaries and then they all meet together to discuss a course of action to rid the world of Count Dracula. They talk about what his strengths and weaknesses are, and also vampire 'cures.' I suspect that Dracula was eavesdropping in bat form, however. At least Quicy got him to leave by shooting at him before he heard too much. Renfield later calls in Mina to talk with her and he begs everyone to let him go that night. The fact that he was denied this request is very important to the story later on.
Chapter 19: The men (Jonathan, Quincy, Arthur, Van Helsing, and Dr. Seward) go into Carfax to see what they can find while Dracula is away. Rats were called from every cranny in that old house and chapel. It is lucky that there were dogs at the command of the protagonists to chase out all of the rats. Later when the men come back to the asylum, Renfield is in distress. This is also extremely important, as is the fact that Mina is pale when Jonathan sees her later that night. What happens is Dracula is invited in, semi-unwillingly, by Renfield, who then regrets his decision. Dracula then proceeds to visit Mina for a while before the men notice. The men decide to leave Mina out of their counsels, since they think that the stress and worry of these is what is making her pale and lethargic. Mina dreams of Dracula coming to visit her in the night, and little does she know that this is more than a dream. The next night she makes the mistake of taking a sleeping drug.
Chapter 20: Jonathan goes about tracking the locations of the boxes that were moved from the house. The men decided that when they go to sterilize Dracula's living places, they should do them all at once. Some of the box-movers were helpful, but all of them required bribes. Renfield is acting reasonable again, and Dr. Seward tries to figure out what he means when he says various things about not being zoophogous anymore. Dr. Seward finally realizes that the Count probably recently visited Renfield. Everyone is off doing their own thing in order to get matters ready to kill Dracula. At the very end, Renfield is found all bloodied in his room. This is probably Dracula's work.
Chapter 16: Yay for grave debauchery! This chapter is full of suspense and a sense of sadness for all of the men really, but especially for Arthur, who has to come to terms with the fact that his beloved is indeed a vampire and must be slain by him. At least Lucy is at peace now before her soul could get too plagued by evil. It would have been pretty terrifying to be one of those people in the graveyard when the vampire came back to her lair. It's a good thing they all had the necessary equipment!
Chapter 17: Mina arrives at Dr. Seward's home/lunatic asylum, and she and Dr. Seward decide to tell each other all that has been going on. I believe that this is the chapter in which Mina goes through and types up all of the diaries and documents and compiles them in a book in chronological order (much like the book we're reading!). I'd guess that this was Bram Stoker's intent to make the characters seem more real by having them 'write' the book. It's a really neat device and I really like it. But I digress. Not too much really happens in this chapter. Jonathan goes off to find out about the boxes of earth, and Mina meets Quincy Morris and Arthur Holmwood. She becomes good friends with them both.
Chapter 18: In this chapter Mina meets Renfield, and he seems more sane than he has ever been. She seems to have some sort of a positive effect on him. Everybody reads the compilation of the texts and diaries and then they all meet together to discuss a course of action to rid the world of Count Dracula. They talk about what his strengths and weaknesses are, and also vampire 'cures.' I suspect that Dracula was eavesdropping in bat form, however. At least Quicy got him to leave by shooting at him before he heard too much. Renfield later calls in Mina to talk with her and he begs everyone to let him go that night. The fact that he was denied this request is very important to the story later on.
Chapter 19: The men (Jonathan, Quincy, Arthur, Van Helsing, and Dr. Seward) go into Carfax to see what they can find while Dracula is away. Rats were called from every cranny in that old house and chapel. It is lucky that there were dogs at the command of the protagonists to chase out all of the rats. Later when the men come back to the asylum, Renfield is in distress. This is also extremely important, as is the fact that Mina is pale when Jonathan sees her later that night. What happens is Dracula is invited in, semi-unwillingly, by Renfield, who then regrets his decision. Dracula then proceeds to visit Mina for a while before the men notice. The men decide to leave Mina out of their counsels, since they think that the stress and worry of these is what is making her pale and lethargic. Mina dreams of Dracula coming to visit her in the night, and little does she know that this is more than a dream. The next night she makes the mistake of taking a sleeping drug.
Chapter 20: Jonathan goes about tracking the locations of the boxes that were moved from the house. The men decided that when they go to sterilize Dracula's living places, they should do them all at once. Some of the box-movers were helpful, but all of them required bribes. Renfield is acting reasonable again, and Dr. Seward tries to figure out what he means when he says various things about not being zoophogous anymore. Dr. Seward finally realizes that the Count probably recently visited Renfield. Everyone is off doing their own thing in order to get matters ready to kill Dracula. At the very end, Renfield is found all bloodied in his room. This is probably Dracula's work.
Dracula Chapters 12-15
Chapter 12: Unfortunately, Lucy has another one of her relapses, this time worse than any of the previous ones. Later in the chapter, when she is actually dying, she keeps switching between the 'vampire self' and her normal self. towards the very end, she calls Arthur over to say goodbye in an attempt to seduce him and make him like her. When she comes back to consciousness and realizes what she did, she is grateful to Van Helsing for not allowing Arthur to kiss her. When she finally dies, she gets back some of her previous beauty. This is a sure sign that something's not right, as Van Helsing realizes. Mina's letter to Lucy is sort of sad for two reasons: Mr. Hawkins died, and also her letter will never be answered by Lucy. The letter written to Dr. Seward by the temporary overseer of the madhouse was pretty interesting. It's not a good thing that the boxes of earth are getting moved around. It's unusual that Renfield would not want the boxes to be moved, since these would allow Dracula to move around London freely. As of this point in the book, Renfield is still under Dracula's control.
Chapter 13: It's pretty bizarre that Lucy's beauty keeps growing in death, which means that she is now almost definitely a vampire. It's a good thing that Van Helsing is gathering up all of the papers, since they will come in handy later on. Dr. Seward got quite a shock when Van Helsing mentioned his desire to cut off Lucy's head and take out her heart, since he doesn't yet realize what has happened to her. Poor Arthur, having to go through all of this. The worst hasn't yet come for any of the characters. Even the normally stoic Van Helsing breaks down at some point. I think Quincy Morris is the only one who doesn't. Mina finally finds out that Lucy and Mrs. Westenra have died, and Jonathan sees Dracula while he and Mina are taking a walk. Luckily he seems to forget the incident later on in the chapter. The occurences of children being attacked by the 'bloofer lady' is not a good sign for anyone, seing as this lady is Lucy.
Chapter 14: Mina decides it is for the best for her to read Jonathan's journal and is greatly disturbed by what she sees. She also recieves a second telegram from Van Helsing (the first being the one that let her know that Lucy and Mrs. Westenra are dead) and meets with him. She gives him a typewritten copy of Jonathan's journal and speaks with him about the strange occurences. Van Helsing lets her know that what Jonathan wrote about in the journal was indeed true, and this knowledge basically cures Jonathan, since the not knowing is what got to him and made him sick for so long. At the end of the chapter, Van Helsing tries to explain to Dr. Seward what happened to Lucy, but Dr. Seward is unwilling to believe at this point in the story.
Chapter 15: Dr. Seward is still quite angry with Van Helsing for saying what he did about Lucy (how she was now a nosfaratu), but he goes along anyways when they go to talk to one of the children attacked by the 'bloofer (beautiful) lady.' Later that night, they go to Lucy's tomb and open her coffin, only to discover that she is not there. They then go and wait for her to come back. A white figure holding a child comes back to Lucy's tomb, and Van Helsing is able to get the child before the figure can hurt it. The next day, they return to Lucy's tomb and see that she is in her coffin, looking more beautiful than ever. Dr. Seward finally starts to believe Van Helsing's theory that she is a vampire. Van Helsing is determined to kill her, but not without Arthur's consent. Van Helsing goes later to block off her tomb at night and leaves a just-in-case note for Dr. Seward. Towards the end of the chapter, the four men (Arthur, Quincy, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing) meet to talk about what to do with Lucy. Arthur has a really hard time with this, but eventually he is willing to accept what needs to be done.
Chapter 13: It's pretty bizarre that Lucy's beauty keeps growing in death, which means that she is now almost definitely a vampire. It's a good thing that Van Helsing is gathering up all of the papers, since they will come in handy later on. Dr. Seward got quite a shock when Van Helsing mentioned his desire to cut off Lucy's head and take out her heart, since he doesn't yet realize what has happened to her. Poor Arthur, having to go through all of this. The worst hasn't yet come for any of the characters. Even the normally stoic Van Helsing breaks down at some point. I think Quincy Morris is the only one who doesn't. Mina finally finds out that Lucy and Mrs. Westenra have died, and Jonathan sees Dracula while he and Mina are taking a walk. Luckily he seems to forget the incident later on in the chapter. The occurences of children being attacked by the 'bloofer lady' is not a good sign for anyone, seing as this lady is Lucy.
Chapter 14: Mina decides it is for the best for her to read Jonathan's journal and is greatly disturbed by what she sees. She also recieves a second telegram from Van Helsing (the first being the one that let her know that Lucy and Mrs. Westenra are dead) and meets with him. She gives him a typewritten copy of Jonathan's journal and speaks with him about the strange occurences. Van Helsing lets her know that what Jonathan wrote about in the journal was indeed true, and this knowledge basically cures Jonathan, since the not knowing is what got to him and made him sick for so long. At the end of the chapter, Van Helsing tries to explain to Dr. Seward what happened to Lucy, but Dr. Seward is unwilling to believe at this point in the story.
Chapter 15: Dr. Seward is still quite angry with Van Helsing for saying what he did about Lucy (how she was now a nosfaratu), but he goes along anyways when they go to talk to one of the children attacked by the 'bloofer (beautiful) lady.' Later that night, they go to Lucy's tomb and open her coffin, only to discover that she is not there. They then go and wait for her to come back. A white figure holding a child comes back to Lucy's tomb, and Van Helsing is able to get the child before the figure can hurt it. The next day, they return to Lucy's tomb and see that she is in her coffin, looking more beautiful than ever. Dr. Seward finally starts to believe Van Helsing's theory that she is a vampire. Van Helsing is determined to kill her, but not without Arthur's consent. Van Helsing goes later to block off her tomb at night and leaves a just-in-case note for Dr. Seward. Towards the end of the chapter, the four men (Arthur, Quincy, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing) meet to talk about what to do with Lucy. Arthur has a really hard time with this, but eventually he is willing to accept what needs to be done.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Dracula Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Well, it all seems to be going so well, until Dr. Seward and Van Helsing find out that Mrs. Westenra removed all of the garlic flowers from Lucy's room and opened up her window, which is exactly what Van Helsing told Lucy not to do, but neglected to tell Mrs. Westenra for fear of causing her undo stress. I feel bad for all of them, since they're all trying to do what's best for Lucy. This time it's good old Van Helsing that has to give Lucy the blood transfusion. I guess that Dr. Seward hasn't figured out that Lucy's being attacked by a vampire because he's so science-minded and would have trouble believing myths and legends. That's so unfortunate at the end of the chapter that there was a fatal miscommunication! That would have been so terrifying to be in Lucy's shoes! As for the wolf escape, that was quite interesting to read about. The zookeeper's English was a little hard to understand at first, but after getting used to it it's not so bad. Dracula was going around stirring up trouble again. At least the wolf was unharmed. Moving on to Renfield; that's pretty disgusting that he would go and cut Dr. Seward and then drink his blood.
I'll have more later. I've read through chapter 20, but my blogging is lagging a little bit. I'll try to have it soon!
I'll have more later. I've read through chapter 20, but my blogging is lagging a little bit. I'll try to have it soon!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Dracula Chapters 6-10
Chapter 6: Ah, good old Mr. Swales and interpreting his English. It makes more sense if you read it quickly rather than slowly, by the way. He's a swell old character, and it's fascinating to hear his stories and theories about life. It' s pretty sad at the end of the chapter when he tells Mina that he believes his time is soon to be at hand. That Russian ship is pretty important later on. The case of Renfield- is there anything more disturbing and fascinating to read about in this book? Probably, but it is a valuable part of the book all the same. Renfield is so unpredictable and yet intelligent, which makes him so dangerous. I wonder what would happen if he were to ally himself with Dracula? *hint hint* That Mina is one smart person in how she could tell that something was up with the letter that she recieved from Jonathan. If only she could figure out what was wrong with it...
Chapter 7: This whole chapter tells of the storm and the ship washed ashore with a dead man tied to the wheel. It's a pretty ominous chapter, if you ask me. Reading the ship's log was my favorite part of this chapter. Can you imagine being on a boat with its occupants being picked off one by one? At least the captain had some sort of an idea as to what he was dealing with and tied the Rosary to his hands so that Dracula (of whose presence on the ship he wasn't aware of until far into the voyage) couldn't touch him. The black dog who runs off of the ship is, of course, Dracula. How else could it have disappeared without a trace? It's also characteristic of Dracula to summon storms if he so desires to accomplish some dark task. Poor Mr. Swales, being killed by a vampire and all. At least he knew that his time was coming and he was ready for it, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying.
Chapter 8: Lucy's sleepwalking experience must have been quite an ordeal for both Mina and Lucy to go through. Hopefully no permanant damage is done to Lucy. Hopefully Lucy's and Mrs. Westenra's health(s?) hold out, since each seems to be relying on the other staying well in order to survive. It's strange that Lucy doesn't really remember here sleepwalking experiences. Uh, oh! Dracula's dirt has arrived at Carfax, which is right next to Dr. Seward's insane asylum. Renfield escapes and runs to Carfax, so there's almost difinitely some sort of communication going on between him and Dracula. At least Mina finally knows about Jonathan and where he is. Unfortunately, he's recovering from deleria, but he's alive and in a safe place. I'm glad that Mina and Jonathan can finally marry!
Chapter 9: What a sweet reunion between Mina and Jonathan! That was a pretty great wedding present, with Jonathan's diary all wrapped up to prove that they trust each other. I suspect that they may need to look into it sometime, though. There's definitely something up with Renfield and the sun going down and his second escape. He seems to know that the time is coming for Dracula to brak out and start preying upon the citizens of London or somesuch. I'm glad that Lucy's finally keeping a journal so we can see her thoughts on the situation. The doctors and everyone seem to be perplexed as to why she is showing clear signs of blood loss, but they can find no lacerations nor signs of anemia. We finally meet Van Helsing, who is traditionally fabled as a vampire hunter! As of this point of the story, he doesn't go around slaying vampires for fun, he's just a super-smart physician that knows a lot and trusts his intuition. I'm glad that they brought in Van Helsing to evaluate the situation.
Chapter 10: Oh, poor Lucy! She's doing so much worse and is right on the edge of death! That last-minute blood transfusion really saved here. If only someone could stay with her every night, since Dracula seems to strike only when she is alone. Unfortunately, that is not possible, since everyone needs to sleep. Van Helsing is one of my favorite characters in this whole book. He knows what he is doing, and he's entertaining. When they find Lucy in need of a blood transfusion a second time and they see the puncture wounds in her throat, Van Helsing seems to catch on as to what is happening and goes to get some preventive measures, such as the garlic all around the room and around her neck as she sleeps. The chapter ends with such suspense, as Van Helsing is confident that his remedy will work and Dr. Seward is questioning it, since last time he thought that Lucy would by alright, she ended up even worse than before.
Chapter 7: This whole chapter tells of the storm and the ship washed ashore with a dead man tied to the wheel. It's a pretty ominous chapter, if you ask me. Reading the ship's log was my favorite part of this chapter. Can you imagine being on a boat with its occupants being picked off one by one? At least the captain had some sort of an idea as to what he was dealing with and tied the Rosary to his hands so that Dracula (of whose presence on the ship he wasn't aware of until far into the voyage) couldn't touch him. The black dog who runs off of the ship is, of course, Dracula. How else could it have disappeared without a trace? It's also characteristic of Dracula to summon storms if he so desires to accomplish some dark task. Poor Mr. Swales, being killed by a vampire and all. At least he knew that his time was coming and he was ready for it, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying.
Chapter 8: Lucy's sleepwalking experience must have been quite an ordeal for both Mina and Lucy to go through. Hopefully no permanant damage is done to Lucy. Hopefully Lucy's and Mrs. Westenra's health(s?) hold out, since each seems to be relying on the other staying well in order to survive. It's strange that Lucy doesn't really remember here sleepwalking experiences. Uh, oh! Dracula's dirt has arrived at Carfax, which is right next to Dr. Seward's insane asylum. Renfield escapes and runs to Carfax, so there's almost difinitely some sort of communication going on between him and Dracula. At least Mina finally knows about Jonathan and where he is. Unfortunately, he's recovering from deleria, but he's alive and in a safe place. I'm glad that Mina and Jonathan can finally marry!
Chapter 9: What a sweet reunion between Mina and Jonathan! That was a pretty great wedding present, with Jonathan's diary all wrapped up to prove that they trust each other. I suspect that they may need to look into it sometime, though. There's definitely something up with Renfield and the sun going down and his second escape. He seems to know that the time is coming for Dracula to brak out and start preying upon the citizens of London or somesuch. I'm glad that Lucy's finally keeping a journal so we can see her thoughts on the situation. The doctors and everyone seem to be perplexed as to why she is showing clear signs of blood loss, but they can find no lacerations nor signs of anemia. We finally meet Van Helsing, who is traditionally fabled as a vampire hunter! As of this point of the story, he doesn't go around slaying vampires for fun, he's just a super-smart physician that knows a lot and trusts his intuition. I'm glad that they brought in Van Helsing to evaluate the situation.
Chapter 10: Oh, poor Lucy! She's doing so much worse and is right on the edge of death! That last-minute blood transfusion really saved here. If only someone could stay with her every night, since Dracula seems to strike only when she is alone. Unfortunately, that is not possible, since everyone needs to sleep. Van Helsing is one of my favorite characters in this whole book. He knows what he is doing, and he's entertaining. When they find Lucy in need of a blood transfusion a second time and they see the puncture wounds in her throat, Van Helsing seems to catch on as to what is happening and goes to get some preventive measures, such as the garlic all around the room and around her neck as she sleeps. The chapter ends with such suspense, as Van Helsing is confident that his remedy will work and Dr. Seward is questioning it, since last time he thought that Lucy would by alright, she ended up even worse than before.
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