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.

Dracula Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1: It was really interesting to read this after having read the alternate introduction to the book. It was nice to be able to compare the two versions of how the story began. I really like how the story is in all sorts of formats (letters, journals, accounts) and how it begins with a journal entry from the main character, Jonathan Harker. Learning the setup and the lay of the land and all of the people who occupy that land is pretty interesting. When Jonathan makes his comment about how his 'smattering of German' is his means of communication, I was reminded of when my Grampa would tell me stories about when he would communicate with people through his broken German and their broken German and with that they would be able to figure out what the other meant. This chapter also describes some of the superstitions that go on near the Carpathian mountains. The setup of teh book really grabs the readers' attention and holds it throughout the introduction. It's a great start!
Chapter 2: This chapter gives a nice introduction of characters, as we learn more about Jonathan, our protagonist, and we meet Count Dracula, the antagonist. It's really well-written how the realization that he is trapped in a prison slowly and gradulally dawns on Jonathan. The Count is pretty sly about seeming to be just a noble going about his business and learning all he can. Little does Jonathan know of Dracula's sinister reasons for wanting to do this business.
Chapter 3: Learning some history of Transylvania was super exciting and interesting! This is when Jonathan asks Dracula about himself and how he came to be the master of his keep. I'm surprised that Jonathan doesn't think that all of Dracula's questions and reactions to the description of the house he was to by were pretty fishy. I felt so bad for Jonathan when Dracula made him write those letters to his friends and family to let them know that he was doing well, even though he wasn't. I bet at this point he wishes that he would have listened to the peasants who warned him not to go to the castle. Why would Jonathan go and ignore Dracula's warning not to sleep anywhere outside of his own room? Obviously in a castle such as this there must be a good reason for this sort of warning. Those women must have been pretty terrifying, and it would be even more frightening to know that they will come after him at any chance that they can get.
Chapter 4: Here Jonathan's attempts to escape become more and more desparate. Wouldn't it be terrible to have to write your own death note like Jonathan was forced to by Dracula? Anyway, those Szgany were pretty mean, going and turning Jonathan's letters in to Dracula. It would also be so frustrating to not be able to do anything about the Count galavanting about, acting as Jonathan and making it seem as if he is alive and well, albeit a monster. Those boxes seem pretty mysterious and sinister. I can't belive that Jonathan actually goes down into the old chapel and searches Dracula's body for a key. That would take some real courage! That was pretty cruel of Dracula to offer Jonathan some false hope of leaving early by opening up the door for him and then summoning the wolves that if Jonathan did leave, he would be torn to shreds. Hopefully things start looking up for Jonathan soon!
Chapter 5: This was a nice little repreive from all of the suspense that was building up. It fits with the book and it's a good chapter, but I don't think that it exactly fits with this particular reading assignment. It's nice to meet Mina and some of her friends, as well as learn a little about life back in England. Some of the letters seem pretty frivolous, especially the ones from Lucy about her three marriage proposals, but these characters are extremely important later on, so don't discredit them. Some of these important characters are introduced here, and not again later in the book, so if you missed it here, you might want to go back and re-read this chapter. It seems like the purpose of this book is mostly a character introduction for the ones not in Dracula's castle.
I'm really liking this book!