Modern Good Reads discussion

This month we wanted to give you some options. With all the great books out there, we figured we could discuss two a month. That way, if one does not appeal to you, maybe the other will.

This month we are talking about two great but very different classics, Dracula and Gone with the Wind.

Awesome! I've read both so I have that "homework free" feeling :-) Love to hear what you all think of them.

I haven't read either one. I'm half way through Dracula. The basic story is so familiar; the book both is and isn't what I expected.

Just got Dracula from the library, so I'm excited to start!

I'm rereading Dracula. Gosh, it's a lot slower than I remember!

I'm about halfway through Dracula ... I've only ever made it a few chapters into Gone with the Wind ... I've been reading mostly comics lately ... let's see if I can't catch up with BOTH of these books this month. :p

I have to rate Gone With the Wind right up there among the best I've ever read. There was never a dull moment in nearly 900 pages and the author never missed a beat in keeping her reader along for the ride. In fact, I saw her home in Atlanta many years ago...a meaningful experience. I was only 16 when I read it and have seen the movie at least three times.

Since I'm new to the group, I was just wondering if there is a separate thread for the March BOTM discussion, or will it be under this particular topic heading.

So I finished Dracula. Aside from the story being relayed almost entirely via correspondence, I found the treatment of Dracula himself to be so understated. He's almost not even a character, rather more of a backdrop against which the characters act.

Parinita wrote: "I loved Dracula! It creeped me out when the first time I read it. The underlying menace just builds slowly and steadily till the time you really want Dracula to be defeated.
Brilliant book!"

I didn't get eerie from this at all. Possibly seen too many movies, I'm not sure. I was far more intrigued at the beginning with Jonathon's part than I was the later portions of the book.

Lisa, I agree with you. Although I do get an overall "eerie" sense from the story, I felt the most interesting part by far was Jonathan's initial visit to Dracula's castle. That, and how Van Helsing and company dealt with Lucy at the tomb. I'm not finished yet, so hopefully I can add more to that list as I read on.

There are spoilers in this so be warned! To me the story Dracula gets over shadowed by all the films and books it has spawned over the decades, so when you read it it seems rather over rated and slow. I love the story and it is responsible in quite a large way for my love of reading now. I agree with the opinion that the first half of the book, Jonathan's stay at Castle Dracula, is the most creepy and disturbing. It leaves you with no doubt about the evil and monstrous creature that Dracula is. You certainly appreciate Jonathans desperation to escape the castle and the risks he is prepared to take. The book carries on building up to the death of Lucy, and eventually the final part, the big chase back to castle Dracula so they can destroy him.Up until now I've always felt that the story has gone along at a reasonable pace, getting slow in places but have put that down the the age of the story and the style in which it was written. For me the ending was the biggest anti climax. After taking a number of different types of transport to try to beat Dracula back they finally end up chasing the cart that is carrying Dracula's body and fighting off his gypsies so they can kill him before the sun goes down. Still exciting, the story's really going at some pace now and then finally Dracula is able to burst free of the create. It then feels like within a paragraph the story finishes. He goes from being the biggest potential threat to civilisation to dead just like that. The great 500 year old vampire doesn't make hardly anything of a last stand. I was expecting Dracula to have all sorts of tricks and safeguards in place once he Got back to castle and be able to put up much more of a fight. This man can turn into a wolf, or a bat,or mist and can control the mind, and he falls by simply cutting his throat! It didn't seem a fitting end to a character that became so famous. Perhaps that was how Bram Stoker felt his readers would want to see the monster destroyed, quickly and with the power of God on their side? Still after saying that,it is still one of my favorite books that I've read quite a number of times and it has influenced countless others.You need to have a liking for fantasy and good old fashioned horror though.

Dracula, to me, is a lot like reading research.

Its one of the primary sources of vampire fiction, although, I am told there are several other pieces of vampire fiction that predates Dracula.

http://salempress.com/store/samples/c...

So, I don't really read the book for entertainment, and, compared to today's fast-paced, contemporary writing styles, it is a slow, plodding plot line that just doesn't measure up to ADHD compatible fiction.

But, it is still 'the father' of all Hollywood's obssession with vampires, leading to a cascade of 70's-80's-90's vampire fiction novels and films, so, I see Dracula as a foundational document. Its a piece of vampire fiction history that can be read with an eye to research.

It is still entertaining, but, I prefer the contemporary flights of fancy that cater to my short attention span.

:)