On the other hand, a lesson.
On the far side of the house I found him pressed close against the old iron-bound oak door of the chapel. He was talking, apparently to someone, but I was afraid to go near enough to hear what he was saying, lest I might frighten him, and he should run off. Chasing an errant swarm of bees is nothing to following a naked lunatic when the fit of escaping is upon him!
Dracula (1897), ch. 8
Dracula (1897), ch. 8
posted by Dr. S at 7:10 PM
7 Comments:
I've always wanted to read Dracula, but our AP Lit class didn't read it last year. I'm not sure why. But it has always intrigued me.
And by the way, I love when you sample the books you're reading. Oh, and how often to you jump between books? I have barely any time to read lately, and I just keep jumping from book to book, not being able to decide what I'm in the mood for.
I think that you would love it, cinephile that you are. I'm teaching it in a class I'm doing here; we started with Wiene's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) and then dipped back to start reading Stoker's novel. Next we're watching the Bela Lugosi Dracula (1931), then Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002), and finally Coppola's film (which drives me nuts, but we're watching it anyway). We'll probably get Blacula (1972) in there too. So, it's a novel that makes a lot of cinema happen, not least because it's so ubermodern in its construction. Intriguing is one word for it. Terrifying is another.
I have to jump from book to book when I'm teaching. Right now, I'm trying to decide what to read for fun over our Thanksgiving break, while I do all the work I have to do. It's down to Messud's Emperor's Children and Powers's Echo Maker (which just won the National Book Award!). There's always so much more...
Out of curiosity, where do you teach?
At the only college in my town... (I am grinning at you, but you can't see me, so it's a bit futile.)
Yes! Yes! You know why this passage sticks out so much: you can picture Stoker's whole novel happening on these streets and in these weird buildings!
ooooooh Murnau's Nosferatu was actually THE monster I was afraid of as a kid. I like to think I had particularly discriminating taste in what to be terrifed of, since my sister's thing was zombies. Which simply does not compare.
This fear makes enormous sense: all one need do is picture the shadow of the vampire as he grasps Ellen Hutter's heart through the small swell of her breast. (This unit has been my favorite so far in this class I'm teaching. It is about this one specific thing; it is also about all things crucial.)
Post a Comment
<< Home