Frankenstein or Dracula?

[HappyLondonWoman]

Haven't read either. Which one to read over half term?!

Ooh what a choice! Personally I like Frankenstein better but I do think Dracula is more Halloweeny for October… maybe read the first chapter of both and see what you fancy most?

Not Frankenstein, that goes on for bloody ages and is tedious as hell. So little of it concerns the creature, it’s Victor wallowing in self pity all over the place, including the Arctic if memory serves. Also lots of murders.

Dracula’s much better but still very silly in parts.

If you wanted a classic, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is better than both.

I loved Dracula and I have a very short attention span. The end made me sigh im thay good ending way.

In that*

Well I mean the title would be a giveaway that it will focus quite in depth on Frankenstein. That’s like saying ‘not Jane Eyre, you hardly see Bertha Mason at all, it’s all just about Jane.’ And that’s the horror of the novel really.

I will agree Jekyll & Hyde is a good addition though. A very quick read.

Have read both; much preferred Dracula.

I prefer Dracula, although it does 'sag' a bit in the middle.

Dracula is far more intriguing and complex than most of the films etc which are based on it. A good read

Fair enough, @Kanaloa , but the thing people are generally interested when approaching it for the first time are the creation of the creature, its relationship with humanity, and Victor’s relationship to it.

The novel follows Victor meandering all over Europe getting more and more self-pitying and tedious, and letting his childhood nurse get executed for the creature’s murder of (forget - brother? father? it’s been a long while) etc etc while moping.

I just felt there’s a reason all adaptations dump 90% of the novel.

But in fairness, all the early English novels from Moll Flanders onwards were strangers to the concept of an editor.

Yes haha no such thing as an editor even now with some authors! But maybe it’s to do with the expectations as you said - people expect it to be a different novel than what it is.

I prefer Frankenstein, but only by a small margin. Hard to believe that Mary Shelley was just 19 when she finished writing it. Both novels are brilliant in their own way. I think Dracula is perhaps an easier read - certainly plenty going on under the surface, but more accessible overall than Frankenstein.

Thanks for the replies!
Dh said, like most it you, Dracula.
I just picked it off the shelf and will read the first chapter. When I track down our copy of Frankenstein I'll do the same.

On a little side note, I'm trying to expand my reading a bit. I alternate more modern contemporary fiction with something older or less obvious to my normal tastes. Consequently I read The Woman in White when I had Covid and loved it. And was very grateful for a week in bed to do so!