I was really dragged into the story of Jonathan, and went through the chapters at some rate. That ended when his diary logs stopped, and we started to follow Mina. I knew Jonathan would end that way, but I found it hard to like Mina just as much.

I got my hopes up for him a lot now there was send a letter from the hospital. I don't think the Count would send something so detailed about poison and wolves (and he probably is at the village right now, poor Lucy). Now the Count is in England, and the possibility of Jonathan returning, the story gets interesting again.

Welcome back!

"I have written to my old friend and master, Professor Van Helsing, of Amsterdam, who knows as much about obscure diseases as any one in the world." -John Seward

Wow.. how could I NOT know Van Helsing's origin is Dracula?

*edit3: Why did I have to Wiki Van Helsing, WHY?? Don't do it yourself, unless you want a lot of things spoiled..

Guys, the story is really creepy, but you just can't stop reading! Just some comments:
- The story of the ship commanded by a dead man left me Too cool and terrifying! I thing the Count may be somehow related to that dog, what do you say? I wonder if Dracula needs to use vessels and stuff to travel from one location to another. If so, maybe he used the ship?
- I cannot but associate vampires with sexual topics. The blood, the way they are described as lusty creatures... Jonathan's experience with the three women was really... hot? Don't take me wrong. I'm just saying that the lust factor revolving around vampires is very strong.
- I like the way sleep-walking is described, particularily this quote: "It is a very strange thing, this sleep-walking, for as soon as her will is thwarted in any physical way, her intention, if there be any, disappears, and she yields herself almost exactly to the routine of her life."
- To Wulf: Do you really think Jonathan is going to make it? I think he may have got to get out of the castle, but what about the wolf-infected forest?

Lucho wrote:

- To Wulf: Do you really think Jonathan is going to make it? I think he may have got to get out of the castle, but what about the wolf-infected forest?

Where Jonathan's diary's stopped was very sad, but the perfect way for him to die. If they, after so many chapters, start about him again in so much detail, then I think he will be used again . It's a gut feeling.

Lucho wrote:

I thing the Count may be somehow related to that dog, what do you say? I wonder if Dracula needs to use vessels and stuff to travel from one location to another. If so, maybe he used the ship?

I thought so too . But I thought that he might would have been able to transfer into a dog (or wolf?) as well, and not only as a bat. But what you describe sounds logical too.

Lucho wrote:

Don't take me wrong. I'm just saying that the lust factor revolving around vampires is very strong.

Vampires are associated with sex and also the fear for it. That's why they prefer virgins. Those are afraid for their first time. And males are afraid of penetration . A lot of vampires behave homosexual .

Lucho wrote:

I cannot but associate vampires with sexual topics. The blood, the way they are described as lusty creatures... Jonathan's experience with the three women was really... hot? Don't take me wrong. I'm just saying that the lust factor revolving around vampires is very strong.

Oh yes this is definately true. There's something very sexual about vampires and the whole biting of the neck thing.

I think we also have to remember that this was written in Victorian England, which was a time when sex was never mentioned and people were rather obsessed with being pure and proper. The female vampires in Dracula's castle are described as being voluptuous to add to their dark and deadly seductive image. I can only think that this would have had even more of an effect in Victorian times than in the modern day, where we don't consider voluptuousness to be a dark and deadly thing

I can't believe the story ended. It all went really fast!
The story was easy to follow, except at the point when they started to chase Dracula himself. I did not fully understand the purpose of His earth boxes Anybody cares to explain it a little better to me? I know he needed them to rest in.. but why were those boxes special? Did he need the earth from his home ground? I mean, he could have slept in a dark area as well if he was afraid of sunlight.

I don't really get why the brides of Dracula came to Mina, but then left again. What stopped them? Were they afraid of the holy circle? In my opinion, I think they died too easily. We barely know anything about them (at first I did not even know they were his brides!).

One last thing. I think I missed the point of the group separating from each other. Why was that?

I hope someone can explain these points for me, since I find it hard to form an opinion on this book now it ended so quickly, and I feel like I missed important points of the story. Did anybody else had things he did not fully understand? Or was the book clear enough, and I should blame my English?

Thanks!

The book definately seems to end very quickly. I think I can answer your first two questions. I haven't quite finished my re-reading yet, so don't think I can remember enough for the third one.

Wulf wrote:

I did not fully understand the purpose of His earth boxes neutral Anybody cares to explain it a little better to me? I know he needed them to rest in.. but why were those boxes special? Did he need the earth from his home ground? I mean, he could have slept in a dark area as well if he was afraid of sunlight.

The significance of the earth boxes is indeed that the earth is from his castle. If you look at Mina's journal for the 30th september (not sure what chapter it is) it says that if he is at the "place whither he is bound" which includes his castle and the earth boxes (since they're filled with earth from his castle) he can change his shape (e.g. into a bat or be able to pass through a thin gap or turn into smoke etc.) whereas if he's not at the place where he's bound he can only change his shape at noon or exact sunrise or sunset. Thus, if he was away from his earth boxes he would be in a vulnerable state (if he could change into smoke they could hardly stake him!).

It seems to me plausible that when travelling a long distance (from London to Translyvania) he wouldn't want to be apart from his bound place and the abilities that it confers. But, if he had simply left the box and disappeared cross country (maybe even changing into a bat before leaving) he would have had much less chance of being caught. Although I can't find it written out anywhere in the book (though to be fair I've only had a quick look) it seems to be strongly implied that he can't rest anywhere where he is not bound, and he may not actually be able to travel that far from where he is bound. For example, in Mina's Journal for the 30th of September Van Helsing says "he is not free. Nay, he is even more prisoner than the slave of the galley, than the madman in his cell. He cannot go where he lists..." and in chapter 24 Van Helsing says "He have prepare for this in some way, and that last earth box was ready to ship somewheres. For this he took the money. For this he hurry at the last, lest we catch him before the sun go down. It was his last hope, save that he might hide in the tomb that he think poor Miss Lucy, being as he thought like him, keep open to him". These quotes imply to me that he needs the earth boxes and cannot rest without them, and so if they're all sterilised he will be much weaker.

Quote:

I don't really get why the brides of Dracula came to Mina, but then left again. What stopped them? Were they afraid of the holy circle? In my opinion, I think they died too easily.

Any vampire would find it very difficult, almost impossible, to cross the holy circle. Van Helsing says that vampires take "the path of least resistance", and the only way that Lucy would have been able to pass the holy seal on her tomb door to get back in would be if the sun was rising and caused more difficulty for her than the holy seal. Since that wouldn't have happened in this situation (the vampires could have returned to the castle if the sun came up) it was effectively impossible for them to enter.

Although it may seem like they died easily, it was only due to Van Helsing's knowledge. Anyone without this knowledge (i.e. just about everyone) would have had much greater difficulty, and would probably not have survived the night.