Cobbler of Words: Dracula ...

"His face was strong - a very strong - aquiline, with his bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples, but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy mustache, peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years [...] The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor." (23).
This was the first physical description of Dracula that we get in Stoker's novel - if memory serves me right, I believe it was from Jonathan Harker. And yet, I am sucked (pun might be intended) in immediately! Like Mina says in the TV series, there is just something about him that draws me in that I can't resist. I can't really explain it. I am completely obsessed with everything Dracula - both the novel and the new TV series, for different reasons, I think.
With the novel, it could be the writing - it's so clear and descriptive, enchanting, haunting, - pick your adjective. For me it is everything and I am addicted. I wish that I had the time to read it all in one sitting. Most of the time, I push past just one chapter a night and end up reading at least two. I feel all the emotions that the characters do. When the men went into Dracula's house, my heart thumped loudly and fast with every turn they took. When they were in the cathedral and Harker and Arthur thought they saw him for just a moment - I held my breath. I am probably 3/4 of the way through the novel (that I got for Christmas) and though I'm addicted to it and can't put it down, I also don't want it to end. It will definitely be a book that I read more than once ... Sometimes I find that the "classics" aren't my taste, aren't all that they are said to be, but Dracula is not one of those. It is everything and more!
The TV show: This also has me addicted but it feels different than the novel, perhaps (strangely) I'm not as addicted to the show as the novel. I still have to watch it every week and am usually haunted by it that night. But it's just then. When I first started watching it, I wasn't sure how I felt. Don't get me wrong - I love Jonathon Rhys Meyers (JRM) - I am obsessed with him! But that fake American accent, making Dracula "America" ... I wasn't totally feeling it at first. But I think I've gotten past it. JRM totally works as Dracula for me. He has that allure, that draw, that I can't resist. Those eyes - totally Dracula eyes! So gorgeous, intense, burning. I can feel them looking right through me. They are so alive. Just as I had pictures Dracula's eyes to be - the only part that is truly alive on the King of the Living Dead.
Comparing/Contrasting the two:
When I first started reading the novel, I naturally tried to compare it to the TV (or vice verse). But I think it's impossible, I don't think the Dracula show is meant to be compared to the novel. It's the same characters yes, but different plot line (so far) and just too different to believe that they are the "same." If that makes sense. In the show, Lucy is a lesbian and in love with Mina and in the novel she is bitten by Dracula fairly early and is undead for most of the novel. In the novel, there is no other character that Dracula portrays (at least where I'm at right now). All the characters know him as Dracula and hunt for him. In the TV show, he is also Alexander Gracen - the American - and there is a separate hunt for Dracula. In the novel, we don't get any thing of Gracen/Dracula's love interest for Mina/his wife. But in the TV show, it is one of the main plot lines. Novel - Jonathan Harker worked for Dracula, in TV show - he works for Gracen.
Characters:
In the novel, I am drawn to Mina and Dracula - but separately and for different reasons, of course. I am drawn to Mina's character, feelings, thoughts ... I love when we read from her diary, that closeness, intimacy we get from her - that we don't get much of in the TV show. I also believe the love between Mina and Jonathan more in the novel than I do in the TV show. When it comes to Dracula in the novel, I am drawn to his actions. What will Dracula do next?!
The TV show, I am drawn to EVERYTHING about Dracula/Gracen! I can't get enough of him. I think I prefer the regal, strong, Renfield in the show over the insane, insect eating Renfield in the novel. I can't get past that...
Anyways, that's enough (for now). Now time for pictures...