The New Annotated Dracula

This is not a book for everyone. Hell, turns out it's not even a book for ME. But if the measure of an annotated edition is how ridiculously in-depth it dissects the source material, then this should actually earn TEN stars out of five. Having just finished Dracula, I thought I'd like to pick up the Annotated Edition and read through that. Especially with tales that have proven so influential and have directed so much of what's come after, reading about the inner workings and background minutiae can be just as fascinating as the work itself. But this edition goes above and beyond the usual remit to a degree that's nothing less than staggering. There are entire chapters, prefacing and following the novel, detailing the life of Bram Stoker, the historical setting against which the book was written, literary descendants of and dissertations on Dracula, the story's life in other media such as theatre and film, the short story "Dracula's Guest" (likely an excised first chapter reworked into a quasi-prelude), and much much more. But the true jaw-dropping efforts come with the annotations themselves. Any thought I had of quickly reading just the notes over the course of an hour or two were instantly dispensed with, once I saw the scope I was up against. Merely the first chapter of this 27-chapter novel has 102 annotations - the first 17 of which only cover the first three paragraphs. And these aren't notes of just a few lines each. No, these first 17 annotations take up six full pages (ie, not counting story pages) in tiny annotation-type, on pages slightly smaller than that of a coffee-table book. The annotated novel portion of the book takes up 500 pages, and if I were to hazard a guess I'd estimate that 150 of those are taken up by the novel itself, and the rest by the notes. "Impressive" is not a strong enough word to describe the amount of work and detailed study that had to go into such a volume. I liked the novel well enough (enjoying certain parts, frustrated by others) ... but not with anywhere near the fascination or fervor one would need to pore over all the details laid out herein. But for those who do find themselves that intrigued by the novel that they want to delve deeper into it than anyone was ever meant to know ... this is the book for you. Is that an incredibly niche demographic? Perhaps. But for those who this is meant for, it's beyond amazing - something that even those who this isn't meant for, such as myself, can still at least appreciate. One caveat: The fictional conceit employed by the author - that Bram Stoker was writing a true story - is in fact as annoying as everyone says, even in the very few notes that I scanned. Were one to attempt reading all the footnotes, that constant clash against the reader's patience might in fact be enough to drive one mad as Renfield himself.

I have not actually read this edition, so cannot speak to Gaiman's introduction, but this is the classic, greatest Gothic of all time, in my humble opinion. If you want a good scare, or you are interested in Gothic fiction, I recommend you start here. A Norton along with Gaiman's writing, would be just about as perfect as it gets as far as Gothic is concerned. Hope to read this edition soon!

How brilliant is Stoker. Dracula gets into our primal unconscious, and stays there through his poetic prose of ennui and horror. This particular edition is a place to hang out for awhile and enjoy the dread. Annotated and filled with pictures and drawings I highly recommend it for those who want to escape to surrealism and this world, and see the world in a different and magical way.