Just Finished Reading Dracula...

[Brad Kay]

Hey all,

I just finished reading Bram Stoker's Dracula for the second time. I first read it about 6 years ago, when I was a freshmen in college, and I recall finishing it in less than 48 hours, as I was so engrossed I could barely put it down. The experience was much the same this time, and truth be told I was very sad to have finished it and to have to let the characters go. I wish that there was to Dracula something like what Twenty Years After is to The Three Musketeers!

So, I was wondering if anyone might have any suggestions as to other "classic" novels, particularly adventures, that I might find myself easily engrossed in. I am on vacation next week, and would love to find myself reading a fantastic novel for hours a day once again! If there were a Barnes & Noble anywhere nearby, I would simply hop myself on over there and pick out another book from their "Barnes & Noble Classics" selections, as I am not particularly well read, and could stand to simply flesh out the staples of good literature.

Thanks much :)

[LitNetIsGreat]

Good stuff. Try any of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Frankenstein, Dr J & Mr H, The Wild Assess Skin or anything along those lines. That way you're sure to have a great time.

[dfloyd]

Try one or more of these-
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
The Great Impersonation by E. Philips Openheim
A Coffin for Demetrius by Eric Ambler
Stamboul Train by Graham Greene
This Gun for Sale by Graham Greene
Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
Kenilworth by Walter Scott
the Talisman byWalter Scott
King Solomons Mines by H. Rider Haggard
She by H. Rider Haggard
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

[Brad Kay]

Thanks for taking the time to make some suggestions! :) I'm going to head by a local used bookstore here tomorrow and see if I can snag up a few nice copies of some of the books you listed.

Any other thoughts are much appreciated!

[Des Essientes]

The God Pan by Arthur Machen

[kiki1982]

Not adventure, but I was so engrossed that I could not stop reading! And that happens very very rarely.

Wuthering Heights. That grabbed me (almost literally) within the first pages. It was just so utterly utterly weird that it really really grabbed you. I wanted to read almost faster than I could.

[dfloyd]

It is a gothic novel. I have read it twice. Getting all the families straight was difficult at first, but after I made a list of characters I was ok. I saw the movie with Lawrence Olivier made in the 40s, I think. he was a magnificent Heathcliff, and in the movie they simplifed the complex family relationships which, I think, made the story better and easier to follow.

The Limited Editins Club published a luxurious book of Wuthering Heights, but $2500.00 for a book is a bit steep. If I had the cash, I'd probably pay it.

[WymanChanning]

It is a gothic novel. I have read it twice. Getting all the families straight was difficult at first, but after I made a list of characters I was ok. I saw the movie with Lawrence Olivier made in the 40s, I think. he was a magnificent Heathcliff, and in the movie they simplifed the complex family relationships which, I think, made the story better and easier to follow.

The Limited Editins Club published a luxurious book of Wuthering Heights, but $2500.00 for a book is a bit steep. If I had the cash, I'd probably pay it.

Jane Eyre is a very gloomy novel, and I heard the Wuthering Heights is even more gloomy. I think I will not read it.

[dfloyd]

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are two of the greatest works of English literature of the Victorian era. Not to read them is your loss, but if you ignore grreat works because they affect your mood, you have other psychological problems other than any which might be caused by reading.

[Rores28]

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are two of the greatest works of English literature of the Victorian era. Not to read them is your loss, but if you ignore grreat works because they affect your mood, you have other psychological problems other than any which might be caused by reading.

This may be true but, but if it is it seems a little unnecessarily mean to point it out, no?

[Intuition]

Jane Eyre is a very gloomy novel, and I heard the Wuthering Heights is even more gloomy. I think I will not read it.

You have Dostoevsky as your avatar... You didn't find two counts of murder emotionally unsettling?

[WymanChanning]

You have Dostoevsky as your avatar... You didn't find two counts of murder emotionally unsettling?

I just take the picture but I have never read his books, for I do not understand Russian.

[Intuition]

I just take the picture but I have never read his books, for I do not understand Russian.

I do not understand Russian either, I rely on the translations of Richard and Larissa.

If you are implying that you are unable to comprehend the themes of Dostoevsky it would be more proper to claim that you do not understand Dostoevsky-- as he does not write the same Russian as Tolstoy does, and vice versa.

Also, you are giving a false impression if your avatar does not relate in any way whatsoever to yourself.

[WymanChanning]

I do not understand Russian either, I rely on the translations of Richard and Larissa.

If you are implying that you are unable to comprehend the themes of Dostoevsky it would be more proper to claim that you do not understand Dostoevsky-- as he does not write the same Russian as Tolstoy does, and vice versa.

Also, you are giving a false impression if your avatar does not relate in any way whatsoever to yourself.

Yesterday I bought the Brother K, translated by Andrew R MacAndrew. I will try to comprehend it. Actually I usually do not like translation very much, whenever possilble I will read the books in original language. I have been struggling for long whether I should learn Russian to appreciate the Russian literature. But now I think the learning process will be too tideous and too long to resist the temptation of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

[Intuition]

But now I think the learning process will be too tideous and too long to resist the temptation of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

I dislike the fact that there are so many great novels which are foreign. If I forced myself to learn the languages before I read them then I would be stuck to this day only with knowledge of Joyce and Faulkner.

Besides, I wouldn't want to learn Latin in order to read The Aeneid.

[Calidore]

And even if you did learn the original languages, would the translation you create internally as you read be better than the professional one?