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[The Ghost of Lucy Westenra]

I was raised on Tod Browning's "Dracula," among thousands of other classics, hence the Count, Renfield, Lucy, and others have been ingrained in my conciousness for a good part of my life. Now, at age 17, I have finally read Stoker's novel--as I am directing the Deane-Balderston play at school, I decided to learn all I can--and I have to admit that it was a truly intense experience. I was completely enraptured with every scene. What struck as me as the book's most brilliant was that Stoker is able to convey such profound pathos, terror, and shock with comparatively mild images--such as Dracula's casting of Jonathan Harker's mirror out the window; the moment Dr. Seward senses an almost imperceptible lengthening of Lucy Westenra's canine teeth; the look on Arthur Holmwood's face while viewing Lucy's corpse at the mortuary. However, the fourth fifth of the book--the painstakingly detailed account of the tracking of Count Dracula's escape--seems to drag, partially due to Van Helsing's long dissertations, which to me seemed overlong. Stoker quickly repairs this, however, through the climax. The impression I recieved after turning the last page was that Bram Stoker was both glorifying and tearing down the Victorian social and religious mores, a dichotomy that Stoker was perhaps expericing in his own mind. Any feedback on this would be appreciated. <br><br>THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE!