šŸ§› Home Thread for Dracula Daily Read-Along šŸ¦‡

Alrighty. Thereā€™s been a looooot of action going on the last week or so; I got really behind, and I think Iā€™m more-or-less caught up, thanks to a (very) generous amount of skimming. >.>; We should be getting close to the end, though! Only about a month left!

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October 3

Today in scary medical practices: trepanation!

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Just under 3 weeks remaining! Whoā€™s still hanging on here at the end?

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image

Itā€™s also possible to say that the Count is also barely hanging on ā€¦ :stuck_out_tongue:

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Lol, heā€™s doing his best. Itā€™s a race against time!

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Dunno if that fully counts, but Iā€™m steadily advancing on my childrenā€™s version of Dracula in Korean

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Sure! I figure it does!

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I havenā€™t done todayā€™s, but Iā€™m otherwise up to date.

This is the part of the novel of which I have no memory so Iā€™m looking forward to being reintroduced to it.

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Over the last couple of months I wasnā€™t great about limiting myself to the specific date. Iā€™m trying to do better during this final run ā€¦ but, oy, with this current group of short entries, I have deep sympathy for our little band of heroes impatiently awaiting news of Draculaā€™s arrival.

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31 October

Today is another with entries scattered about so flip ahead a few pages to check in on Mina. Iā€™m very much out of the habit of that.

The chase is on! but Mina still finds time to enjoy the view. Always good to appreciate the little beauties around you especially when you are facing off with the powers of darkness.

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Oct 31

Iā€™ve always appreciated that about the book; it goes a long way towards keeping the reader immersed in whatā€™s going on, I feel. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and gaze at the countryside.

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1 Nov

More chasing, and more of Mina enjoying the view!

Itā€™s a small element of the realism this book attempts with all the train schedules, the logistical details etc meant to convey a sense that this is REAL, sorta Orson Welles war of the worlds type feeling, because this is how journals and letters are written, little asides about the birds and the rivers and the food and the strange people who are very nice until they notice your eucharist shaped scar. For this, Minaā€™s entries always strike me as being more natural than the others and the ones I enjoy the most.

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Nov 5

Weā€™re getting real close to the end! Iā€™ve always really enjoyed this section where everyoneā€™s separated, and you jump between them as they pursue their sperate courses towards Dracula. Has a great sense of urgency and tension, with pairs being isolated in a strange land.

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dammit! I need to stop stress baking/eating and just read! ack! better to read stoker and the defeat of evil rather than the doom scrolling Iā€™m doing nowā€¦ bookā€™s open! Iā€™m reading!

Nov 5

Fully agree with eefara about the urgency and will just add that itā€™s good to see the whole story come back 'round with repeated references to Jonathanā€™s journal as well as the return of the three brides.

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nov 6

In which, despite all their struggles, it remains easier in fiction to destroy a monster than in real life. but, Iā€™ll take my happy endings where I can.

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Nov 6

Rest in Peace Vlad Drăculea the Impaler, son of Vlad Dracul :pensive:
I kind of expected a big fight to break out with the gypsies and wolves, but even without the gypsies putting up much of a resistance we still lost Morris :frowning:

Itā€™s a nice touch that Mina notices a look of peace in the Countā€™s final instant. Itā€™s kind of a happy ending for everyone, even him.

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Nov 6

And finally the deed is done! Iā€™ll see everyone in seven years to finish this little journey up. :sunglasses:

Anyway, I was really happy to see the first time I read this book that there was no epic showdown between Dracula and our heroes, like there might have been if this were a more modern novel. Losing Morris at the eleventh hour is pretty heart-breaking, but overall itā€™s a surprisingly happy ending for basically everyone involved.

(Thereā€™s still technically one more ā€œdayā€, but I went ahead and finished the whole thing off anyway.)

Thank you to everyone who participated, either briefly or consistently! Special shout-out to @qdsl and @nopenopenope for your wonderful comments in these last stretches of time; I hope everyoneā€™s had fun reading!

My thoughts reading it in Spanish: I knew going in that this was way above my level, and I was not disappointed. :joy: I donā€™t know how much I really learned or internalized throughout this, given Iā€™ve done no and plan to do no study follow-up, but I am glad that the book kept me reading and thinking about Spanish fairly consistently, which is all I can really ask for.

I donā€™t know if Iā€™ll organize a similar event next year; perhaps if thereā€™s interest. I personally have now read Dracula in all my languages, so Iā€™m pleased. Itā€™ll be nice to get back to the English version: sweet, sweet comprehension. :joy: Except when some country boy is speakingā€¦~

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I didnā€™t want to highjack the thread earlier, but since youā€™re doing closing remarks, does anyone know how legal it would be, if I were to set up a similar system as Dracula Daily, sending off the Korean translation instead?
Iā€™m not having much luck finding an answer onlineā€¦
This looked like a really fun read, and such a nice way to read an epistolary novel, I would love to take part next year / organise it if @eefara needs a break.

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I want to say that if the particular Korean translation you choose to do this with is out of copyright (for which country? all of them? I have no idea), then it should be fine. Are the other Dracula Dailys checking that? No clue.

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I read the last note as well; figured best not to wait 7 years.

thanks to @eefara for organizing it and everyone who participated. I certainly recommend people do this in the future especially if theyā€™ve read Dracula in the past as the chronological ordering did make it fresh.

And Iā€™m glad I did this. 19th century language is rough and Iā€™ve struggled with it, but this has helped, in no small part because of its size (150k+ words with introduction) and the length of time we spent with it. I could tell the difference in my comprehension grow over the months, words Iā€™d pick up here showing up elsewhere and vice versa. And there were some really fun words like ā€œobnubiladoā€ (dazed) that Iā€™m looking for to seeing in the future!

happy reading everyone!

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