Reading Profile
Welcome to my blog! To begin, I'll delve into my reading profile with you all.
If you know me in real life, you know that Dracula is my favorite book of all time. I'm a big fan of epistolary novels, and my first time reading the book as a 17-year-old kid blew my mind out of the water. The story was drenched in suspense and so elaborate. I loved the slow, terrifying build during Jonathan's imprisonment and the way Stoker wrote his characters.
The second (and sometimes sharing first place) is Frankenstein. One of my friends heard that Dracula was my favorite and urged me to read the other monster classic, and boy was she right to steer me that way! It's a beautiful and tragic epic that completely gripped me. The suspense was never as realized as Dracula, but the depth of character and incredible philosophical themes really kept me immersed in Shelley's world.
I wouldn't yet say that I have a favorite author. My reading has never been dedicated to a specific author before, but rather more book-centered. If I like the sound of a plot, I'll give it a go! However, I do love Edgar Allan Poe's work. He truly had a grasp on gothic literature, which is my favorite genre.
Gothic literature is something that interests me not only because of its fear factor, but also the haunting themes and affinity for the philosophical. Gothic literature asks more of people than everyday horror. While I love a good slasher film and cheering for the Final Girl (shout-out to Sigourney Weaver, the #1 Final Girl), I also love just sitting back with a good book and soaking in what this seemingly simple creature feature or ghost story is trying to tell me about morality or the real meaning of what it is to be human.
I love reading fantasy, science fiction, and classic literature. Of those genres, my favorites would be The Chronicles of Narnia series, The End of Eternity (Isaac Asimov), and anything by Poe.
If you take a gander at my profile and find my favorite movies, this reading profile will make absolutely no sense. My favorite movies are almost all chic flicks with no horror (gothic or otherwise) in sight. All I can say is that I like my books completely different from my movies. Whether this makes sense or not is up to you! The last romance I read was for a friend, and I would never have picked it for myself, which is why I'm going to step out of my reading comfort zone in the next few months by reading two romances-- one an epistolary romance and one a gentle read.
I hope you like reading my blog!
Ripley!! The best Final Girl! That being said, I am not one for horror movies (although there are a few that make it to my all-time top ten movies), but something about reading horror I can get on board with. Probably something to do with not having to actually see the blood and gore. I read Frankenstein for the first time this year, loved it, and got a beautiful copy of Dracula for Christmas. While I love a classic, I'm also love turning my brain off with a sappy romance. What was the romance you read for your friend? Did you end up enjoying it?
ReplyDeleteOh, I've gotta know what edition of Dracula you got. Any chance it's the Barnes and Noble leatherbound with black pages? And I KNOW, I can't believe I went this long without reading Frankenstein! It's so beautiful. I'm looking forward to what Guillermo del Toro has in store for his adaptation; I trust that man with my life. Plus, The Voyage of the Demeter was a big disappointment for me (as are all Dracula adaptations) so I need something to heal that unsurprised wound.
DeleteI read The Red Tent for a friend! It's a fictional retelling of Dinah, a woman from the Old Testament. As a personal preference, I don't read books with detailed intimate content, but the story was so interesting that it didn't matter. If you have the same preference as me, I'd still give it a try. It's told as if someone is telling it orally (very cool style choice for the setting/time period), so it can jump around chronologically sometimes, but charmingly and naturally.
Oh wow, The Red Tent sounds so interesting! I'll have to add that to my list. This is the Dracula edition I got (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dracula-bram-stoker/1116610564?ean=9781454944218). The cover is a velvety material and I just love the sprayed bats on the edges. I'm also a sucker for a good illustrated edition, and the art style is so charmingly weird
DeleteHoly fudge, I love that edition! The art style reminds me of Tim Burton a bit!
DeleteHi Annaliese!
ReplyDeleteI, admittedly, have never read Dracula or Frankenstein, but they are on my list to read one day. I am really not sure how I made it through being an English Lit major in undergrad without facing one of them, but I digress. One of my coworkers talks about her love for Frankenstein a lot as well, so it must be worth the read. The only connection I have to Frankenstein from undergrad was a play that I went to see on campus that was (I think?) meant to be in the same time that the novel takes place, but they also had glocks (yes, they actually called them glocks in the play as well), so it felt a bit like a fever dream.
I also love fantasy, but I have not tried science fiction and it is one that I am going to annotate this semester. If you have any suggestions/recommendations, then please let me know!
It was nice to virtually meet you!
Alison
Hey Alison! If you're willing to try classic sci-fi, I would have to recommend Isaac Asimov's Robot series before you read anything else. It defines the genre. The anthology is hard to read in order (if there is one! You'll find many opinions) so I say find a book with a collection and give it a go! The Caves of Steel has my favorite story, and it's under 300 pages if you're in a time crunch.
DeleteORRRRRR... Frankenstein IS technically sci-fi... ;)
If you'd like to give Dracula a go but are unsure about it, I recommend subscribing to Dracula Daily! The email list sends you an excerpt from Dracula in "real-time". The book begins in May and ends in November, so it should give you a fun reading experience for almost the whole year!
Hi Annaliese!
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to read both Dracula and Frankenstein for a while. I love the genre of horror but struggle to get into it while reading. Like how you stated at the end of your post that your favorite movies are wildly different that what you read I find myself in a similar situation. I love horror movies but I have never really had a horror novel grip me. I am also a big fan of fantasy. I love reading a book that has so much detail that it feels like I am somewhere else.
Exactly! Weird how our taste for movies and books can be so wildly different. Have you tried Grady Hendrix? I have a couple friends who swear by him for horror.
DeleteAs for fantasy, I agree. There's something just so mind-boggling and thrilling about worldbuilding. When an author does it right, you can almost feel yourself sitting inside their created reality. Fantasy is the most effective genre for me to truly escape.
Hi Callie! Unfortunately, after reading Dracula and Frankenstein, I cannot enjoy any adaptation that deviates too far from the text (which is almost all of them). However, I do make a disgruntled exception for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" from 1992 solely because Eiko Ishioka did the costuming and I love her mind to bits. I do still believe that every human on earth should read them (maybe only so that everyone knows what the books are actually about) because they are both works of art.
ReplyDeleteI'll give the same recommendation to you that I did Alison: if you are hesitant to try Dracula out, subscribe to Dracula Daily's email list! They will send the excerpts of Dracula as they happen chronologically in the book (well, almost chronologically. The editor, Matt, deviated twice for plot/timing purposes), starting in May and ending in November. You can have little bits of it at a time!
Hi Annaliese! I have not read Dracula, but you have convinced me! I love both gothic stories, like Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, and epistolary novels, so it sounds worth a try!
ReplyDelete