Wednesday, October 29, 2008
“The New Annotated Dracula”
By Bram Stoker, edited by Leslie S. Klinger (W.W. Norton & Co.)”The New Annotated Dracula” (W.W. Norton & Co. 624 pages. $39.95), by Bram Stoker, edited by Leslie S. Klinger: Part trick and part treat, this weighty tome seeks to add another dimension to the famous vampire tale. To the complete text of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” Klinger adds copious notes — usually several a page — that offer facts and anecdotes to put the tale in the context of its Victorian England roots.
The trick of the book - what in his introduction calls his “gentle fiction” - is that he treats the text as if it were nonfiction, as though Stoker actually found the letters and clippings that make up the novel and as if existence of Dracula might be verified if the evidence is examined.
Klinger, who gave a similar, and award-winning, treatment to Sherlock Holmes, clearly relishes in the minutiae and history of the Victorian age. Many details on which he elaborates - for example, the specific books that were in Dracula’s library at the time - bring vivid context to the novel and make the story come alive to readers who might not be aware of many details of the era.
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