Introduction to "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, Ch. 1 & 2

Angelina Stanford (0:18)

This is not just another Book Chat Podcast. Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well. Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully enter into the great works of literature. Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination.

Each week, we will rescue story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute. The Literary Life is for everyone because in the words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into reality. Join us for an ever unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world. This is The Literary Life Podcast.

Hello, and welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast. Today, we are going to launch a series on Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I am so excited about it. So joining me today are always my two partners in crime, but hopefully not supernatural crime. I've got the mysterious Mr. Banks here. Hello, Mr. Banks.

Thomas Banks (1:48)

Ms. Stanford.

Angelina Stanford (1:50)

We'll see which of the men in this book I'll nickname you.

His face. You'll find out why his face, because he's so afraid I'm going to call him Jonathan Harker, but that will make sense once we get into the book, because he and I have been discussing Jonathan Harker. He doesn't want to be Jonathan. And we also have with us, fresh from her European jaunt, Cindy Rollins. And Cindy, I'm hoping you're going to be able to chime in here. And now that you're an expert on European train travel, you can just open up this whole section of the book for us.

Cindy Rollins (2:23)

Yes. I have to be careful what I say though, because I did learn a lot about European train travel, and I did learn that the Swiss are very, very good at European train travel. What I didn't know is how good they were until I got to Italy.

Oh, yes.

Angelina Stanford (2:42)

So you had your own like reverse Jonathan Harker experience.

Cindy Rollins (2:46)

Yes.

Thomas Banks (2:50)

Yeah.

Angelina Stanford (2:50)

So Cindy is back for Switzerland, not the Carpathian, so she can't call it as a tax ride off for Dracula research. You should plan this better next time.

Cindy Rollins (2:58)

I think I can stretch it like a similar, you know, something similar there.

Thomas Banks (3:03)

It really is too bad that we're not doing Frankenstein because then Switzerland would have worked perfectly. And yeah, there would have been a free trip anyway.

Angelina Stanford (3:10)

Well, we'll plan this better. We need to say if someone listening out there is an accountant and a tax advisor, talk to us about how we could better plan this.

Cindy Rollins (3:19)

That's right. And maybe we can plan our next year's podcast around where we would like to travel.

Angelina Stanford (3:24)

There you go. There you go. Literary tourism. I am so down for that though, no kidding. I would absolutely be down for that. We could actually arrange tours.

Cindy Rollins (3:32)

Our listeners could come.

Angelina Stanford (3:33)

I should stop talking. This is going to take on a life of its own. Frankenstein is a monster idea I'm unleashing on the web.

Cindy Rollins (3:39)

We will make our own monster.

Angelina Stanford (3:40)

I am so excited to talk about Dracula. This has been a book that has been bounced around many times in our Facebook group. And then, of course, Cindy, you were listening to it, reading it on your own as part of the Daily Dracula.

Cindy Rollins (3:56)

I wasn't doing the Daily Dracula.

Oh, you weren't. No, I just was reading it. It was just a coincidence.

SPEAKER_4 (4:02)

Oh, all right.

Angelina Stanford (4:04)

Well, a lot of people were reading it because of the Daily Dracula emails.

And of course, I've read this many times. I took a class on this, on vampire fiction. I've taught Dracula many times. So I could not be more excited about this. And Mr. Banks was, he was reading it excitingly yesterday, looking over me grinning, saying, this is so good.

SPEAKER_4 (4:23)

I forgot how good this is.

Angelina Stanford (4:25)

And I was kind of feeling it too. It's been a while. So I'm excited.

Thomas Banks (4:28)

It's been probably 20 years for me.

Cindy Rollins (4:30)

Oh, wow.

Angelina Stanford (4:30)

Yeah, maybe me too.

Thomas Banks (4:31)

Or something like that, yeah. I think high school, I think I was a teenager when I read this.

Cindy Rollins (4:35)