Irish novelist Bram Stoker was born in 1847. Although bed-ridden until the age of seven due to illness, Stoker excelled in both athletics and academia; attending Trinty College, Dublin at the same time as Oscar Wilde. He started his career as the theatre critic for the 'Dublin Evening Mail' whilst still a student, and consequently met actor Henry Irving, to whom he became personal assistant. Irving then granted Stoker the position of managing the Lyceum Theatre, and so he moved to London with his new wife Florence Balcombe, a previous object of Wilde's attentions. In this post Stoker got to travel the world, twice visiting the Whitehouse, and meeting both Theodore Roosevelt and his literary hero Walt Whitman. Stoker is best known for his novel 'Dracula', published in 1897. Now part of popular culture, it is written in epistolary form, drawing on the experience gained whilst working in the newspaper industry. Stoker died in 1912, at the age of 64.
Aha! This is the word I was talking to you about the other day in English: 'epistolary'. =)
ReplyDeleteThought it was! I do think that the advert for 'Dracula' we saw in English was quite creepy though - not sure the gothic/horror genre is really my cup of tea :-)
ReplyDeleteHahaa! Same I really don't see the attraction of horror movies - I don't think I've actually read any gothic books so I can't say I don't like them but they're not very high up on my list of books to read either. =S
ReplyDeleteTrue! Though I actually do like 'Wuthering Heights' - but I wouldn't really classify that as horror - more mildly disturbing :-)Maybe we should stick to godd old fashioned Austen types!
ReplyDeleteI've not read that one yet but will be very soon. I did not know that was a gothic text until it was listed under that section on the anthology though. Yeah, Austen all the way! hahaa =D
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