The Culture

I am a big fan of Bram Stoker’s book Dracula so I am always interested in other books and media that relate in some way to the original story. I recently picked up this book cheap in a remaindered book shop. It is a retelling of the original story by Argentinean artist Luis Scarfati.

Scarfati has created his book in the style of a children’s picture book – although the book is most definitely not intended for children – with most double page spreads in the book consisting of a full page illustration and a paragraph or two of text on the page opposite. As the book is only 100 pages long it means that he has to be quite precise in his storytelling but he does a good job of covering the main points of the story – though how much someone not familiar with the novel would enjoy it is hard to say. But the joy of the book is in the fifty pages or so of pen and ink drawings. The art reminds me of a number of other artists such as Ralph Steadman and the Austrian expressionist artist Egon Schiele – especially in the depiction of the women in the book.

A bit of an oddity but a beautiful book to have a casual browse through.