Papercut: Desiring to Write About Vampires
So for my senior paper, we have a few guidelines. The topic we choose has to be a work of literature or an author, and we have to write about how that author or piece of literature reflects their time period. Seems boring initially, but I can totally work with this. I just revamped [ha!] my original idea: vampires in pop culture and the origins of our fascination with the undead. I figure I have a couple of choices. I can do Dracula by Bram Stoker, which I've read once before but think I'd get more out of if I re-read it, perhaps with more research involved and more plentiful annotations. I can also do Carmilla, by Sheridan le Fanu. Carmilla is quite interesting, in that it's a vampire book that predates Dracula, and that had quite a heavy influence on Stoker. Additionally, it features lesbian vampires. So this is pretty much required reading for me, and this project would be an excuse for me to actually sit down and read it.
The more I think on it, the more I wind myself up, and visions of dissertations on Carmilla and Dracula and origins of the vampire myth and their pervasiveness in pop culture and the symbolism of the vampire dance through my head. Do I have to limit myself to one work of fiction/author? Will have to consult my English teacher.. And will have to buy this book. I mean, it even has freaking background essays. And it's a hell of a lot cheaper than the annotated Dracula I saw in Barnes & Noble today for $40. Although.. I do yearn for that book. It was hardbound and pretty, but that's not the point - the point is that I flipped through it, and nearly fainted with ecstacy at the sheer amount of annotations. Half of each page is taken up with annotations, and the other half holds the actual text. If you haven't noticed, I love annotations when I'm reading old books. It provides a much more well-rounded view, and gives just so much more flesh and insight to the experience. Still - the Three Vampire Tales book has Carmilla, Dracula, and another book the title of which I've heard mentioned now and then. Oh, to have all the time in the world to read and research and dissertate! I also really, really want this. The title pretty much summarizes what I want my paper to be on.
Woe! Woe that I lack the money to buy all of these and power-read them over winter break! [Which, by the way, has begun!]
The more I think on it, the more I wind myself up, and visions of dissertations on Carmilla and Dracula and origins of the vampire myth and their pervasiveness in pop culture and the symbolism of the vampire dance through my head. Do I have to limit myself to one work of fiction/author? Will have to consult my English teacher.. And will have to buy this book. I mean, it even has freaking background essays. And it's a hell of a lot cheaper than the annotated Dracula I saw in Barnes & Noble today for $40. Although.. I do yearn for that book. It was hardbound and pretty, but that's not the point - the point is that I flipped through it, and nearly fainted with ecstacy at the sheer amount of annotations. Half of each page is taken up with annotations, and the other half holds the actual text. If you haven't noticed, I love annotations when I'm reading old books. It provides a much more well-rounded view, and gives just so much more flesh and insight to the experience. Still - the Three Vampire Tales book has Carmilla, Dracula, and another book the title of which I've heard mentioned now and then. Oh, to have all the time in the world to read and research and dissertate! I also really, really want this. The title pretty much summarizes what I want my paper to be on.
Woe! Woe that I lack the money to buy all of these and power-read them over winter break! [Which, by the way, has begun!]