The Jewel of Seven Stars (Pocket Classics) by Bram Stoker Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Jewel of Seven Stars (Pocket Classics)
Book Review: A Greatly Underrated Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is great. I couldn't put it down. Personally I think that it is as good as "Dracula". It amazes me that it remains so obscure. One of the other reviewers complained of a weak ending. I assume that this poor person was unlucky enough to have read the 1912 edition. Stoker's publishers though that the original 1903 ending was too gruesome and made him rewrite it as a condition of re-publishing the book. I don't think anyone could describe the original ending as weak. If you like a good horror novel I highly recommend this book.Book Review: You Can't Tell a Book by Its Cover!
Summary: 2 Stars
It goes without saying: Bram Stoker was a one-book man. His "Dracula" is a classic, and based on two other novels I have read, nothing measures up to it.Years ago, I found a copy of "Lair of the White Worm," which I thought was a complete disappointment. (Even before I began reading the novel, I knew "worm" meant "dragon"--from the Anglo-Saxon "wyrm.") As I remember, the novel focuses on a group of people living in a castle; they spend their time drinking tea and talking about a white worm--I mean dragon, who, for some reason (probably there's a curse), visits the castle from time to time and does quite a bit of damage. Obviously, "Lair" made quite an impression. And, I might add, there's a perfectly hideous movie with the same title. I don't think there's much resemblance to the novel, but, again, what happens in the movie has escaped my memory.
When I saw "The Jewel of Seven Stars," I thought, "Here's another Bram Stoker novel that might be worth a look." What concerns me is I'm afraid the unsuspecting will buy the book based on a cover that reads, "Beware the Mummy's Curse!" and depicts a woman, I guess the Egyptian queen, who looks as much like an Egyptian as my dog Kimball. And, she appears to be looking at something glowing in her hand. Hmmmmm. I bet it's "the jewel of seven stars." (The artwork--and I use the term loosely--is very cheesy, and this should have been a clue.)
Worse, I saw another paperback that was $1 cheaper than this one. It depicts a scantily clad woman who could pass for a porn queen. To be blunt, how many people, I wonder, will buy these books based on very misleading covers? Let the buyer beware! (I didn't have the nerve to take the second book into my home, though I wanted to buy it. A buck saved is a buck saved, though I knew Kimball would be offended.)
My guess is that the unsuspecting, who knows very little about Bram Stoker, will be disappointed. I found the novel difficult to get through; in fact, I often fell asleep in the middle of a paragraph. To me, the work is, more than anything else, a curiosity, a museum piece. I thoroughly enjoy Victorian lit, but "Jewel" got a little too tedious at times. I'm still not sure about the ending. The next time I'm in the bookstore, I plan to pick up the really cheap edition--if it's still there--and read the last pages, just to see if the endings are the same. Other reviewers have remarked there is a different ending. I would like to see both.
Yes, I probably would read another Stoker novel, but I bet I would be disappointed. If Kimball and I didn't know better, we would never think Stoker had written "Jewel." So, gentle reader, don't beware the mummy's curse. Beware this ridiculous hoakum.
Book Review: Stoker's best known post-Dracula novel
Summary: 4 Stars
Originally published in 1903, some six years after Dracula, Bram Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars is a singular work of dark fantasy. It reads as if it were one of the author's earliest writings, espousing a much more awkward style than that which permeates Stoker's most famous novel. The characters are stereotypical of the time, the dialogue is sometimes forced and so Victorian in its manner that it fails to draw the reader fully into the story, and it leaves too many unanswered questions in its wake. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this, Stoker's most familiar novel after Dracula, is its storyline built around the resurrection of an ancient Egyptian mummy. Few people today realize that Stoker not only truly defined the vampire genre, he helped give rise to the mummy genre as well. By far the most fascinating aspect of this tale is its ending, though, which I will discuss below.The first several chapters of the novel call to my mind the host of whodunit films released in the 1940s and 1950s. Malcolm Ross, a barrister, is called to the home of Margaret Trelawney, a young lady he just recently met and took a fancy to, in the middle of the night. When he arrives at the home, he finds policemen, a doctor, Margaret, and the household staff in a great tizzy over an attack made upon Margaret's father. The man was found on the floor of his room, his left arm slashed in a number of places. The investigation begins, and a constant watch is held over the injured man, who has fallen into a cataleptic state. The next night, under the eyes of Ross, Margaret, and a nurse, a second baffling attack takes place by an unknown assailant. It soon becomes apparent that the person behind the attacks is attempting to gain access to the safe located in the room. Suspicions abound as both the police and the doctor are baffled by the situation. At this point, we begin to learn the history of the Egyptian relics housed in the Trelawney house and hear the story of the ancient Egyptian queen Tera and her apparent plans for reincarnating herself with the help of a beautiful jewel of seven stars, the very item housed in Trelawney's safe. The novel ends with a Great Experiment in which Tera's plans for a rebirth are carried out, the results of which fail to satisfy this reader.
Published in 1903, this novel is steeped in Victorian idealism, particularly in its treatment of Margaret and the courtship between her and Malcolm. Modern readers may find this aspect of the novel either romantic or silly. In addition, the respectful and entirely proper conversations between characters, especially in times of suspicion or fear, may seem strikingly quaint to today's readers. The second half of the novel, which tells the story of the ancient mummy and lays the groundwork for the climax of the Great Experiment, is much more interesting than the preceding pages, yet there are elements to the evolving story that fail to make perfect sense.
The Jewel of Seven Stars is unique in that it features two different endings, neither of which fully satisfies. The accepted version, which you will find in modern publications, is not the original ending but is instead a rewrite first found in the 1919 edition of the novel. It is anticlimactic at best and seems oddly different from the novel as a whole. There is actually some speculation that the final couple of pages of this ending were not even written by Stoker, who was dead and buried seven years prior to this amended edition's release. The original 1903 ending is a much better if rather shocking conclusion to a story that openly hints of ancient horrors; it is a pity that the original ending has been superseded by a questionable and quite dissatisfying rewrite. In any case, though, The Jewel of Seven Stars is an interesting if flawed novel that shows few signs of the literary magic with which Stoker's masterpiece, Dracula, is infused.
Book Review: Review of Jewel
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a good book to read. It keeps you on the edge wondering what will happen next. The ending is kind of a dud though, I thought. Other than that, very good mystery book- highly recommend it.Book Review: Good Book
Summary: 4 Stars
I recommend this book to people who like to be kept on guessing. Good book, keeps you on the edge, ends with a twist.