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CM . . . .
Volume V Number 13 . . . . February 26, 1999
Originally published in Denmark in 1995 and translated by the author for the
1998 Canadian edition, Vlad the Undead is the tale of Lucia, a young
medical student who inherits a case full of old documents from her grandfather.
The pages that Lucia reads have been written by her great grandfather and are
the story of Joseph Maresciu, captain of the Demeter, a Romanian ship
discovered stranded outside the Whitby harbour in 1894. Maresciu, its sole
survivor, is found half-frozen, unconscious, and lashed to the mast. His
narrative is a gruesome tale indeed. On a voyage to England, Maresciu takes
onto his ship a mysterious and charming fellow-Roumanian along with forty-nine
boxes of Roumanian soil. Despite a vague feeling of unease, the captain is
taken in by the pleasant ways of his fellow countryman, and installs "V.D." in
his inner cabin. It is not long before the crew starts to disappear, one by
one, until finally Maresciu is left alone on board with his "guest" who, as the
reader has long ago surmised, turns out to be none other than the infamous
vampire, Count Vlad Dracula. Unwilling to abandon his ship, Maresciu ties
himself to the wheel, in which position the Count finds him a suitably
receptive audience for his life story. The dark and terrible history of Vlad
Dracula is then re-counted through Marescui, and, although Lucia is at first
repelled as she reads it, she is gradually seduced by the story of the evil
count.
Although well-written and replete with the imagery and language of vampire
tales, this little horror tale is hardly compelling reading. A great deal of
the book is taken up with the story of the ruthless prince known as Vlad the
impaler. Descriptions of his favorite methods of torture abound. From the
preface of the novel, written by Lucia's uncle, the reader knows that his niece
has disappeared without a trace; hence suspense is minimal, if not
non-existent. Older students keen on vampire tales will find Vlad the
Undead thin stuff, and certainly prefer the Anne Rice novels, or that fine
blending of fantasy and reality which marks Annette Klause's young adult novel,
The Silver Kiss. For younger readers, there is Dracula,
Tim Wynne-Jones' wonderful re-telling of the Dracula story with illustrations
by Lazlo Gal, which was published in 1997.
Not recommended.
Valerie Nielsen is a recently retired teacher-librarian who lives in
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
Published by
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - FEBRUARY 26, 1999.
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