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This was a fun read. Merging a few quotes to provide the gist of the article for discussion: "Dracula’s own powers – superhuman strength, the control of local w
by _upoi 3y ago
This was a fun read. Merging a few quotes to provide the gist of the article for discussion: "Dracula’s own powers – superhuman strength, the control of local weather, the ability to summon and direct brute creatures – cannot match the powers of his Enemy. And that Enemy is not Dr. Van Helsing or Jonathan Harker or any of the other people who chase him, but rather technocratic modernity itself […]
"Our heroes’ long pursuit of Dracula is largely a matter of tracing the written records of everything Dracula does in England. Note also that the enemies of Dracula coordinate their plan of action with reference to the sequence of events that they have recorded using typewriters and phonographs. (Dracula is the first novel featuring voice memos.) […]
"[And modernity reigns not just in England: even in eastern Europe the pursuers are greatly aided by Mina’s knowledge of when the trains run — and by telegraphs they receive from London. Railway timetables, telegraphs, phonographs, typewriters, invoices, bills of lading, double-entry bookkeeping: these are the instruments by which Dracula’s pursuers draw their net around him."
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- dang 3y agoI get that your post was well-intentioned! But on HN, please don't post comments that are just a summary of the article or paste bits from it. The thread doesn't need to repeat the article—users can find it easily enough. This might make more sense if you remember that the purpose of HN threads is curious conversation. When you have an interesting conversation with friends or colleagues, the idea is not to repeat things that have already been said, but to add your own thoughts, reflections, experiences. If you look at the other top-level comments that have been posted to this thread so far, they all have the flavor of what I'm talking about: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39529274 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39529274 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39529003 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39529003 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39528984 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39528984 For example, they all contain some unexpected or unpredictable element—something we can be surprised by and learn from.