It is all too often that literary critics read literature and then sift it into good and bad pieces, critiquing its value or mediocrity.  Of course that is what they are supposed to do, they are paid aren’t they?  However, it needs to be pointed out that this onerous task of “analyzing literature” for literary devices need not be the basis for placing value and worth on literature.  Additionally, it is a great misunderstanding in society’s education system that students need to learn what makes a good book solely by its use of literary devices.  It’s about time students read books for recreation and be able to express in their own words why the books are great or not so great.  Most importantly, the lessons each book teaches students must be learned individually.  People cannot be told what the book is trying to communicate, they must learn it for themselves.  This is what makes books noteworthy, and this is why Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman is an extraordinary book.  It is a book people can enjoy for entertainment motives rather than for its devices of sound, syntax, and omniscient point of view.  Through the story of good versus evil, Estleman entertains the readers of The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count (the other title) to make a great novel.

    In SHVD*, there are two protagonists:  Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective residing at 221B Baker StreetÝ; and Dracula, the notorious count of Transylvania.  To put aside all presumptions, ostensible facts, and popular stereotypes, it is necessary to examine who
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*From here on in the paper, the reference to SHVD is referring to the title of the book in order to save paper space.
ÝKudos to those who knew that.  Woe and shame to those who didn’t, obviously you aren’t an English Literature “expert” are you?, or you would have known that.

represents good and who represents evil.  That is quite obvious.  Aha!  For those who agreed to that last sentence, shame on you for not reading the sentence before it.  Indeed, however, it is Holmes who represents good not because of tradition and the law he works to assist, but because of who he is as a person and how he exemplifies human virtue.  We discover through the book that Holmes is a caring and loving friend. “I would rather have him escaped a hundred times than have you harmed once, my dear friend” (p. 143).   He also expresses this without words.  “He gripped my hand firmly and met my gaze with an expression of friendship in his eyes such as I had not witnessed before” (p. 199).  Also, he is trustworthy and loyal. “I trust your judgment” (Watson, p.68).  Through his struggles with Dracula, he fights what he considers evil and is willing to sacrifice his life.  “It was the bravest deed I had ever witnessed, my friend placing himself in the fiend’s path and brandishing his pistol as if if it could be of any use against so impregnable a foe that I might escape” (p. 193).    Despite the power of the count, he remains persevering in his goals and is wise in his decisions.  “We shall not waste this opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the problem before we act again” (p. 72).  Holmes shows his intelligence in strategical thinking as well.  “Knowledge of your opponents qualities, Watson, is the most formidable weapon” (p.73).   Even when Dracula seems unstoppable, Holmes does not give in to pressure and does not allow bribery and threats to discourage his determination. “I am a wealthy man, Mr. Holmes.  I promise that you will not regret having granted me this one favor...The rats were a warning.  I assure you that when I decide to act in earnest, you will not escape..There are far worse things than death, Mr. Holmes.  Persist, and I promise that you will find out what I mean”  (pp. 124-125).  It is these human traits that makes him admirable and gives him to be the good guy.

    Dracula on the other hand is evil he opted to sell his soul to the devil for immortality.

“What is a vampire (it ran)?  He may be a suicide, or one who has sold his soul to the Evil One, or the victim of another vampire.  He rests in a casket during the day, and not until sun descends is he enabled to rise from his grave and stalk the countryside in search of the blood the comprises his unholy diet.  He is immortal, yet can he be destroyed.  This may be accomplished by seeking him out in his tomb during the hours of daylight, impaling him with a wooden stake driven through the heart, cutting off his head, and stuffing his unclean mouth with garlic.  Then only may he who was the Undead rest”  (pp. 72-73).

    Because Dracula gave up human ethics, which includes the acceptance of life and death, he gave up on humanity.  He therefore set himself above everyone else with arrogance and satanic power committing evil deeds.  It isn’t because he is a vampire and that he must suck blood to survive that Dracula should be labeled a reprobate (Do we label tigers and lions as evil even though they eat cute little baby animals?), but because he give up humanity for immortality, a selfish craving at the cost of his soul.  That is why his presence throughout SHVD portrays wickedness and why he himself represents the devil.  “Who is Count Dracula?  As well you may ask me who is Lucifer, for the two have much in common” (p. 98).

    Throughout SHVD, the two protagonists have struggles eventually leading to Dracula’s demise.  It is from these struggles that the reader enjoys the book for its content, and only its content.  The book, however, has the potential to be more if the reader understands messages from these struggles.  In other words, messages are unintended benefits.  It is irrelevant whether the author intended these lessons to be learned or not.  Often these occasions were at best a subconscious thought.  However, the it is relevant if lessons are learned through the inevitable§ battles of good and evil. The first lesson people can learn from this novel is that success cannot be gained without sacrifice.

“ ‘And then what?  Whose wife will be his next victim?  We cannot afford to let this vile thing remain upon the face of the earth, Holmes.  We must crush him beneath our heels like the venomous insect he is.  No matter what the cost.’  ‘Even at the risk of your wife’s soul?’  ‘Even so’ “ (p. 155).

The second lesson to be learned is that it takes intelligence and strategy to achieve objectives, but also and more importantly heart.  “Holmes tore off his coat and hastened to Bridger’s side, where he took up the shovel and fell to scooping coal into the firebox with feverish energy that was his alone” (p. 179).  The third and most meaningful lesson we can learn from the struggles in SHVD is that we all will face formidable enemies or obstacles, but the spoils of life go to the victor because of their perserverance, strength, and willingness to venture into the unknown and dangerously known.  “Well, there was no other way.  Step carefully, Watson; he knows we are here now” (p.115).  Here, Holmes pursues his chase even though he has been discovered.  These struggles, although meant to provide the action and plot for the novel, also communicate to readers the lessons about life through good versus evil.

 The final reason why this book is great relates back to the point made in the introduction.  That is, that books need to be read for pleasure and evaluated as a whole, not by its use of
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If you do not consider someone who sells his soul to the devil as evil, you really scare me, so do everyone a favor and read something good like the Bible.
§I submit that good and evil cannot co-exist if the interest of one hinders upon the interest of the other.
literary devices.  Indeed this book has what it takes to be good by critics’ standards.  It has throughout the book imagery.  “At first I was aware only of a phosphorescence, of hundreds of tiny red lights which twinkled like gems in the darkness” (p. 118).  It also uses metaphoric language well. “The wind howled like a pack of ravenous wolves” (p.31).  Additionally, it uses challenging and effective diction such as “inexorable” (p. 32), “flippancy” (p. 50), “waning” (p. 68), and “primordial” (p. 121) are just a few examples. However, the book is not great because of these factors nor is it great because it teaches lessons.  It is great because it is a book people enjoy to read and can’t put down.  People don’t say they couldn’t put down the book because of its use of complex allusions, Byronic heroes, and rhetorical strategy laced through the sentence structure of the descriptive diction.*  No, they said it was good because they enjoyed the book overall.  In other words, it appealed to their heart.  A good book is one that stirs the deepest emotions, evoking dying curiosity, heightening suspense, extreme fear, maddening anger over iniquities, and pure excitement of what is to follow.  That is what makes the reader appreciate the book and how somnolent people can stay awake reading SHVD rather than falling asleep to Lewis Carroll.•

 We all can learn lesson from children, and perhaps one of the greatest lessons to be learned is that we must read literature to enjoy it, whether it be fact of fiction.  In most cases, people do not read on their own, and many famous authors are read only because of education.   Students do not get the opportunity to read for enjoyment, but must read to analyze for assignments.  Perhaps children are really the wise ones.  Aren’t they the experts at enjoying life?  Not to ever minimize analysis by devices, but value should be placed on literature by what ones feelings tell them, not by imagery or diction.  Life is short and it can be appreciated through literature if we read for the right reason.  It may even allow humans to expand their minds and understanding by not being restricted on what we are to think and analyze by.  It is best summed up by the famous quote of the renown British literature instructor Mrs. Jacqueline Roehl, “Sometimes a book is just a book.”

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*If your friends say this, it’s time to get new friends or check your hearing.  Do you say this?
•This is merely an example.  If it makes you feel better, fill in your own example.  Nevertheless, you get the point.