CHAPTER VII

LOG OF THE “DEMETER.”

28 July.—Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of maelstrom, and the wind a tempest. No sleep for any one. Men all worn out. Hardly know how to set a watch, since no one fit to go on. Second mate volunteered to steer and watch, and let men snatch a few hours’ sleep. Wind abating; seas still terrific, but feel them less, as ship is steadier.

  • Œil@jlai.luEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    I found this page on the blog of Timothy S. Brannan, an author of RPG books. He links the journey to moonphases. His notes indicate :

    Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent

    These storms are caused by Dracula. Both to weaken the crew and speed his journey to England.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zoneOPEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      Oh is that another daily dracula commentary blog? That’s really cool! Will have to read through it some time.

      I’d love to see if Brannan has an explanation for why he looks at 1892 for his Moon Phase. The analysis in The Dracula Project, as well as in my paper annotated copy, the most likely setting is 1893. IIRC though there was one passage where none of the years in a reasonable range (like 1889 to 1896 or something) fit the moon phase that Stoker had specified. So we shouldn’t be too literal with that kind of element.

      • Œil@jlai.luEnglish
        2·
        1 month ago

        Oh is that another daily dracula commentary blog?

        I am a very innocent person, I had no idea that “Dracula Daily” was an internet phenomenon and that there were numerous blogs, forums, etc. discussing it. I discovered this concept thanks to @[email protected] and you. Until now, I had only read half of the novel about 10 years ago and seen Eggers’ Nosferatu.

        I’d love to see if Brannan has an explanation for why he looks at 1892 for his Moon Phase.

        I checked out his blog and found explanations here and there.

        11 August

        spoiler

        Tonight, or rather last night, is the night Dracula first feeds on Lucy.

        This is the section that also led me to first think that the story is set in 1892. Mina tells us that last night (Aug 10) “(t)here was a bright full moon,” well in 1892 the moon phase was one day past the full moon, though often we count the day before and the day after as the full moon. So her observations track with the real data. This also tracks with 1897 with Aug 10 being the day before. 1897 is the year Dracula was written. 1889 is also a good potential date to be honest. This would also place the epilog in 1896. So maybe I should rethink my 1892 dates. I’ll keep this in mind as I go forward.

        6th september

        Back when I was reading Dracula for the 6th or 7th time, I came upon the notion that certain things happened for different moon phases. I had a little hand-made calendar with the moon phases of 1892 that was using as a bookmark. This is one of the dates that had sold me on 1892;

        spoiler

        Lucy gets worse during the full moon.

        • pseudo@jlai.luEnglish
          3·
          1 month ago

          I’m very glad you like it. I find it hard myself to keep the pace. But I hope to catch up on your all before the rentrée.

            • Œil@jlai.luEnglish
              2·
              1 month ago

              La rentrée, c’est la fin des vacances ! On parle de “rentrée scolaire” pour les écoliers et étudiants et, par extension, ça s’applique aussi aux travailleurs. En ce moment, depuis début juillet, ce sont les “grandes vacances” en France. 2 mois de pause pour les écoliers. La rentrée aura lieu début septembre !

              • Zagorath@aussie.zoneOPEnglish
                1·
                1 month ago

                Ah, merci beaucoup ! Début septembre, c’est assez tard, non ? Quand j’étais à l’école (en vietnam, dans une école internationale avec un programme d’études britannique), nous commencions l’année scolaire au milieu août.

                • Œil@jlai.luEnglish
                  2·
                  1 month ago

                  Les mois les plus chauds en France métropolitaine sont juillet et août, ce sont toujours les deux mois des “grandes vacances” ou vacances d’été. Et la rentrée a toujours lieu autour du 3 septembre pour les scolaires, fin septembre en général pour les étudiants universitaires. Mais je crois que les établissements scolaires français à l’étranger s’adaptent un peu en fonction du climat local.

            • pseudo@jlai.luEnglish
              2·
              1 month ago

              Back to school time, also back to the non-summer life style, with usually more work and more predictable/less flexible schedule. Idk a proper english translation.

              • Zagorath@aussie.zoneOPEnglish
                1·
                1 month ago

                Yeah I don’t think we have a concise word for it. Just “the end of the holidays” or "the start of school"or something like that.

                • pseudo@jlai.luEnglish
                  2·
                  1 month ago

                  Well in France, it is a big event in the year even for families without children. And for families with children the school calendar is even more important than the civil calendar.
                  It is my very personal opinion that we should move the beginning of the year to September. That won’t stop people to party the 1st January anyway but it would reflect much better the rhythm of life throughout the year.

        • Zagorath@aussie.zoneOPEnglish
          2·
          1 month ago

          Honestly if it weren’t for you and others sharing them, I wouldn’t have known that it was a whole phenomenon, either. I knew about the OG Dracula Daily email list, but I didn’t realise how many different people were doing public commentaries on it.

          Interesting that this particular person seems to have arrived at a date on their own, based on phases of the moon. Completely independent of most of the analysis out there that puts it just 1 year later than where they put it.