The Historian

published	2006 by Back Bay Books
first published	2005
binding	Paperback
isbn	0316154547 (isbn13: 9780316154543)
pages	704
description	If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's l...more [close] If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller The Historian. The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor." When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive. The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also. As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union. Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler
date added	03-09-07 edit book

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Gena rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

01/11/08

bookshelves: stacks

Read in May, 2006

The Historian

By Elizabeth Kostova

Kostova received two million dollars for this debut novel, an almost unheard of sum for an unknown writer, but I’m sure it went a long way in reimbursing her expenses for the research that would have been required to write The Historian. Make no mistake, this is a lush and beautiful book, each passage is fleshed out in detail reminiscent of the grand medieval cathedrals and libraries in which it takes place. The reader is drawn into the past quickly and...more The Historian

By Elizabeth Kostova

Kostova received two million dollars for this debut novel, an almost unheard of sum for an unknown writer, but I’m sure it went a long way in reimbursing her expenses for the research that would have been required to write The Historian. Make no mistake, this is a lush and beautiful book, each passage is fleshed out in detail reminiscent of the grand medieval cathedrals and libraries in which it takes place. The reader is drawn into the past quickly and presented with the vast knowledge Ms. Kostova has of the Ottoman Empire, Eastern European folklore, and the legend of Dracula.

At it’s heart, The Historian, is the story of a young man led to believe his missing professor has been whisked away by the evil Vlad Tpesch, Dracula. Paul xxxx is drawn into a world where history and myth walk hand in hand. He receives a mysterious book, blank save for the chilling emblem of a dragon at the very center. When he shows this book to his mentor, Professor Rossi, it sets into motion a chain of events that lead him from his university in London, to Constantinople, Romania, Bulgaria and eventually the Transylvania province of Walachia. Along the way he meets a mysterious Romanian woman also searching for Rossi, a noble Turkish Scholar, various priests and numerous villains. His steps are dogged by bureaucrats, as well as the undead, making this a long and complicated search not only for Rossi but for Dracula as well.

Most vampire tales rely on cloaked figures, fangs gleaming, jumping out of dark alleys or taking the shape of a giant bat to prey on their innocent victims. The Historian has none of this melodramatic buildup. It plods along, gathering information about the real Walachian Prince, taunting not only our hero and his female companion but the reader with some menace and a few appearance of an undead librarian but for the most part the real blood sucking is minimal. I’m a history buff so the background information and the search for Dracula is something I find interesting. It has the feel of a research paper, but an intriguing research paper. However, I’m also a fan of vampire stories, so the slow methodical trudge and lack of actual sightings of the fiend are something I find irksome. It drags in too many places, and goes off on historical tangents that a scary story really shouldn’t. I can’t decide it the historical aspects and the amazing depth they provide help or hinder this book. It just seems to me that she could have tightened the whole thing up and gotten to the heart of the matter and the stake through its heart, sooner.

I found The Historian to be rich and luxurious - kind of like a mink coat, unfortunately the pacing and unrelenting narrative make it about as useful as a mink coat in Florida. Still, I wouldn’t mind reading the next novel Ms. Kostova writes, maybe a biography of one of the historical characters in this book because she has a wonderful ability to bring her characters to life. My only hope is that Ms. Kostova spent her two million dollar advance wisely, hopefully not on a mink coat.

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Alex rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

03/06/08

bookshelves: books-read-in-2007

Read in January, 2007

THE HISTORIAN BY ELIZABETH KOSTOVA: Welcome to a retelling of Dracula for the twenty-first century, only think much better and more interesting; less of the weak and pitiful women and demanding men; more history and research. Elizabeth Kostova, while no doubt being a very well off person who went to the best schools for writing, has nevertheless spent a long time researching and writing The Historian with the resulting book being little about vampires and undead and more about books and history...more THE HISTORIAN BY ELIZABETH KOSTOVA: Welcome to a retelling of Dracula for the twenty-first century, only think much better and more interesting; less of the weak and pitiful women and demanding men; more history and research. Elizabeth Kostova, while no doubt being a very well off person who went to the best schools for writing, has nevertheless spent a long time researching and writing The Historian with the resulting book being little about vampires and undead and more about books and history and researching and following the trail; its an academic adventure novel.

Our narrator is a young girl in her teens traveling through Europe, following the letters of her father from his travels in the 1950s, who is following the letters of his mentor from his travels in the 1930s. While most of the book is in letter form – with speech quotes framing just about every sentence – Kostova forgoes the accuracy of the letter form and, like Bram Stoker in Dracula, makes the letters part of the novel with action, emotion, and character reaction – attributes that would not usually be in a letter, but for the sake of this book, they need to be.

The premise is that Dracula, or Drakulya, better known as Vlad the Impaler, who was killed in battle in the fifteenth century is still alive and well in the twentieth century. The three story lines of the narrator, her father, and his professor, all have an event in common: they each received a copy of an ancient book with an elaborate woodcut of a dragon, the symbol and emblem of Drakulya. Each of them travel throughout the many cities of Europe tracking Dracula and tracking each other through their letters; clearly Kostova herself traveled to each of this cities, for the book is partially a travel log of Europe, written in exquisite detail.

At the end of the book, when each person finally confronts Dracula in their time, it is revealed that Dracula himself is a lover of history and books and has been building up his library for hundreds of years with the hope of having every old book and important piece of writing in history at his finger tips, all he needs is a librarian to maintain it, of course they need to be turned undead so that their duties as librarian will last as long as Dracula is alive. The professor is turned and when this is discovered, is staked, while the narrator’s father leaves due to the loss of his wife – the narrator’s mother – thinking her dead. It is at the very end when the narrator finds Dracula, she also finds her father on the trail, and then her mother who all play a part in killing Dracula once and for all; the family united at last.

While this review may make The Historian seem trivial and “tied in a big red bow,” the author clearly worked very hard and long in her research of books and places; the result is a lengthy tome that takes you on a long journey through a well-described Europe, through old documents and books, to an adversary we have read and written about for hundreds of years.

For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com....less

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Rachel rated it:

(review of isbn 0316011770)

08/23/07

Read in August, 2007

so here's the thing. I really didn't hate this book and I wanted to for some reason. in fact, I kept thinking that I loved it but that it was the kind of love that you keep secret from everyone who cares about you because they will fear that you have gone off the deepend and are going to follow the object of your affection into his plot to hold a bank full of people hostage.

I have become an eastern/central europe-phile over the past year. those parts of this book I adored. she describes ...more so here's the thing. I really didn't hate this book and I wanted to for some reason. in fact, I kept thinking that I loved it but that it was the kind of love that you keep secret from everyone who cares about you because they will fear that you have gone off the deepend and are going to follow the object of your affection into his plot to hold a bank full of people hostage.

I have become an eastern/central europe-phile over the past year. those parts of this book I adored. she describes place beautifully. and made me go to Borders so that I could sit in the travel section for a couple of hours devouring books about romania and turkey.

I didn't even mind the vampire-y parts of the story...but in the historical context. I abhorred when Dracula appeared and all other "contemporary" appearances of, well, his contemporaries.

I can only imagine the amount of research and scholarly pursuit that went into this book (my heart=swooning). I assume that most/all of it is non-fictive. I could be wrong. but she caught me up so tightly in all of that that I want to go find out. and she obviously has a lovely writer's eye and ear (see above: travel). my problem is that she seemed to rely on her natural ability and have devoted so much time to the research that she was tired out and didn't 'figure out' everything writing-wise. that's kind of what I meant in my mid-read review of this book with the attempts at suspense. along the same lines, just because your story is being told in first person you cannot always say that you don't know why something is or don't know what something is (I don't have the book in front of me nor do I remember the specific words, but what I mean is something along the lines of..."there was something in his eye, but I didn't know what it was". you're the writer. you HAVE to know what it was.) and you have to provide a cozy context for things...for this I do remember an example...when Barley pulls out a lighter simply because they have no other source of light and the narrator says that she had no idea he smoked. well we didn't either! over 600 pages into the book, there had been no intimation that he smoked but at the exact moment when they need nothing else he pulls a lighter out of his pocket...yeah, that doesn't fly with me.

but I sound harsh and curmudgeonly. I did enjoy this book for about the first 500-600 pages. you only criticize the ones that you love...just ask my family ;-)

****

I don't like it when chapters end in questions...too batman-y for me (will our hero defeat the evil joker and his legion of joke-ettes? will he plunge to his death over the parapet? tune in next time to find out. same bat-time. same bat-channel.) and I don't like when a book constantly has characters or narrative (along the same lines) say that they are going to soon tell you something. tell me or don't. if you don't tell me now I'll be excited when you do later. if you tell me you're going to tell me something later, that's not suspense...that's just schlock. but I'm thoroughly enjoying it otherwise......less

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Lara rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

03/22/08

Read in March, 2008

This book reminded me of the DaVinci code in some ways, but was much more interesting and better written. All of the research and historical documents were fascinating. I was especially interested in the subject matter, because it was about Vlad Ţepeş, the Wallachian (Romanian) prince, who Bram Stoker popularized as Dracula. (Not because I'm interested in vampires, but because I served my mission in Romania and was interested in Vlad himself. Evil and terrible as he was, the Romanians actua...more This book reminded me of the DaVinci code in some ways, but was much more interesting and better written. All of the research and historical documents were fascinating. I was especially interested in the subject matter, because it was about Vlad Ţepeş, the Wallachian (Romanian) prince, who Bram Stoker popularized as Dracula. (Not because I'm interested in vampires, but because I served my mission in Romania and was interested in Vlad himself. Evil and terrible as he was, the Romanians actually are very proud of him because he saved their country from the Turks. They do not like it at all that he is construed to be Dracula. His father was called Vlad Dracul, which is where that name comes from. Dracul is the Romanian word for the dragon.)

The Historian goes with the belief that he is definitely a Vampire, and that he is still alive. Or "undead" as it were. There are three different stories weaved together into one about three people who are trying to find Dracula: The narrator, who is telling her story from her viewpoint as a 16 year old girl in 1972, her father, whose story is told through letters to his daughter as well as conversations about his experiences in 1954 and finally, Professor Rossi, who was the father's advisor in college. Rossi's story is also told through letters and conversations and occurred in 1931. Every once in a while it is difficult to figure out which story you are reading as they jump around so much, but after the first few chapters you start to get a feel for it and it seemed really ingenious the way she chose to combine the three stories.

I loved reading so much about the history of Eastern Europe during the rule of the Ottomans as well as during Communist times. I don't know how much of it is actually based in fact, as that line blurs when we talk of vampirism and Vlad Ţepeş, but I know much of it was. The author is obviously an excellent researcher and really knew her stuff.

I was slightly annoyed by the fact that the Romanian language wasn't always written accurately (I guess she didn't research that quite enough). It was almost always missing diacritical markings, except for in place names. Her Hungarian seemed to have all the diacritical markings in it, and I am unsure of the Bulgarian, since she used our alphabet rather than cyrillic. So I was just bugged by that, although I know most people wouldn't even care! :)

It also bothered me that we never know the name of the narrator. Her father never refers to her by name, and neither does anyone else it seems. We know she was named for "Helen's mother" but "Helen's mother" is another character whose name we never actually hear. I don't know why this bothered me so much, but it did. I guess we get to make up her name, and since we know it was Romanian, I choose Anca. :)

The epilogue was a little unsettling, and the final resolution of the story seems comical when I think about it now, but it was completely fitting and totally acceptable in the framework of the story. I did have to chuckle every time I read the phrase "evil librarian."

It is not a quick read...took me nearly a week to get through, but definitely enjoyable. Kostova has a lovely, almost Victorian style of writing. Very descriptive. The book also scared me out of my wits at times. Really good though. Loved it, despite all my above annoyances....less

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FicusFan rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

05/04/08

bookshelves: fiction, historical-mystery, read-2008

Read in April, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I found this book to be a slog. I really didn't care much about the characters, in fact I disliked the main narrator, and I didn't care what happened to them for most of the book. I didn't find the search or mystery to be compelling reading.

I thought the book was way too long, and didn't really need the teenage daughter as the narrator. The book had several levels, but only the past ones: the father's search, and his mentor's search were interesting. I didn't feel that the issue of the mys...more I found this book to be a slog. I really didn't care much about the characters, in fact I disliked the main narrator, and I didn't care what happened to them for most of the book. I didn't find the search or mystery to be compelling reading.

I thought the book was way too long, and didn't really need the teenage daughter as the narrator. The book had several levels, but only the past ones: the father's search, and his mentor's search were interesting. I didn't feel that the issue of the mystery book was ever really explained in enough depth to make it valid, and I thought the ending was weak for an almost 700 page read.

My problem with the main narrator was that she was not really needed to tell the story. On top of that she was way too passive. She never challenged her father to complete or continue his story. It was all too pat, that every time the book got interesting, the story would break off. It was a cheap and obvious manipulation by the author to create cliffhangers. It backfired. I wasn't hooked, only made more and more angry by the waste of my time.

The other issue with the narrator was the set-up at the start of the book. The way she tip-toed around the whole concept of Vampires. Later in the book it could be explained, but not at the start. As a vampire Aficionado I know that back in the 70s, the subject exploded. There were books, magazine articles and TV programs about them, about Dracula, about Vlad Tephes (SP?), about the legends, and the historical truth. But though the book was set in the 70s, the narrator acted like Vampires were a dirty secret.

It seemed to me as I read that the author was trying to rewrite or update Dracula for the modern day. She did reference Dracula and Bram Stoker, so she wasn't pretending that his idea never existed. She was taking his story, indirectly, and moving on after the events in London. But it was boring.

The slow dragging pace of the story also seemed as though she was trying to emulate the 19th century style of writing. I did like her writing style, it was smooth and she did a good job with the information, the description, the new locals and the minor characters. Her story telling was also not bad, once the daughter was pushed into the background. She just didn't construct an overall story arc that was worthy in terms of the journey and the ending to carry such a long book, and such an investment in the readers' times.

I am a complete-ist and almost always finish a book I start. I also own the book so I feel the need to read it because I want to recoup my investment. Finally the book was a choice for my real life fiction book group so I needed to keep reading so I could discuss it with the others.

I can't say that I would read anything else by her. I wouldn't reject it outright, but would be very cautious and test read it before committing my time and money.
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Arthur rated it:

(review of isbn 0316011770)

01/15/08

Read in September, 2007

The historian is about a scholar. Or at least up till his dissertations, of its being his only interests in this world. Then there is later years later his daughter. Also like him but had not started her university, or had but imagined she would, unless of course her father the scholar would contribute his personal interests. He does course; he has been raising her alone since she was an infant. They make a great two. He’s acting his usual self. He has a dark secret; his lost wife, which he re...more The historian is about a scholar. Or at least up till his dissertations, of its being his only interests in this world. Then there is later years later his daughter. Also like him but had not started her university, or had but imagined she would, unless of course her father the scholar would contribute his personal interests. He does course; he has been raising her alone since she was an infant. They make a great two. He’s acting his usual self. He has a dark secret; his lost wife, which he refuses to talk about. He will not reveal the truth. He doesn't know what he truly thinks about his wife whom he lost, he gives the impression of her being dead. His wife Helen dies because she disappeared one night while not staying with her husband. That is the reason he'd not known what had occurred to her. She’s missing, and he’d known both his owned dark secret and Helen, and that they had been trying to find a vampire, so assuming that she does disappear, that from vampire stories ...she was bitten twice by a vampire, before he loses Helen, and upon the third traditional bite encompasses the undying kind of undead destruction of all, of the living; the causes, according to this Dracula, to become a Dracula’s vampire too.

Resemblances of earth and its advances proclaim history or of higher regency so that it expands explaining earth’s events naturally that something candid like this can explain well, but mathematically, history, goes to expand itself only as the old earth had, but negotiating the stories it actually has, and publishes the same chronological journals for arguments sake.

I basically was pressed for time I would spend with this book. By it’s title the historian and the story itself is impressive, and its well put together, it will give it, you, an impression of very great story telling.

I was mainly interested at the time of downloading books; and but I have this in hardback book. It's filled with scenes very descriptive and that makes wanting to have read more from Elizabeth Kostova. I recently read Vlad the Undead, afterwards, feeling impressed because this history is all genre and fiction and stress...just pure fun set in impossible situations, containing its aggressive antagonists.

Glowing within is an intelligible presence controlling through a thirsty or hungry ominous that is simply transmitting through each of its contacts that moves as it moves upon its prey of his indulgence. Shape or fear due in part to this ominous existence has no campaign to indulge, and if the world were shaped round, it would posses our human minds till we are nothing more than our naught. That we are here of survival, treading this path may be delusional. -What had Rossi advised? “I wouldn’t go around with garlic in my pocket, no.” And something else, too: “I’m sure you carry your own goodness, moral sense, whatever you want to call it, with you — I like to think most of us are capable of that, anyway.”-...less

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Silver rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

11/24/07

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: insomniacs and very bored librarians

Am I destined for some kind of literary hell if I say I wish Dan Brown would rewrite this story with the spark and intensity of the Da Vinci Code?

I think I read some review here on GoodReads that called this a book to be conquered. You know, one where after a time you feel so invested that you MUST finish it, you must defeat the book, you will NOT give up, no matter how much you are suffering. Whoever said that about Kostova's The Historian, I salute you.

I kept telling my friends I was r...more Am I destined for some kind of literary hell if I say I wish Dan Brown would rewrite this story with the spark and intensity of the Da Vinci Code?

I think I read some review here on GoodReads that called this a book to be conquered. You know, one where after a time you feel so invested that you MUST finish it, you must defeat the book, you will NOT give up, no matter how much you are suffering. Whoever said that about Kostova's The Historian, I salute you.

I kept telling my friends I was reading "a book about hunting for Dracula through libraries across Europe," and that it was about as exciting as it sounds. I also needed to conquer this book because I wanted to figure out why so many people, good friends of mine included, loved this book. Maybe the long, hard, snoozy slog, occasionally punctuated by some good old fashioned undead suspense every hundred pages or so, would have a really terrific ending that made it all worth it. Clearly Kostova is very influenced by Gothic and Victorian writers like Stoker, so maybe this book would have a grand payoff of an ending to merit the praise and best-sellerness.

Instead, Dracula is a librarian. Sigh. Just as boring as it sounds.

It wasn't completely terrible - many charicterizations are off the charts for their specificity and originality. The thing about the books with the Drakulya print was really intriguing. Except that's not enough. The Drakulya books, which could be counted as a premise, with the intrinsic map that is hammered on as a significant discovery, amount to nothing. The map doesn't even figure into the conclusion! Not even with a character saying, "we were totally wrong about that map."

So while I enjoyed parts of this book, and had many moments when I couldn't put it down (the alternate to finding it incredibly tedious, with no in-between), I think its merits don't outweigh its shortcomings. I wish I'd read an Actual Gothic novel - maybe even by Bram Stoker - instead of wasting way too long on this frustrating book....less

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Maurean rated it:

(review of isbn 0316011770)

02/20/08

Read in November, 2007

It took me the better part of three weeks to complete this 642-page novel – that, I believe, is the longest it has ever taken me to complete a book that I was reading strictly for pleasure. Not that this is, necessarily, a bad thing, that is just to say it is not a “light” reading.

As a reader, did I enjoy it? Well…yes, I think so, but I’m still debating myself in just how much; either I found it rather mediocre, or utterly brilliant, I just haven’t settled on which..

The story...more It took me the better part of three weeks to complete this 642-page novel – that, I believe, is the longest it has ever taken me to complete a book that I was reading strictly for pleasure. Not that this is, necessarily, a bad thing, that is just to say it is not a “light” reading.

As a reader, did I enjoy it? Well…yes, I think so, but I’m still debating myself in just how much; either I found it rather mediocre, or utterly brilliant, I just haven’t settled on which..

The storylines contain all of my favorite fictional elements – suspense, mystery, historical bits, Dracula lore, a wonderful story concept, and well-defined, interesting characters…

The story begins in 1972 Amsterdam, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and some old letters in her father’s library. The book pages are empty, save an intricate woodcarving of a dragon and the word “DRACULYA” in its center pages; the letters are addressed “to my dear and unfortunate successor,”. When she confronts her father, Paul, about these, he confesses to a search, some twenty years previous, for his graduate school mentor who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula – Vlad the Impaler – was still alive. Paul's collaborator in this search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi, the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. Shortly after revealing all this, Paul, leaving only a brief note, disappears also.

Kostova has three basic story lines for the reader to follow: one from the 1930’s, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula; one from the 1950’s, when Paul and Helen take up the search; and the main narrative from 1972, when our narrator sets out to search for her father. On top of these, we are also transported to the 1400’s to Dracula’s beleaguered homeland and the battles of the Byzantines and the Ottoman’s. Kostova does a wonderful job of interweaving these tales, and the noir, gothic atmosphere was almost palpable, however, somewhere in the middle I got bogged down with the migration patterns of 15th century monks and the feeling that I was reading textbook material or an academic paper. The story DID pick up, but unfortunately concluded with a contrived and disappointing ending.

Having said all of that, I did find this an engaging and entertaining tale, however, the book was not the sort of page-turner I had expected, and that was a bit of a disappointment. Overall, I’d rate this one a 7 on a scale of 1-10...less

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Michelle rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

03/06/08

Read in March, 2008

Although the novel gets off to a slow start, eventually the reader finds herself engrossed in the story. The narrative is framed in multiple voices as almost the entire book is made up of letters of some sort or another. The idea is compelling, emphasizing writing as a deep well of knowledge, and the story is pieced together with each character's documentation of his or her experiences. It is also problematic, however, since those characters are developed largely through their own letters. O...more Although the novel gets off to a slow start, eventually the reader finds herself engrossed in the story. The narrative is framed in multiple voices as almost the entire book is made up of letters of some sort or another. The idea is compelling, emphasizing writing as a deep well of knowledge, and the story is pieced together with each character's documentation of his or her experiences. It is also problematic, however, since those characters are developed largely through their own letters. Often the voices blend and the characters lose much of their differentiation. The damage is minimal luckily, since most of the story is told through Paul's letters, and he successfully paints the others in delightful hues.

The scholarly approach to finding the tomb of Dracula is both historically enlightening and imaginatively thrilling at the same time. Kostova beautifully presents the magic and mystery of the ancient sites the characters visit, igniting the desire of even the most sedentary of travelers. Only a few things leave one slightly disappointed. One is Dracula himself. He is not nearly as fearsome as the modern imagination has made him. The historical atrocities of Vlad Tepes are chronicled well, and he is compared to (and even expresses fascination with) the leaders of the Reign of Terror and Stalin, to name a few. The attacks of various historian/librarians are violent and terrifying, but seemingly arbitraty since Helen and Paul are never hurt beyond the superficial wounds Helen receives. Kostova's physical descriptions of Dracula, however, well add to the horror of the creature. But what of the dragon books that initiate all of the character's researches? We are led to believe that Dracula himself places the books, that he wants the best scholar to find him. But he then attempts to scare them all off the hunt through various means. Lastly, the explanation of Helen's disappearance of eighteen years from the people she loves and who love her is very thin. It is necessary, of course, for the continuation of the search that culminates in Dracula's destruction, but it weakens Helens otherwise strong character development.

Overall the novel illuminates both a geographical area, eastern Europe, and an historical period, the late fifteenth century, that are not typically the subject of popular novels and skillfully placies them within the well-hashed Dracula legend. The result is a healthy dose of history and myth, the stuff of a good read....less

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Ben rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

01/15/08

bookshelves: literary-mysteries

The premise is intriguing enough: while conducting research in the library, a scholar finds a mysterious book containing an image of a dragon. Naturally, this discovery leads to an investigation of book's origins, which eventually point to the myth (or history?) of Dracula. Soon the scholar learns that others who have found the book have either disappeared or been murdered. Alas, his curiosity prevails and the journey begins ...

The problem is that the journey never seems to end. What should ...more The premise is intriguing enough: while conducting research in the library, a scholar finds a mysterious book containing an image of a dragon. Naturally, this discovery leads to an investigation of book's origins, which eventually point to the myth (or history?) of Dracula. Soon the scholar learns that others who have found the book have either disappeared or been murdered. Alas, his curiosity prevails and the journey begins ...

The problem is that the journey never seems to end. What should have been a fast-paced 300-page fantasy thriller instead devolves into a 650-page pseudo-historical behemoth suffering from an identity crisis. In short, _The Historian_ can't decide whether it is telling a story or presenting a master's thesis on the various legends of Dracula. It tries to be both, and, in so doing, becomes a kind of strange chimera combining both the scholarly and the mythic. This lack of identity is best embodied in the character of Dracula himself, who ultimately reveals himself to be an unusually bookish monster, presiding over the story from his library/crypt much like Jack the Ripper hosting Masterpiece Theatre -- neither erudite nor terrifying enough to do the job effectively.

This is not to say that history and story can never be blended; on the contrary, Caleb Carr's _The Alienist_ combines the history of psychology (particularly psychological profiling) with an old-fashioned crime story to great effect. The difference is that Carr understands that history, at least in a novel, must serve the story (indeed, as Aristotle noted in "The Poetics," everything must serve the story). Kostova, by contrast, seems too engrossed with the background and scenery of her literary world that she loses sight of the story itself. (Then again, she's in good company: J.K. Rowling suffered the same plight in books 5-7 in The-Series-That-Must-Not-Be-Name.) It's an understandable mistake from a first-time author, but it's an unpardonable sin for her editor, who should have tactfully but firmly trimmed 30% off the book before publication.

Overall, _The Historian_ is a decent read, especially of fans of literary mysteries; that being said, don't be surprised if you feel a tinge of disgust at its conclusion, like finally having to turn away a once-welcomed guest that, while entertaining at first, somehow managed to overstay his welcome....less

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Sabrina rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

02/08/08

recommends it for: no one

Wow, was I ever disappointed in this one! I initially read the dust jacket on one of my many excursions to the book store and was very excited. It had been a long time since I read a really good scary story with vampires. The dust jacket alluded to sleepless nights filled with suspense and horror. I eagerly bought my very own copy and returned home to crawl into bed and begin reading this tale of terror.

Okay, so sometimes books have to start slow. You've got to get the setting right, introd...more Wow, was I ever disappointed in this one! I initially read the dust jacket on one of my many excursions to the book store and was very excited. It had been a long time since I read a really good scary story with vampires. The dust jacket alluded to sleepless nights filled with suspense and horror. I eagerly bought my very own copy and returned home to crawl into bed and begin reading this tale of terror.

Okay, so sometimes books have to start slow. You've got to get the setting right, introduce the characters, outline the plot.... all of this takes a lot of hard work, and sometimes hours of research. While the research is necessary (especially for a story involving an actual historical figure), it is NOT, I repeat: NOT, a requirement to include every scrap of research as part of the novel itself. Oh, how angry I got when the story finally started getting good, Ms. Kostova would interject a 20-30 page dissertation on the history of the church in the times of Vlad the Impaler! It did nothing to further the plot, and only served to make me feel like I was back in college studying for an exam. Where's the entertainment? Where are the sleepless nights I was promised? When do we get introduced to Dracula?????? Don't worry, he's somewhere in those 686 pages, but if you blink you might miss him!

The research goes so far as to include a number of "fake" source documents. Had these "documents" been merely mentioned and perhaps summarized, I would be all for it. Heck, I AM an archaeologist and historian, remember? But NOOOOO. The author had to create these "documents" and then insert each one WORD-FOR-WORD. One even takes an entire chapter. UGH.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about well-researched books. In fact, a well-researched and planned book only brings credibility to your story. However, The Historian proved to be nothing more than an over-zealous researcher's attempt to create a story from a subject that she is obviously passionate about. The voluminous research is a real turn-off. I don't want to read a vampire story and have to sit through a hundred "mountainous countryside" descriptions. There are mountians. The Carpathians. I get it. Get on with the story. Unfortunately, she never does.
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Kirsten rated it:

07/22/07

bookshelves: corsetswandsandcoincidence, readinthelastyearish

Read in July, 2007

Don't let the 2 star rating fool you - I would still recommend this book for fun. POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.

It strikes me that scholars and graduate students (even sexier!) are now the go-to heroes for this continuing genre of suspenseful historical/mystery/magic quests. Da Vinci Code blah blah blah. That's right, to save the world, one must be a careful reader, and in this book, it struck me as especially humorous that in his infinite evil, Dracula infiltrates the minds of those who can t...more Don't let the 2 star rating fool you - I would still recommend this book for fun. POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.

It strikes me that scholars and graduate students (even sexier!) are now the go-to heroes for this continuing genre of suspenseful historical/mystery/magic quests. Da Vinci Code blah blah blah. That's right, to save the world, one must be a careful reader, and in this book, it struck me as especially humorous that in his infinite evil, Dracula infiltrates the minds of those who can truly commit nefarious deeds: They will rip cards out of the card catalogue! They will confiscate your library privileges! They will you stop you from, gasp, reading! In short, they will stop you from entering the dangerous world of nerddom, you nerd. And if you should succumb in your valiant scholarly efforts, beware.....or you might become.....A LIBRARIAN IN HELL. Yes, indeed, a fate worse than death.

So Dracula tries to lure the most promising scholars to him, as what he as always desired, above even power and awe, is a well-catalogued library of rare documents? So he distributes books to said scholars, warns them copiously when they *do* attempt to follow these clues to their logical conclusion, but then secretly desires them to find his lair anyway? So that he can then freak out and move it? He both covets and resists their cleverness? Doesn't quite sit right with me as the "grand reveal." Just read the Stoker classic! Sooo delightful, far more blood-curdling, far more intriguing to probe for deeper symbolism. This Dracula seems fairly bland in comparison, as do its principal characters.

I can only hope that although I am not a historian, nor pursuing a PhD, there may be room for a toiling MFA student in one of these labyrinthine plots.

"I can't make it out," she said, squinting at the closely-typed pages, hand trembling. A line of concentration appeared in her forehead. "Wait! I think - I think it says that I must write a two-page scene where one character expounds entirely in monologue! Damn you, you diabolical genius, damn you!"

Perhaps the evil genius of myth will cultivate an interest in the literary arts? Can't wait.

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xdragonladyx rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

02/02/08

Read in September, 2005

This book took way too long to read. It wasn't a bad book, but it didn't grip me and pull me into the story. For a book this size it needs to really entangle me so I get completely wrapped up in the story and can't put the book down. Instead it was full of little climaxes that quickly died back. My main problem with the book being that the author told the tale from so many different points of view, but that they were each told in first person without giving the reader any notice as to who was te...more This book took way too long to read. It wasn't a bad book, but it didn't grip me and pull me into the story. For a book this size it needs to really entangle me so I get completely wrapped up in the story and can't put the book down. Instead it was full of little climaxes that quickly died back. My main problem with the book being that the author told the tale from so many different points of view, but that they were each told in first person without giving the reader any notice as to who was telling the tale. Considering each story within the whole takes place with different people in different time pierods, I would often have to go back and reread the first couple of sentences in each transition paragraph so I could fix the setting and the characters in my mind. I don't understand why this book is on the bestseller's list, I think right now it is number four in the fictional bestsellers at B&N. I find myself thinking of my mother's comment after she read the Da Vinci Code, that it was ok but she knew many other books that were written much better that should be best sellers. I wish Brien had read the book at the same time as I did, I would liked to have talked to him about it. My one big question, relates to why on earth Dracula would give these books to scholars (I'd figured out that it was he early on) and then start killing people close to that scholar when they would research the book and Dracula. He wanted them to find him, but at the same time would try to stop them from searching for him. I know that Brien would have an excellent reason for this. For now I can only assume that Dracula wanted only the truely convicted to follow him, that he didn't want any half harted attempts nor any imbicles to find him. He was never in any real danger from these humans, so why threaten them? And why did he call himself 'Dracula'? I'd always thought that was more of a family name and that it wasn't until Bram Stoker wrote his book that people quit calling him by his given name. In my own book I would have made "Dracula's" introduction more like, "I am Vladimir (of the house of Drakul), the man you would call Dracula." After all would he really be walking around telling everyone his name was this form an Irish man made up?...less

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Shannon rated it:

(review of isbn 031605786X)

03/12/08

Read in March, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This book is a little mixed for me. I felt that it was really strong in some areas: the characters of Helen and Paul were so well done, their story was so touching. The fact that she's this hard-edged woman who doesn't really doesn't soften, but you grow to like her anyway, is just amazing. The "letter" at the beginning of the third section from Paul to Helen about the beginning of their romance is such a beautiful passage, it's worth reading just for that one part. Also, I liked t...more This book is a little mixed for me. I felt that it was really strong in some areas: the characters of Helen and Paul were so well done, their story was so touching. The fact that she's this hard-edged woman who doesn't really doesn't soften, but you grow to like her anyway, is just amazing. The "letter" at the beginning of the third section from Paul to Helen about the beginning of their romance is such a beautiful passage, it's worth reading just for that one part. Also, I liked the idea that when Helen finally returns to them, she is so changed, that her death is a relief because she couldn't have had to leave her family and hunt Dracula all those years and not be changed. The imagery of Eastern Europe was beautiful and very real to me. The end scene between the abbot and Dracula was well crafted - there was a real tension between the abbot trying to save Dracula and Dracula's lack of desire to be saved. I got such a great sense of his evil turn of mind, that I wanted more scenes with him in that capacity.
Then there were parts that I thought needed more work, more editing. It's such a long book, that there were parts that I needed to be reminded of things that had happened earlier, but there was no reminder. Yet, there were parts repeated within a chapter until I thought, 'I got it, let's move on.' The narrator was supposed to be a teenager, but I didn't get that at all from her. I felt that she was just too obvious of a plot device and the character of Barley was just pushed in there to give her a romance. Dracula just wasn't real to me, either. I wanted more scenes of him like the one at the end, something to make me see him as a real threat, a real entity. I also wanted them to play up the idea that Helen is a descendant of him because being Rossi's daughter was such a big driving force for her that her connection to Dracula should have been a bigger deal. He was supposed to be this very frightening, entrancing power and the whole purpose is that he wants somebody in charge of his library? And then he was killed because he was distracted? It was just a little bit too convenient, a little bit too easy, a little bit too unbelieveable.
Overall, it's worth reading for its vision of Eastern Europe, particularly during that time period and for the story of Helen and Paul....less

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Mayra rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

04/27/08

recommends it for: vampire fiction fans

The Historian is an ambitious first novel of admirable proportions, a marvellous epic that will take readers on a mysterious, alluring, and quite unforgettable journey into medieval Eastern European history.

The story begins in 1972, Amsterdam, when a 16-year old girl discovers in her father’s library an old volume with a dragon printed in the middle and an envelope of yellowing papers which on close inspection turn out to be personal letters dated 1930.

“My dear and unfortunate succes...more The Historian is an ambitious first novel of admirable proportions, a marvellous epic that will take readers on a mysterious, alluring, and quite unforgettable journey into medieval Eastern European history.

The story begins in 1972, Amsterdam, when a 16-year old girl discovers in her father’s library an old volume with a dragon printed in the middle and an envelope of yellowing papers which on close inspection turn out to be personal letters dated 1930.

“My dear and unfortunate successor…” begins each letter, a line fit to become a classic in literature.

Several days later, on a coffee house in Slovania, she asks her father about her findings. A shadow of fear, grief and resignation crosses his face. Thus he begins his tale, one that compasses not only decades but centuries, to Medieval Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and a dark figure who became known for his incredibly cruel and sadistic tortures inflicted not only on his enemies but on his own people as well... Vlad the Impaler, better known as Dracula.

As the protagonists search for Dracula’s tomb, the story moves back and forth in time, through a series of letters by different authors, culminating in a heart-stopping and intriguing ending, to say the least.

The rich fluent prose and plot technique of “box within a box,” is reminiscent of an early Anne Rice in such works as The Witching Hour. The book, which took the author ten years to complete, is filled with fascinating historical details. Indeed, it’s like a crash course in Eastern European history. Never dull, though.

Ultimately, the novel deals with an important theme: “The study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present, rather than an escape from it.” The author alludes to this theme several times throughout the novel. “The past is very useful, but only for what it can teach us about the present.”

The title is mysteriously open to interpretation. Who, in fact, is the Historian?

Elizabeth Kostova, a graduate of Yale who is said to have received a two million advance for this book, doesn’t disappoint. From page one the reader will be under the spell of this gifted storyteller. A suspenseful, addictive, spellbinding read!
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Steph rated it:

(review of isbn 0751537284)

08/24/07

Read in August, 2007

It started strong, I thought, but around page 100 or 150 I got painfully, horrendously bored and stayed that way through the remaining 500 pages. It reminded me of movies like Hackers and The Net where the plot point scenes, which should be tense and exciting, feature crescendoing musical cues and swooping camerawork while the actors... type. And squint at the monitor. And sometimes read what they're typing aloud. The Historian had lots of exciting scenes of the characters... reading. And sippin...more

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Brooke rated it:

06/12/07

bookshelves: 2007

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: historians

What if Vlad Ţepeş, Prince of Wallachia and the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula, really was a vampire? Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian explores this question, following three different characters: in the 1930s, Bartholomew Rossi, an English professor, in the 1950s, his protégé Paul, and in the 1970s, Paul's unnamed daughter. Mysterious books and Rossi's disappearance spark a hunt for Dracula's tomb that crisscrosses Europe and lets Kostova use a buttload of historical and geographica...more

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chris rated it:

12/28/07

Read in December, 2007

Well, there are many things that I disliked about this book, so I will start with the basic concept. The author went through a lot of trouble putting together various facts and dates that prove a point she was trying to make about the life of Vlad. In the end, to me, a non-historian, these facts and dates are not very interesting. They give the sense that one is reading a textbook someone has written with a vague storyline, which at times took me back to Junior High.
Second, the vague storyl