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Oct 21, 2011

Sparrow rated it:

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68 comments like (131 people liked it)

Aug 24, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

Dear Little, Brown, and Company,

You know what you get if you type the words seventeenth century dutch trade ottoman empire into google?

You get tulips.

Before you give another author a two million dollar advance for a book, please make sure that the author has done the most basic research on topics that she brings up over and over again.

Best Regards,
Elizabeth, not even a historian

I lose it all the time over authors who pick More...

90 comments like (87 people liked it)

May 19, 2008

J rated it:

This novel is better than I had any anticipation of it being. I’d seen it among a friend’s luggage then later saw it at the library. Having just come off three weeks of nineteenth century novelists, I thought, Oh, something light would be a nice change. After all, I thought. Vampires. The book is about vampires. And not just any vampire, but the mack daddy himself, Dracula, the real Vlad the Impaler, who turns out to be the undead.

Light reading. Sure. Six hundred and fifty pages of vam More...

9 comments like (79 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2007

Silver rated it:

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13 comments like (63 people liked it)

Aug 09, 2008

Martha rated it:

This has got to be one of the most disappointing books I've read in a long time. Although the descriptions of the various eastern European cities are often pretty and atmospheric, my frustration with this book won't let me mark it above one star.

It starts out well; very interesting and suspenseful for about the first 100 pages or so. But as you read it, the book just gets more and more ridiculous. It's about ~~600~~ 900(!) pages long (which is way, way too long) and I urge anyone reading More...

12 comments like (72 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2008

Gena rated it:

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 th More...

0 comments like (21 people liked it)

May 18, 2008

Stacey rated it:

It has been some time since I read this, so my recollections may not be that accurate. I tend to make these decisions (do I like or not like a book?) viscerally, rather than by formula. But I figured that any book that merited my little used "pissed me off" category, deserved an explanation.

The Historian:
Kostova sets her book partly in the 70s, partly in history, and she tries to write in a flowery language, like the great masters of novel from the 19th century More...

3 comments like (26 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2010

Alex rated it:

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...

3 comments like (15 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2008

Sabrina rated it:

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 More...

3 comments like (25 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Michelle rated it:

This is actually the second time I've read this book. For a first novel, it is outstanding. I was completely engrossed in the story. I really love history and the whole Dracula lore. I thought it was a great mix of both. It added a lot of suspense that made me read it with the lights on. I think I read it in about four days, I just couldn't put it down. I will say this though, if you are not really into history or researching, I would skip it. If you are wanting to read it just because it has to More...

1 comment like (34 people liked it)

Aug 15, 2008

Josh rated it:

Tentatively, my hand crept towards the mouse. What dark and unholy specter could be contained in other people's reviews of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian?

I was filled with passive-voiced dread as the link was clicked by me. I was horrified to read:

xdragonlady's review:
"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 a More...

13 comments like (41 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Jason rated it:

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

So first, a disclosure: I actually received a free used copy of Elizabeth Kostova's 2005 modern vampire tale The Historian unexpectedly in the mail one day, from author Akmal Shebl at the same time he sent in his own book Prisoners in Paradise for review, not as a bribe I think but rather More...

0 comments like (22 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Kirsten rated it:

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 w More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2010

Moderatrix Lori added it

I really wanted to like this book but God is it boring as hell. I hate not finishing a book but I just can't waste one more minute reading something akin to watching paint dry. I kept waiting for the story to take off and for something, anything, exciting to happen. This felt like an exercise in cold war geography and a self-indulgent author letting us know how smart she is and how much research she'd done. Who cares?! The premise for this book was really intriguing but the story gets lost More...

5 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Rachel rated it:

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 de More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Lara rated it:

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 actuall More...

9 comments like (15 people liked it)

Oct 18, 2008

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

I'm disappointed. I wanted to love this book soooo much. I love vampire stories, and I loved Dracula, with its long expository letters and journal entries. I love the idea of historians being drafted by Dracula. But I didn't love this book.
Why? Well, let me tell you:
1)I was annoyed by the fact that we never learn the name of the main character. No, I didn't think that was intriguing. I thought it was annoying.
2) The historic research was dry dry dry, and I dreaded seeing secti More...

5 comments like (14 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2008

Maurean rated it:

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 s More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2007

Brooke rated it:

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 geographical re More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2009

Jason rated it:

I really need to give a reason that this book received such a low rating from me.

First, I want to say that the majority of the book was amazing. It was mysterious, and the descriptions were vivid. the author pulled me totally into this story. This book is over 700 pages and I rushed through it to find out what the great mystery was...only to be disappointed by a silly and rushed ending. I felt so robbed that I was tempted to throw this massive book but knew it would do a great deal More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Eileen rated it:

If there were negative stars, I would give them to this book. OMG, words fail me.

On second thought..they don't. Let me describe the ways this book sucked.

First off, it sucked because it COULD have been a brilliant book....its IN there...somewhere in the 642 pages. I would venture to say....its about 300 pages too long. At page 201 into the book, it was still plodding along unmercifully.

They way it is written, in first person, is way too choppy. Some cha More...

3 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Ricky rated it:

I wanted to like this book, especially after it was talked up so much by Jenn and Kenci.

Alas, liking this book was not to be...

It was a love hate-relationship, mostly hate. This book wanted to tell me the story of a "real" vampire, but mostly the book got bored and decided instead it wanted to talk about ancient Arabic tapestries. Of course to some, the Ottoman empire might be the most awesome thing ever, unfortunately it only seemed to act as the dirt under wh More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2011

Jackie rated it:

It has all the promise of a great novel. Reading the jacket I couldn't wait to get started. Unfortunately, it didn't excite me, or thrill me or even hold my interest. It was an utter disappointment. Touted as a most suspenseful novel, I kept waiting for the suspense to begin.
One of my biggest pet peeves is long winded commentaries on something that has nothing to do with furthering the plot. And this book did that entirely too much for my liking.
I can bear it if I must, if it ha More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2011

Blair rated it:

Meandering, slogging, hair-pulling, mess of a read. The Da Vinci code on crack-cocaine. This book needs to lose some weight. The book started off paced really well but quickly lost steam. The SLLLOOOWWW build up dies in the arms of the final pages, thankfully. By the end of this novel? historical fiction? university dissertation on the Ottoman invasion of the Byzantine empire as seen through the eyes of Dracula enthusiasts? I was ready to be staked through the heart. The one good point More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2011

Jessica rated it:

This book had a weird, dreamy quality that I enjoyed . . . up to a point. The narrarator was a bit too schoolgirlish after a while, and I enjoyed that you never knew her name, even though they hinted at it. I was a bit baffled by the "stinger" ending, though.

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it:

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2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2010

Sandi rated it:

I can't believe I read the whole thing. I mean, I really can't believe I read the whole thing. 679 pages of sheer boredom, style over substance. It didn't even pick up until around page 500. (It went from a snail's pace to a turtle's pace.) Dracula, the guy everyone is looking for, doesn't show up until somewhere around page 600. When he does show up, he is a total bore. How on earth can one make Dracula boring? This whole story could have filled 300 pages and been much more engaging and More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 16, 2008

Nicole rated it:

The research was admirable, although I question the author's decision to include certain historical documents, rather than interpreting them for the reader. I get it, I get it, the book is called The Historian, because the main characters are all historians and that's why she chose to include too much detail. Duh. Nevertheless, there were too many moments where I felt bogged down in a swamp of wordiness rather than feeling like I was effortlessly swimming through brilliant prose.

More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 04, 2008

FicusFan rated it:

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0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2008

Erinn rated it:

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...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)