The Historian

Aug 01, 2009

Sparrow rated it

Recommends it for: Henry James Fans

Recommended to Sparrow by: Laura Rice said not to read it. She was right.

Shelves: vampires, punching-tour, reviewed, motherless-daughters

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. You know you’ve been in school too long when you write a vampire novel in which Dracula’s ultimate threat is to force his victims to catalog his extensive library of antique books. On the other hand, after finishing The Historian, and its detailed Vlad the Impaler research, I’m willing to consider that threat as akin to impalement. If Kostova’s references to Henry James did not reveal her as an admirer of his, then its sprawling prose, vague plot, and sexually confused characters would have. Whi...moreYou know you’ve been in school too long when you write a vampire novel in which Dracula’s ultimate threat is to force his victims to catalog his extensive library of antique books. On the other hand, after finishing The Historian, and its detailed Vlad the Impaler research, I’m willing to consider that threat as akin to impalement. If Kostova’s references to Henry James did not reveal her as an admirer of his, then its sprawling prose, vague plot, and sexually confused characters would have. While imitation of Henry James is not enough in itself to make me wish undeath on an author, it sucked the blood out of this adventure.

Kostova writes The Historian in epistolary form, primarily through letters from a father historian to a daughter (presumably) historian. The greater part of the book, however, focused not on this father-daughter team’s desperate search for family member(s) and Dracula, but on the obscure history of Vlad Tepes, the historical figure who inspired the legend of Dracula, and on the geography of Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey during the Cold War. If the Travel Channel™ was ever looking for someone to host Istanbul on a Budget 1980 or Passport to Monasteries Behind the Iron Curtain, Kostova would be their woman. Whether the history and geography is true or not, the sheer volume of trivia padding this book and the work it had to have taken to put it all together is confounding.

Even with the impressive research, this story is Scooby Doo with no Scooby Snacks. Dracula would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those pesky historians! Dracula and his henchman, the “evil librarian,” don’t plague society or cause panic. Rather, they make appearances in goofy disguises in libraries and cafes to give books and other clues to especially promising young historians, inspiring the recipients to begin insatiable quests to find out more about this Dracula fellow. Then, Dracula inevitably shows up again to slap people around a little, so that the historians will be too afraid to continue their research. Once, after giving a historian a book to start him on his vampire studies, Dracula disguises himself as “a stranger” and buys that historian a drink called, “whimsically, amnesia.” Bet you can’t guess what that does - all that research down the tubes! Stop the mind games, Dracula! Not to be deterred by Dracula’s or the Evil Librarian’s threats, the historians continue to stalk their prey until the reader would pity Dracula (if he weren’t annoying), because he is ultimately only trying to build a book collection and a gang of faithful research assistants.

In painful detail, Paul, the central historian/vampire slayer, as he tells his daughter the story of his search for Dracula, also tells of falling in love with her “mannish” mother, Helen. The consistent descriptions of our heroine as “manly” only hint at Paul’s sexual confusion, which becomes most apparent when he meets his rival, Helen’s ex-boyfriend, a Soviet spy. Paul describes this meeting to his daughter in chapter 38. “’What a pleasure to meet you,’ [ex-boyfriend] said, giving me a smile that illuminated his fine features. He was taller than I, with thick brown hair and the confident posture of a man who loves his own virility – he would have been magnificent on horseback, riding across the plains with herds of sheep, I thought.” Except for the word “virility,” I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of reading that description. If the author of the quote had been a man, I would encourage him to openly write gay characters rather than making his characters marry to hide their sexuality. From the author’s picture on the dust jacket, I see that she is Madame Bovary, so the description fits.

It is true that because of the vagueness of the plot and the epistolary structure, entire chapters and characters could be cut from this book without losing any story. Beyond its rambling descriptions, however, The Historian flounders as a vampire story. Psychological conflict adds complexity to most vampire stories, as in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, when Mina, formerly a protagonist, becomes bloodthirsty. Thirst is the most basic human experience, and all vampires started as humans. Theoretically, thirst (or, more broadly, desire) could become evil in anyone; and, therefore, of all monsters we most easily identify with vampires. In The Historian, however, I am left with the impression that if those historians left poor Dracula alone, he would have just kept collecting books. It was ultimately the research and study, not Dracula himself, that took the historians away from their loved ones and almost destroyed them. From where I’m reading, The Historian is solid evidence of what most high school kids could tell you: too much study is both boring and potentially bad for your health.(less)

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Jul 05, 2010

Elizabeth rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Helen

Shelves: 2010, bio-memoir-diaries-letters, books-about-books, dragons-on-display, early-modern-europe, continental-types-of-other-sorts, in-by-of-england, medieval, mystery, revenge-of-the-goths, reviewed, romance-with-a-capital-r, vamps-and-other-mythical-beasts

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

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May 19, 2008

J rated it

· review of another edition

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

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Nov 24, 2007

Silver rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: insomniacs and very bored librarians

Shelves: historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 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...moreAm 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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Aug 09, 2008

Martha rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: compulsive letter writers and dull historians

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...moreThis 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 this book to just put it down or read one of the one-star spoiler reviews on Amazon and be done with it. Or better yet, ignore the book entirely.

What bothered me most? I'll try to make a list of my top issues:

-- Coincidences. *Everything* in this book happens by some remarkable coincidences. One here or there would be fine, even interesting, but it's as if the author decided 'here's how the plot should go', and couldn't be bothered to come up with realistic reasons for characters to do things and just wanted to move them from one point to another. One of the characters even ends up with amnesia. Amnesia! Like from a bad soap opera! I mean, are you kidding? So stuff just happens. For no reason. Which leads me to...

-- Stuff just happens. For no reason. Such as characters getting together romantically, well, just because. No build up, no logic, they just do because I guess they're both there and they have nothing better to do. Which leads me to...

-- The characters themselves. Completely non-existent. One reviewer on amazon said that if you take any random section of dialogue from the book, it is impossible to tell which character it came from. So true! The author is completely incapable of creating realistic, breathing characters that are different from each other. Instead they all talk the same, they all have the same reactions, the same motives, hook up randomly in the same way, etc. There is *nothing* believable about these people. And for some reason, they all write unbelievably detailed letters. Which leads me to...

-- Unbelievably detailed letters! Now I have read a number of great books that use the format of letter writing to convey the plot. But this? Ridiculous. Not only are these letters insanely long, but they are insanely detailed as well, creating yet another reason why the book and the characters are completely unbelievable. If that's how the author wanted to write this, why did she do the letter thing at all? Which brings me to my final big gripe (I've leaving the small ones out)...

-- The ending. OMG if you value your sanity, do not, I repeat DO NOT finish this book. Because if you are sane, you will get to the ending and go, 'What? What?? Are you f-n kidding me?? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!' No joke. The ending, especially after 600 pages, has got to be the biggest let down of any major novel in recent years. I won't spoil it here (however badly I want to vent about it), but I swear to you: it will cause you physical agony when you read it.

In short: bad book, promises a lot and delivers none of it. Ignore it, read something else.(less)

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Jan 11, 2008

Gena rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: stacks

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...moreThe 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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May 18, 2008

Stacey rated it

Shelves: time-i-will-never-get-back, pissed-me-off, paranormal

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...moreIt 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- but to me, she really just comes off sounding pretentious, overwrought and juvenile. Yes, her character is supposed to be young, but the writing can be elegant, even with a young and immature subject. In addition, everyone in the whole story speaks with the same voice. Many times I had to backtrack because I'd lost the thread of who was speaking.

Then, she writes about Vlad, Dracula, attempting to add new lore to the story, but never really gives us any surprises. At the most "suspenseful" moments, I often found myself feeling irritatingly amused at the author's attempt to create tension. One moment she is in fear of her life, and the next, she's what? sipping tea? And I don't recall that Kostova mixes her scenes well. She creates tension, but then breaks it too soon, or holds back from stretching it out, or drops into the completely mundane, instead of just pulling back a little. Even her main character doesn't seem to be driven by anything except one-upmanship, the desire to solve this mystery that her father couldn't, not for anyone's sake except proving that she's a better historian?

Lastly, the stories of Dracula are supposed to be horrific, but also reluctantly romantic. She rarely rises above twittering, and it was never at any junction a book that I devoured. Mostly I just got through it, only to discover at the very end, when everything is supposedly wrapped up, with no foreshadowing, she tacks on a "oh by the way, he could still be alive! muahahaha!"

Okay then.

To comment specifically, I'd probably have to reread, or at least review, the book, which I'm not willing to do when there are still so many thousands of brilliantly written stories out there that I haven't discovered yet.(less)

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Sep 16, 2010

Alex Telander rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-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...moreTHE 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 book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.(less)

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Feb 08, 2008

Sabrina rated it

· review of another edition

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...moreWow, 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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Jun 23, 2007

Michelle rated it

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Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: bookclub

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

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Aug 15, 2008

Josh rated it

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Recommends it for: Torturers, both medieval and contemporary

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

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May 28, 2008

Jason Pettus rated it

· review of another edition

(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

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Jul 22, 2007

Kirsten rated it

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Shelves: corsetswandsandcoincidence, read-in-2007, xx-chromosome

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...moreDon'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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Jan 14, 2010

Moderatrix Lori marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who enjoy watching paint dry

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

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Aug 23, 2007

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...moreso 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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Mar 22, 2008

Lara rated it

· review of another edition

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...moreThis 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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Oct 18, 2008

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it

Shelves: awardwinners, blood-sucking-fiends, horror

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

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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...moreIt 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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Jun 12, 2007

Brooke rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: historians

Shelves: 2007, own, horror

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

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Dec 30, 2009

Jason Huffman-black rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, vampires

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

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May 28, 2008

Eileen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: hated-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

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Jan 08, 2009

Ricky rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Ricky by: Kenci, Dad, Jenn

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

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Nov 03, 2008

Jackie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: horror, supernatural

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

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Nov 11, 2010

Blair rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: wastes-of-time

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

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Mar 03, 2011

Jessica rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literaryfiction

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.

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Jul 20, 2009

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one

Recommended to ± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± by: coworker

Shelves: vampire, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I finished. I did not let it beat me!

As I was trying to give the gist to Darkk he said "So, like 'National Treasure', but with vampires." "Sort of," I said, "but not as entertaining." (Which is bad enough, since I sort of liked 'National Treasure' despite myself.)

**Mild Spoilage throughout**

Anyway - where to start? First and foremost, it was so slow and tedious. Endless details about architecture and food and what som...more

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Jan 09, 2010

Sandi rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2008

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

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May 16, 2008

Nicole rated it

· review of another edition

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.

...moreThe 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.

It had so much potential. I had such high hopes for it. About four hundred pages in I never thought I'd finish it and it was about that time that I grew tired of repetitive, lazy writing, overuse of words and expressions such as, "We ate heartily..." and "The room was dingy," or "We came to a dingy part of the city," where they "ate heartily a feast of Turkish delights."* That sort of thing. I'm just saying, there were very vivid moments where I could tell from the writing that the author was bored of describing scenes, where I knew she was just trying to get to the good part but she had to go through all these other stupid, inane scenes of people at a party or traveling through the countryside. That was when the writing was lifeless and dull and I felt like I was reading stage directions or something.

Not to mention the whole fact that I could really believe in a real life (or undead, anyway) Dracula more than I would EVER believe that some forty-year-old guy sat down and wrote letters in explicit first-person detail to his daughter. First of all, no one has a memory that good and so he was fictionalizing his own history without ever admitting to that. Would a "historian" do that? No, that's what authors do.

I guess the point is that I'll never understand Kostova's choice of letters as the method of telling the story, rather than an omniscient third person narrator. That would have worked better. But, there again, I found it difficult to believe that a man felt and thought all the things this male character did.

I apologize for being so critical because I think she did a wonderful job with the research and for many scenes I thought the writing excellent. I also found that some of the city descriptions were fabulous and they definitely made me want to visit the places featured in the book. However, the sum total was a Dracula-Da Vinci Code in one package. I'm sorry, but, there it is.

*I made this sentence up. It never, to my knowledge, makes an appearance in the novel. Not in so many words. But it certainly COULD have been in there.(less)

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May 04, 2008

FicusFan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-2008, historical-mystery, fiction

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...moreI 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.
(less)

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Feb 02, 2008

Erinn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: pardon-me-your-fangs-are-in-my-neck

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...moreThis 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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topics	posts	views	last activity
Next book	9	167	Dec 19, 2011 08:41am
Narration Confusing	26	184	Dec 09, 2011 12:05pm
There's No Worse Thief than a Bad Book	120	857	Dec 01, 2011 09:29am
Romance Readers R...: The Historian [Buddy Read]	50	56	Oct 18, 2011 05:55am
Paranormal Romanc...: Impossible read?	13	132	Sep 21, 2011 10:59am
Finished (Well Sort of)	9	156	Sep 25, 2008 10:57am

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