The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

[Rae]

I think this would be fantasy...I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm about halfway through it and just can't keep going.

I was wondering if any of you have read it and finished it. Should I keep reading or let it go?

[Rora]

I would classify it as historical fiction or supernatural. I think if you like history and the story of Dracula you might want to keep reading. Otherwise, maybe it's just not your type of book.

[Sandi]

It's really boring and it doesn't get any better. I dragged myself through it for another group and couldn't figure out why I didn't toss it. It really is literary fiction with a twist of horror thrown in.

[Becky]

I enjoyed The Historian overall, but I agree that it was pretty long and drawn out. There is surprisingly little resolution, although there is a little twist at the end.

One of the main reasons that I did enjoy it was for the European historical references, but if that is not your cup of tea, and if you aren't enjoying it at the halfway mark, you should give it up, Rachel.

[Rae]

I agree with you Becky.

Thanks for your input everyone. Dropping it.

[Robin]

I have this book on my shelf - haven't cracked it yet.

[Jackie]

I bought it from my Sci Fi Book Club and I feel it is mis-labelled. This is not my idea of fantasy, sci fi. The synopsis sounded like it would be an interesting read, and it could have been, except that the writer isn't good at storytelling. Ouch, I know, but it's true. I was so excited to read this, but when I got my hands on it, I was very disappointed.
I, like Becky, enjoyed the historical references but it wasn't enough to save this book.

[Robin]

hmmm Sorry I bought it now - but good to know before I invest the reading time.

[Megan]

Robin wrote: "hmmm Sorry I bought it now - but good to know before I invest the reading time."

I liked it. It did get long in places, sometimes feeling more like a European travel-guide than a novel about Dracula, but Dracula was good'n'scary, and I thought over-all, not a bad book.

[Robin]

I liked Dracula...I might still read Historian at some point but going to move it "down" on the TBR pile - but thanks Megan for telling me you liked it that gives me hope!

-- Wife of fantasy author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha (04/09)

[Emily]

Ugh, I didn't even get a quarter of the way through. Too bad, I love a good Dracula book!

[Jackie]

I read it when it first came out, the synopsis made it sound so good. Imagine my dismay while reading it. I did finish it, but not due to the merits of the book. I always finish books. I can't say I've hated a book until I've finished it. What if it gets better? Well, The Historian didn't. Long and drawn out, boring. I just can't believe this stuff gets published.

[Libby]

Robin wrote: "hmmm Sorry I bought it now - but good to know before I invest the reading time."

Robin, I liked it more than most of the people here but I didn't love it. I would still say that it was interesting and certainly worth reading but more for the creative historical perspective then the actual plot.

[Nichole (DirrtyH)]

Sad. So many people did not like this book.

I LOVED it. It was harder to get into, but once I did (about 200 pages in), I absolutely couldn't put it down. The mystery is a bit more academic and not really action based, but it is a mystery and it gets revealed bit by bit. To me it was really exciting.

I wouldn't classify it as sci-fi or fantasy really. It's more like the da Vinci code with vampires. It's suspense, and draws heavily on the myth of Dracula and the history of Vlad the Impaler.

I guess I'm in a small group, but I felt like every page revealed a new piece of the mystery and I was completely hooked. It was a page turner for me.

[Kim]

Nichole wrote: "Sad. So many people did not like this book.

I LOVED it. It was harder to get into, but once I did (about 200 pages in), I absolutely couldn't put it down. The mystery is a bit more academic and ..."

I'm with you, Nichole. I really liked this book. I didn't find it too slow, and really enjoyed her writing. I also found the history very interesting. I've actually been wanting to reread it recently.

[Saltie22]

I really enjoyed it, it was hard to get into but it's a book that will stick with you months after you have read it.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

A coworker of mine lent me this book, thinking it's up my alley. (Being as I recently went to Romania, it just well may be.) It's in line to be read after I finish 'Meaning of Night' and, now, 'The Graveyard Book'. I'll report in on what I thought. :>

[Niranjana]

When I read this book the first time I was 14 and too young to understand most of it. I only finished it because it had references to Dracula in it and since I couldn't get my hands on a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula I had to settle for this. It's a good book if you give it time.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I finally finished this book last night. I would not allow it to defeat me!

I never really got into it. Every time it would pick up a little, it would come to another grinding halt as some place or other was over-described, and I got a run-down on what someone was eating in a cafe 20 years earlier than when they're writing... because, of course, someone remembers things in such absurd detail.

I will say that the last 200 pages or so seemed more readable than much of the rest of the book. Or perhaps it's because I'd put the book down, read something else, and then came back to it, so I was more refreshed. Who knows?

My main complaint, besides being overly descriptive, is that I felt no empathy for the characters. For me, good characterization tends to make or break a story. I can forgive a lot in execution if I connect with or care about a character on some level, but none of the characters really stood out from each other. And the relationships were so forced. I mean, does everyone fall in love in three days in this thing? My gods!

Urgh - I can't say too much without going into major spoilage territory, so I guess I'll leave it at that. But I found this book such a chore to get through. I'm only glad a coworker of mine gave it to me, 'cause if I'd spent money on it I'd be even more annoyed.

One last thing I will say - perhaps this story will actually improve with a movie treatment, since one of the things that bogged it down so much were the endless (irrelevant) details, and if they put the 'action' more in the present, then maybe it would actually raise the stakes a little.

[Zen]

Get the book-on-CD! Tow different voice actors read it so it stays fresh! I think this is one of those books that is better when read out loud.

[Niranjana]

Att: blackrose
I know what you mean about good characterization. Bad execution of the story can be overlooked if the characters are portrayed in depth. If you've ever read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card you'd understand why I say this...

[Christina]

I'm with the "good characterization" comments! I hate fantasy books that focus so much on action that the characters are just kinda shoved around and never grow. Or, like Blackrose mentioned, they fall in love in three days. That makes it really hard for me to feel part of it or believe it could happen.

Niranjana, i don't know if you're saying that you LIKED Ender's Game or not, but I loved the story and thought he did a very interesting job with people studies. In that book as well as the next (Children of the Mind), it was super obvious that he is very into anthropology. Or maybe it was just obvious to me since I was an anthropology major, lol.

[Niranjana]

Christina, when I first started reading Ender's Game I didn't like it at all. All the descriptions were so vague and I got very confused. Then I realised Orson's focus was on the main character (who's name eludes me at the moment). Suddenly the story was much more interesting and I really connected. So, I did end up liking Ender's Game after all, I guess. Lol.

[Christina]

:) Yeah. It was a few years ago, so I can't say for sure about the descriptions, but by the end of the story, I was totally in love with it. My goal (both when writing my own books as well as reading) is to really feel the stories according to the characters themselves, not watch from a distance. I like when the book, or a chapter, is given from a perspective that might even be a bit off from the actual truth. Ender (haha, that's the main character) didn't know what was actually happening, so the book was a bit weird and confusing when we - or rather, HE - didn't know what was going on.

I also liked this theory in the Uglies Trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld. The main girl "becomes" three different personalities, one in each book, giving us drastic differing views of the same world. Fascinating.

[[deleted user]]

i loved this book... it's one of my favorites =)

[Denell]

I loved this book aswell!
I liked the whole investigative journalism feel..and how everything got revealed by the research they did. This book didnot drag for me at all.
I also liked the discriptions of the different countries made me want to go on a "historian" tour :)

[Mir]

I probably liked this mainly because I read it while in grad school, so I totally felt the premise "The vampires will get you and you will face a fate worse than death -- an eternity of ARCHIVAL RESEARCH!" [cue screams of terror:].

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

*laughs* Considering my views on research, unless the topic is of particular interest to me, I can understand that justifiable terror.

[Libby]

Miriam wrote: "I probably liked this mainly because I read it while in grad school, so I totally felt the premise "The vampires will get you and you will face a fate worse than death -- an eternity of ARCHIVAL RE..."

That's really funny!

[Mir]

At the time it seemed totally logical to me that this was a horror-worthy fate.

[Robin]

blackrose wrote: "I finally finished this book last night. I would not allow it to defeat me!

That is exactly how I felt about Johnathan Strange and Dr. Norell. It was a hard book to make it through and I felt that it was an accomplishment. I ultimately liked it but I'm not sure it was worth the effort for me.

Robin (The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha | Nyphron Rising)

[Mir]

That's how I felt about finally making it through something by Jonathan Barnes.

[Christroybels]

I really liked it as well. I read it a couple of years ago now but I remember it being slow to start but halfway through, I couldn't put it down. It wasn't anything like I thought it would be when I bought it but it was a nice surprise when finished. Great twist at the end.

[Jason]

This book ruined me. Spent a great deal of time after readind this trying to find something similar.
Labryinthe was close. Happened to vacation in Hungary,
Romania, and Bulgaria shortly after reading it. Couldn't help doing a little Vlad Tepes research.

[Joseph]

I read The Historian when it was first released and was very disappointed. The plot keeps repeating with one person vanishing to pursue Dracula and then another person vanishing to pursue that person, and so on.

And after hundreds of pages of traveling and eating and eating and traveling, the climax is utterly anticlimactic.

In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula is a demonic murderer. In this book, not even close.

[Sandi]

Joseph wrote: "I read The Historian when it was first released and was very disappointed. The plot keeps repeating with one person vanishing to pursue Dracula and then another person vanishing to pursue that pers..."

Kostova managed to do the impossible--she turned Dracula into a boring nerd.

[Adam]

So I only "quickly scanned" the posts here - for my 2 cents worth....I wanted to like this book gave it one "try" and lost interest and abandoned it. Went back for a second try and it didn't get any better so I gave up. I'm not going back again.

[Chelsea]

This book is only interesting to historians. I'm a historian, and have felt the thrill of discovery, but it's not enough to base a book on. Cool idea and all.... but an evil librarian? How about a demonic linguist next time? Deranged assistant professor, who becomes a serial killer to get tenure? A grad student, driven to the edge, becomes a werewolf? I became rather nocturnal while working on my MA!

I couldn't believe the climax. It happened so strangely that I wasn't even quite sure of who died, who killed who, who reappeared, or what happened.

[Bonnie]

The purpose of reading fantasy/alternative fiction for me is to experience worlds I'll never live in and see places I'll never get to. This novel did both for me and I loved it. I will agree the ending left a little to be desired but the ride was a thrill in itself.

[Captain Sir Roddy, R.N. (Ret.)]

I read it shortly after it first came out. Ughh! I even tried to re-read several months later, and just gave up. Personally, I thought it was terrible.

[Sandra]

I read it and enjoyed it. Don't recall what I rated it, probably 3 stars. And the ending was anticlimactic. But the prose was lovely and there was enough suspense to keep me reading.

[Trever]

Beautifly written well researched mind numbing novel. I was really held to it by the great writing - The story just wasn't there...

[Madalyn]

I read the Historian when it first came out and loved it! But then, I am studying to be a historian so I might be a bit biased. It was a hard to get into at first but the way everything was revealed a little at a time was really exciting for me and I loved the historical references. I don't think it's really a fantasy or sci-fi book though. I would say it more of a supernatural historical fiction.

[Sam]

About halfway through I began to realize how the story would end, so it wasn't really an exciting read. What I liked were the descriptions of eastern Europe (and those of the libraries and archives, of course!). It was the first time I really wanted to visit Istanbul and the East. So after all it was worth something, but I wouldn't recommend this book. There are much better stories out there to read.

[Tim]

I enjoyed the history and geography aspects of it a lot. The story was okay. I do agree it could have been condensed somewhat, but if you really like historical fiction/fantasy and are into vampires/Dracula it is worth a read.

[Tim (Mole) The Gunslinger]

It was historically great with a dan brfown conspiracy feel with a touch of paranormal over all good read

[Dana]

I picked up this book 6 years ago and fell absolutely in love with it. I am a huge Dracula fan, so of course I loved it. It has a rich, heavily textured eastern background in which the characters were all so human regardless how much of a monster one could be. I would recommend this book to a reader of vampire stories nad thrillers.

[Amy]

I read this book the first time many years ago and i remember enjoying it, however when i went back to it last year, after forgetting the storyline mostly, i just couldn't get into it this time and ended up reading something else.

[Benjamin]

I really liked this book. Gotta to be into historical fiction to enjoy it though, in my opinion.

[Dana]

Nichole (Dirty H) wrote: "Sad. So many people did not like this book.

I LOVED it. It was harder to get into, but once I did (about 200 pages in), I absolutely couldn't put it down. The mystery is a bit more academic and no..."

I agree completely! I bought this book not knowing anything about it, and fell in love with it completely. It is literature, and does Vald justice if you know vampire lore, and a history buff too.