The Historian
SnakThing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night
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1Facetious_Badger
I just finished reading The Historian. It's a good book (good as in it was enjoyable, but I'll probably never read it again), but it really didn't have the feel of a horror book. I also felt that the ending was a bit anticlimatic, though maybe after consuming 800 pages Elizabeth Kostova probably realized that she needed to start wrapping it up. Anyone else read it, and if so what are your opinions on it?
2Bookmarque
my review -
While interesting, this book wasn’t very compelling. I read a review on Amazon that said that the vampire shows himself and then everyone just goes to read books for another 200 pages. It’s absolutely like that. It reminds me of the novel Dracula actually in the way that very little happens, but very much is documented.
The flashbacks to the present time and the daughter’s pursuit of her father were a little jarring sometimes. It’s hard to believe that she found this entire novel written out by her father. I don’t buy it.
But it’s an interesting story. Apparently Vlad has been undead for 5 centuries and amassing a terrific library. He occasionally slips a particular kind of book to a scholar he feels might be worthy of cataloguing his collection. The books is always old and bound and completely blank except for a woodcut print of a dragon with a curling tail. Paul’s professor friend Rossi receives one of these and his obsession with solving the mystery is all-consuming and soon he disappears under suspicious circumstances. Soon, Paul also receives such a book and he goes after Rossi, meeting Helen along the way. She is Rossi’s daughter but has never met him.
Strangely I couldn’t see anything really evil in Vlad's pursuit of these people. The library itself is made up of unbelievably rare and precious books. Some of which detail accounts of wars and torture methodology. That’s the unspeakable evil that must be stopped?? It didn’t make sense and I hoped their quest would fail and Dracula would continue to exist.
While interesting, this book wasn’t very compelling. I read a review on Amazon that said that the vampire shows himself and then everyone just goes to read books for another 200 pages. It’s absolutely like that. It reminds me of the novel Dracula actually in the way that very little happens, but very much is documented.
The flashbacks to the present time and the daughter’s pursuit of her father were a little jarring sometimes. It’s hard to believe that she found this entire novel written out by her father. I don’t buy it.
But it’s an interesting story. Apparently Vlad has been undead for 5 centuries and amassing a terrific library. He occasionally slips a particular kind of book to a scholar he feels might be worthy of cataloguing his collection. The books is always old and bound and completely blank except for a woodcut print of a dragon with a curling tail. Paul’s professor friend Rossi receives one of these and his obsession with solving the mystery is all-consuming and soon he disappears under suspicious circumstances. Soon, Paul also receives such a book and he goes after Rossi, meeting Helen along the way. She is Rossi’s daughter but has never met him.
Strangely I couldn’t see anything really evil in Vlad's pursuit of these people. The library itself is made up of unbelievably rare and precious books. Some of which detail accounts of wars and torture methodology. That’s the unspeakable evil that must be stopped?? It didn’t make sense and I hoped their quest would fail and Dracula would continue to exist.
3CarlosMcRey
#2 - I agree that Dracula's aims seemed pretty underwhelming. I think the juxtaposition of Dracula with the Soviet Bloc eventually ends up working against it. Sure, Dracula's undead, but Stalin, now that guy is evil. (And don't get me started on the whole speculation about an undead Stalin.)
