Elizabeth Kostova: The Historian

[Fantasy Moon]

One of my college friends recommended that I read this when it was first released. I purchased a copy a few months ago and it has sat as a TBR title since then. Now I feel the desire to start reading it.

 

[eyez0nme]

Oh goodness. I must be the only person who hated this book! And I mean hated! I thought it was just plain boring. It dragged on and on and on and on and on, the ending was predictable, and I found the language... awkward, I guess? It's like she was torn between trying to write a literary masterpiece and a bestseller, and never could figure out which one was more important to her.

I did like the info on Vlad the Impaler, though. I thought the historical details were really interesting, but the whole "bad writing vs. interesting information" reminds me too much of Dan Brown, and it makes me hate the book even more.

Should I re-read it? Sometimes that helps, because I have been know to fall in love with a book, and then whatever I read next is automatically a let-down because I'm still lost in the previous story. (Does that make sense?) Could that be the case here?

:two thumbs up:

 

[Blindsided]

i enjoyed it

 

[Fantasy Moon]

I had some difficulty getting through the middle of the book because I didn't like the parallel between the daughter's journey and that of her father's in his letters. I know it makes an interesting device, but I still don't like it.

Sometimes it got weary to see each chapter closed with some shocking revelation too.

However, I have greatly enjoyed reading this book. It reminds me that I still need to finish reading Dracula, which I left off years ago after only a couple of chapters.

I liked some of the things that Dracula says to Rossi in the professor's typed journal. I wrote them down as I came across them because I knew that flipping through later would produce nothing that I wanted.

 

[TheMarine]

I liked it. Not the best vampire book I've read, but not the worst, either.

 

[JustinDT]

I tend to hate vampire books but I loved this. From page 50 to about 250, it can be a bit slow, but after that it really picks up steam and I couldn't put it down at all. I keep trying to see what Kostova is writing about next but I can't find anything. Does anyone know?

 

[savvyambrose]

I read this for an English project. I don't know if it was the stress of trying to finish this enormous book in the time frame, or the fact that it was "historical fiction", or about vampires (a subject I tend to steer away from), but I did not enjoy this book.

Alright, when I started it I thought, Well, this is alright. But the style it was written in made it hard for me to follow, and it seemed to drag on a lot.

It picked up at the end, though. I suppose I should read it again - to understand it and to see if I enjoy reading it on my own time.

 

[mehastings]

Just finished this on audio, and I'm so glad that it is over. I enjoyed the story, but thirty six hours is a really long time when you listen for thirty minutes at a time and sometimes take weeks between sessions. I wish that I had seen dogmatix's post about reading Dracula first, but I picked the Historian up on a whim. I don't generally read horror, but I had heard that this wasn't all that scary and was down to the dregs of my audio book collection. Perhaps I'll get to Dracula sometime soon.

Personally, I enjoyed the story. I loved the constantly changing narrator and the use of correspondence to tell the story. I may have found it confusing in a novel, but it was really well done as an AB. The book felt well researched, but i really don't remember much of the history of that area. Either way, it kept me entertained.

My one big complaint is that I thought the ending was a tad anti-climactic and rushed feeling. The entire book was filled with little details lengthy descriptions and then the last couple of chapters felt like the author was simply desperate to finish. Perhaps after working on the book for a decade, she was.

As far as the movie goes, I'm not looking forward to it. I think it would be difficult to condense a book of this size with such varied settings into a two hour movie, and I suspect it will end up feeling like another The DaVinci Code.

 

[Isabell]

I liked it so much that I bought a copy of it in hardcover after reading it. I found it in the Bargain books for $5. This will be the first time that I have re-read a book.

She's very detailed and I'm sure that when I get around to reading it again, I will find more in the story that I might have missed the first time around.

 

[FoxxyDeda]

I read this book when it first came out. I love vampires stories and thought it would be nice to read a book with a more "realistic" (if that word can even be used here) take on the myth.
I enjoyed it for the most part but was a bit disappointed. For me it felt like a book full of potential that did not quite get there.

 

[Steph]

I just realized something does our narrator ever have a name? I didn't notice it in the book but I now realize thatI'm notsure we ever know her name, and I've already returned it to the library so I can't check.

When Paul was talking about the narrator as a baby, he mentions that she was named after Helen's mother. At the time of reading this, I didn't have the courage to look through 300 pages just for a name, so I don't know.

I loved the book. It was very mature for a vampire novel -- like someone said before me, it's not all about shagging and the ripping open of throats.

I agree that this is more of a memoir than a fictional novel. Maybe a bit of both. What was most interesting to me was that the author is an actual historian and some of the events and characters in the book are from her past and the past of her father.

I would not be happy at all if The Historian was turned into a film. There's too much "story", The director would have to take out many parts of the novel. I think all parts of the story make it great, so taking out one minor part would ruin it for me. That's just what I think, though.

Here's the Imdb link to the film:The Historian (2010)

 

[gonewiththewind]

It's on my list for payday. Along with Clive Barker's The Scarlet Gospels.

Stewart - I went right to Barnes and Nobles.com then to Amazon to check out The Scarlet Gospels as I had not heard of it. It is listed as an import and not available to the USA at this point. I will be very curious to know what you think. It makes me crazy to not be able to get a new book by a favored writer! I must practice patience... So I keep telling myself.

As for the Historian - read it - loved it. On another forum where I go sometimes, they were really bashing it. I thought it was well done and especially enjoyed the depth of research into the whole Count Dracul story. I have leanings toward that genre anyway - but IMHO - a very good book. I even bought a signed copy for my library. And yes, I do read my signed books. What would be the point otherwise? Books are not exactly the stock market when it comes to investments. I buy and sell books but generally to buy and read more books. It is essentially an ends to a means for me. Some I buy to read and resell others to read and keep - depending on the book.
I know there are collectors who would never dream of reading a book they purchase - thinking that reading it will reduce its value. (I learned how to read a book without destroying it years ago). I do not understand not reading or at least planning on reading every book in your library. My opinion, I'm sticking to it. :innocent:

 

[Chasing_Strange]

It has a slow beginning and a somewhat unsatisfying ending, but overall I really enjoyed it. However, I do agree that it may have been overhyped a bit.