The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

[Kell]

So, the May Reading Circle book has been decided - The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I'll hopefuly be picking up a copy this weekend then & getting onto it as soon as I'm finished with my current reading trilogy. I'll look forward to chatting with you all about it!

[Michelle]

I have to admit, I'm finding it a bit hard to get into.. but I shall keep going.

[Lilywhite]

I've managed to read the first few chapters and so far I'm quite intrigued.... :)

[Michelle]

I've read about 12 chapters so far, and I am intrigued. It's written differently then some of the books I've been reading recently, and I've been reading it in tiny chunks. I think I need to 'get into it', if that makes any sense?!

Anyway.. Bram Stroker's 'Dracula' has been mentioned so many times, that I feel a need to read that too.. so I've just picked it up at the library!

[Kell]

I'm up to Ch8 & so far I'm loving it. I did a paper on Dracula by Bram Stoker when I was in secondary school, so all the research I did on Vlad Tepes, as a side-line to that, is coming flooding back. I think I might rather enjoy this...

[Michelle]

Ooh.. well, if you have any interesting bits to add, then please do so. :)

[Kell]

I'm finding that the action moves very slowly, but that's possibly because of all the back & forth between different time lines as "father" relates his story. I've just finished part one & only realised at the end that only 6 days have passed in the father's story, even if it's taken onger to tell as it's been related over much longer to the daughter.

That said, i'm very much enjoying it so far.

[Kell]

Well, I estimate I've got maybe a half-dozen chapters to read, which means I'll be done this weekend (possibly even tonight if i get a good run at it!). I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends. How far as everyone else got with it? Anyone care to share their thoughts on it at all?

[Lilywhite]

I'm still not too far into this one as it is a bulky read and I have to read in large chunks to absorb everything.

I'm about 20 chapters in so far but I am really enjoying the story so far. The annoying thing is, she keeps ending her chapters on cliffhangers and so you have to read on to find out more!! So many times I've said "i'll finish reading this chapter and go do the housework", only to find myself still reading an twenty minutes later lol

[Michelle]

Unfortunately I've gotten myself caught up in 'Dracula' now! :lol:
I am going straight back to it though...

Her father has left, and she's sitting on the train, reading the letters.

[Kell]

I know exactly what you mean, Kat - it was maddening having to put the book down after my coffee or lunch break & go back to work whilst torturing myself over what was going to happen next!

Michelle - you've got some great stuff coming up very, very soon!

[Sarahrob]

I'm about half-way through this now. There are a couple of plot twist that I can already see building, but I am really enjoying it.

[Michelle]

I'm struggling to find reading time right now, so it's slow going for me.
However...
It has picked up for me, as they've just been to visit Helen's mother, and have read the letters.

[Lilywhite]

I just finished this one last night, it took two days of constant reading to get through it. The story was still brilliant though.
Sometimes it felt a bit too much 'text book-ish' but I would put it down and come back to it half an hour later ready to read it. The descriptive passages about different countries were great, they give you a real picture of what the character sees, although half the time they were placed after a real plot development and you didn't really care, you just wanted to know what was going on!!
The story itself was great, not knowing much about dracula I got into this one pretty fast and kept up with the plot really well (so previous knowledge not essential)

On the whole a great read. (just glad I can put it down and pick up something a little less bulky now :) )

[Kell]

I agree about the text-bookishness, Kat - there were large passages where it almost seemed like a long history olesson - but an interesting one, at least. It brought back to me a lot of the research I did back in high school when I wrote a paper on Dracula, but I also learned a lot of new information regarding the circumstances of the time & region in reading The Historian.

Did anyone else find they sometimes lost track of who was telling the story at any given point? I sometimes found myself struggling to remember if it was the father relating the story of his mentor to his daughter & the moments when the daughter was reading the letters from her father which mentioned the letters from his professor (if that makes any sense at all!). If I was only getting a short run at it, I would forget & have to flick back a few pages for a clue, or carry on regardless till it became more obvious.

I think that if I'd read it all in longer stretches, this wouldn't have happened so much & the flow would have been smoother for me.

Also, not being funny, but does anyone remember the daughter's name ever being mentioned? I can't for the life of me recall having seen her name at all - LOL!

[Michelle]

I've managed to keep a hold of who's telling what, and when, but...
In the letters, Prof Rossi speaks of what happened in Istanbul.. and for the life of me, I can't remember what it was!

[Kell]

In reply to Michelle:
Do you mean Rossi getting freaked out in the library when he's looking at the 3 maps & that man appears & takes it all away from him? I don't remember that being fully explained either. The man in question was obviously a vampire (or at least a semi-vampire) & gave him the willies, but I didn't quite get why it put him off the hunt for so long. Unless it's all part of the amnesia thing later on.
I can't rightly remember - I've read another 2 books in between then & now, so I'm already losing bits of the plot in my head - LOL!

[Michelle]

Kell..
I'm not sure.. he talks about his 'encounter' in Istanbul, so I guess it could be that.

[Lilywhite]

Didn't they mention something about her being named after helens mother??? I may have been making it up though lol

[Kell]

I can't for the life of me remember what Helen's mother's name was either now - LOL!

[Michelle]

Isn't the book written in such a way that it's meant to be the actual author's book? So, is the daughter not supposed to be Elizabeth?

[Lilywhite]

I think so, yes. I know that's how it started anyway. It seems everyone has names but the narrating daughter and her grandmother so maybe they are one and the same....

[Kell]

I did wonder if that was the case...

[Michelle]

This is an interesting book, but the middle part just drags too much. I'm nearing the end, and it's been much better, but I fear alot of people will simply give up.

[Sarahrob]

I'm right in that middle part and it is dragging. I'm not giving up though, I'll struggle bravely on!

[Michelle]

My advice would be to carry on, as it does start to pick up. :)

I'm almost there, a couple of thoughts so far...
I was a bit disappointed that Rossi forgot all about Romania because of a drink.. it felt like a 'cop out'.
I've read in many places that the end just sort of fizzled out.. I'm really hoping not!

[Lilywhite]

I found the middle bit easier to read because I sat there and didn't move for hours and then suddenly I only had 100 pages or so left. I found the first and last bits dragged because it takes a while to get into the style of writing used and to differentiate which character is narrating. If you can get through the long history text bits then you'll finish it IMO.

[Kell]

In reply to Michelle's "spoiler" post:
I was a bit miffed at that too, but I got the feeling it was at a point in the story where Kostova was worrying a bit about the overall length of the novel & wanted a quick answer to that question, so I was more than a little disappointed in that bit too. However, I did enjoy how it finished up - it was all rather neat & tidy, if a teensy bit rushed.
The middle bit does slow down a bit while all that information & reseach is related, but it's worth sticking with it as all that knowledge does relate to the rest of the storyline as a whole. I don't think there was any of the historical data that was actually superflous, but sometimes it could read a little dry for a while & there was a feeling of "anoth letter? how many are there???" However, the action does pick up again & the pace quickens a fair bit as the end draws near.

[Michelle]

I finished it! :D

I'm glad I kept going, over all it's an enjoyable book. I guess that there are a few different stories to tell, so it would be quite a large book. Also, going into the history, and the documents etc, gives you a feel of the amount of time they took researching and tracking him down.

I certainly think it's a book that suits itself to long reading sessions, rather than the small chuncks I could manage recently.

[Ronny]

I'm very late adding to this but I finished the book last night. All in all, I really enjoyed it and thought that is was very well done for a first novel. I did find some parts dragged a bit but then the story seemed to pick up the pace again.

I had read Bram Stoker's Dracula years ago and while reading the Historian remembered how fond I was of Dracula so I ordered another copy to read soon.

[Louiseog]

I read this book on holiday, which meant that I got to read it in big chunks which could be why I loved it lots and lots. the whole detail in their investigation was done really well without being boring and the I felt the story was kept in the real world really well.
I did think that the ending was quite rushed but apart from that 9 out of 10.

[Michelle]

I read this book on holiday, which meant that I got to read it in big chunks which could be why I loved it lots and lots.

Yep, I do think that's the key to this book. Glad you liked it. :)

[~V~]

have just finished this and so now feel able to read the thread :D

comments:
1. i also thought about the daughter's/helen's mother's name and thought i just wasn't paying attention. doh!
2. agree about the ending. it seemed a little too rushed and far too 'hollywoood-happy-ever-after' for my taste
3. what was with that epilogue? to be honest, i couldn't be bothered to read it as it seemed to just be something she'd cut from elsewhere and then added in later. bizarre
4. the 'rossi forgets' part was slightly lame, i agree
5. much as i loved this book, especially the romance between rossi and helen's mother, it seems that there were so many parts that were languished over, and then other parts that were hurried through
6. i think it's one of those books that comes back to haunt you at odd times, much the same way as 'captain corelli'. it's pleasant to read whilst doing so, but better after the event

now i've finished it, i'd better change my 'currently reading'. after such a heavy book, i've opted for something very light which i generally do.

oh, and sorry for dragging the thread back to the top - us noobs eh :roll:

[dogmatix]

Nice insights V! Don't worry about bringing this lovely book back to the top. After all talking books is what we do here;)

Have you read Dracula? It is sooooo very similar and it too ends on a rather quick note after hundreds of pages of gorgeous prose.

[~V~]

Have you read Dracula? It is sooooo very similar and it too ends on a rather quick note after hundreds of pages of gorgeous prose.

i haven't. i'm generally not a fan of gothic/horror on the whole. however, i'm seriously considering it now, but may wait a while as i like to 'mix it up' so to speak

[Kell]

I guarantee that if you go on to read Dracula, you'll be thinking back to The Historian & seeing all the little links - it's worthwhile even for just that, but even more, Dracula is a wonderful novel in its own right too. :)

[~V~]

I guarantee that if you go on to read Dracula, you'll be thinking back to The Historian & seeing all the little links - it's worthwhile even for just that, but even more, Dracula is a wonderful novel in its own right too. :)

it's firmly on my list. i was thinking of reading it whilst reading the historian, but since reading this thread, i most certainly will

i love links in things too - as long as they don't rely too much on my memory, which obviously this won't :mrgreen:

[Gyre]

I enjoyed 'The Historian'...

But I did find the ending very rushed as well, I felt there could have been more to do it, if that makes sense?

:readingtwo:

[Liz]

My sister is reading it at the moment. She's been reading it for about 2 weeks now and is on page 70. She says she's finding it really hard going because it keeps swapping back and forth from the different times in history. She says she's finding it hard to know where she is in the book. Is the whole of the book like this?

[~V~]

Is the whole of the book like this?

very much so

plus you have the story within a story (so to speak)

personally, i didn't find it hard to follow though

[kitty_kitty]

I thought i would really enjoy this book but i found it very hard going and it made me fall asleep alot! I would read about 5 pages and nod off

I feel because i love vampire and dracula books that maybe i built it up alot in my head rather than having an open mind but i am glad i read it.

In fact i have just been to Whitby so i feel another reading of Dracula coming on!!

[chrissie]

I enjoyed 'The Historian'...

But I did find the ending very rushed as well, I felt there could have been more to do it, if that makes sense?

:readingtwo:

I know exactly what you mean. It took me a long time to read this book as I had to stop after so much to digest what I had read. The ending was over and done with too quickly. I felt that the author had run out of speed by the end and didn't have a real idea of how to end it. It was too quick and a bit rushed in my opinion. But having said that I did enjoy the book.

[George Stark]

I was just looking at my book shelf and saw the historian tucked away right on the very top and read the first chapter. Just reminded me how good this book really was :mrgreen: i never noramlly re-read books with a few exceptions but i might re-read this one. It was one of the many books that i picked up randomally in 3 for 2 offer in waterstones. I am glad i picked it up.

[Nici76]

I thought that this was a good book as well. It is a book that I have kept on my book shelf for a re-read one day.

[Gyre]

Me too Nici:D

[George Stark]

I forgot to add, that personally i didn't think the ending was rushed. Throughout the whole book she fitted alot of action into not that many pages. I dunno, maybe i am wrong.

[wordsgood]

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
Published 2005 by Little, Brown and Company
Time Warner Book Group

I came across this book on the bargain table of a local bookstore.......but it's not the kind of book I'd normally grab. I read the synopsis and glanced through it, checking out the quality and style of writing. Still, it did not really grab my attention, but I thought what the heck? It’s on sale for a measly few bucks so I haven’t lost much if I don’t like it after closer inspection.

So glad I did! I brought it home and dumped it with a stack of other books and then forgot it. But then this morning I spotted it and felt the need to give it at least a cursory read through. When I finally did pick it up to read, I was very pleasantly surprised! (Just in case anyone notices, I've modifed this post as I just copied it from an old post I'd made in another forum and noticed it said I had not finished reading it yet. Post was several weeks old and I finished it ages ago! http://www.haveahootreadabook.co.uk/forum/Smileys/default/lol.gif)

This is a fantasy fiction story and the author’s debut novel. Below are a couple of excerpts from the book:

Late on night, exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of letters. The letters are all addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor,” and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father’s past and her mother’s mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.

The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known - and to a centuries long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula.

My dear and unfortunate successor:

It is with regret that I imagine you, whoever you are, reading the account I must put down here. The regret is partly for myself - because I will surely be at least in trouble, maybe dead, or perhaps worse, if this is in your hands. But my regret is for you also, my yet-unknown friend, because only by someone who needs such vile information will this letter be read. If you are not my successor in some other sense, you will soon be my heir - and I feel sorrow at bequeathing to another human being my own, perhaps unbelievable, experience of evil. Why I myself inherited it I don’t know, but I hope to discover that fact, eventually - perhaps in the course of writing to you or perhaps in the course of further events…

This is not really the sort of read I could normally get into, but I found myself engrossed with it. It is a great read - not much action - but if you like books that are more plot and character oriented, then I recommend giving this one a go!
http://www.haveahootreadabook.co.uk/forum/Themes/default/images/icons/modify_inline.gif

[wordsgood]

Oooooh, I'm excited! I've never seen so many responses to anything I've ever posted on any forum! Thanks folks. :D

Also, thanks for moving this to the right arena Kell!

[Echo]

I read this book over the summer and loved it! I read Dracula several years ago and really enjoyed it, and I liked how these two books interrelate. One weird side effect of this book was that it make me excited to go back to school. :roll:

[Ruth]

I read this last year. I enjoyed the first and last parts, but felt it dragged a little in the middle. Well written though, and obviously well researched.

[molly]

The responses to this book are very interesting.... I keep picking it up at the book store and then putting it back down. I am not sure why I am hesitant to buy it. I have never read Dracula. It sounds like I probably should before reading The Historian.

[Ruth]

I hadn't read Dracula either Molly - maybe I would have enjoyed the middle part of The Historian more if I had done:lol: Actually, I doubt I would have bothered with it, if I hadn't spotted it for a pound in a charity shop (in excellent condition too).

[grabit]

i was hesitant too.. but i was so glad when i finally took this book home, and read it from cover to cover without putting it down very much at all.. :) enjoyed it a lot, and looking forward to reading it again one day.

[wordsgood]

Honestly? I've never read Dracula either and normally don't read any books to do with vampires, but I still really, really enjoyed this book - despite the fact that it is not an action book!

The responses to this book are very interesting.... I keep picking it up at the book store and then putting it back down. I am not sure why I am hesitant to buy it. I have never read Dracula. It sounds like I probably should before reading The Historian.

[SueK]

Hi, I absolutely loved this book and it was a great companion to me when I was off work with a broken ankle last year:irked:. I love books about dusty tomes and rummaging through libraries, it all adds to the atmospheric nature of the book. Admittedly I did find it a bit slow in parts but I was in no hurry and somehow it all built up to the tension but I found the work ultimately a very satisfying read. I don't know if Elisabeth Kostova has anything knew in the offing but I shall look out for her stuff.

Love

[Ahsilet]

My copy of the book arrived Thursday. I'll try my best to read it over Christmas break. I am new to vampire novels.

[peacefield]

I am slowly but surely working my way through this book. :) Sometimes my work days are long so at night I just don't have the stamina to concentrate on it. I hate to read something if I know I'm not paying attention, because obviously with this book paying attention is very important! I'm enjoying it very much thus far though, and this is my first vampire novel as well.

[Jo-Bridge]

I find it quite interesting to read Bram stokers Dracula once I'd read The Historian as the historian follows the rules/patterns that Bram Stoker first used. Its quite a fun book too- although you do think "Just shut the window!"