The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
THE HISTORIAN
My 2nd time reading the book.
The first time, I read it with haste....because time is very scarce, when I'm working as an auditor. Hardly had time to appreciate it, in fact, I was quite irritated because there's not much of vampire action involved. So, if you are reading this, I would suggest that you appreciate the history, the description of places of interest.....read it much like a travelogue cum adventure themed book. You'll enjoy it better. My 2nd attempt, took me less 1 full day to devour the whole book, of which I spend from morning till night in my room, reading it (until hunger calls, I went down for some snacks and dinner).
I've always been intrigued by the lores and legends about vampires. It all begin with watching Fright Night when I was a kid. My cousin likes to watch movies about vampires and zombies, so naturally, I followed suit. Reading books from R.L Stine and Christopher Pike (he wrote a series of really nice stories about vampires, where he linked them to some of the Hindu avatars like Krishna and Sita) and watching Interview with the Vampire.....and closer to present, Van Helsing really gave me the thrill. However, the more recent Vampire movie, 30 Days of Nights is kinda disappointing though. Its full of gore, and there's no meaning to it at all.
About the book...
The book's title, cleverly sums up the whole story......or I should say, the title tells us the objective of the book. In short, the whole story explains that Dracula hunts and targets of historian, librarian and people with vast knowledge, mainly scholars , where he will infect them with the curse of the Undead, so that he'll have some underlings to look after his archive of books and writings that Dracula had collected over the centuries. Its either refering to Dracula's hunt for well-learned historian as his keeper(s), or refering to Dracula, being the ultimate historian of all time (since he's undead and had lived through centuries). Along the line, Kostova has weaved in some love story that spanned a few generations.
The story opened with the sudden disappearance of a well-knowned historian, Professor Rossi. His student, Paul was the last person to see Professor Rossi before his disappearance. During which, Paul had shown Professor Rossi an antique book, with nothing in its pages, except for a printing of a dragon, with the imprints "Drakulya". Rossi expressed that he too had the same book and from there, Rossi passed on his findings about Dracula to Paul.......
Upon discovering the disappearance of Professor Rossi, Paul is very disturbed and with the findings that Rossi had passed on to him, he's almost convinced that Rossi disappearance had something to do with Dracula. Thus begins Paul's adventure in tracking down Dracula.......
Along the way, he'll meet the love of his life, Helen Rossi. Daughter of Professor Rossi out of wedlock. She hails from Romania, grown up in Budapest and came to London with a vengeance to upstage her father as a scholar. However, on her arrival, she was told that her father had mysteriously disappeared and that's how she and Paul get to know each other......
Kostova wrote the story, with the daughter of Helen and Paul as the narrator.
What I like about the book, is that includes a lot of facts and research on the origins of Dracula. Unlike the version created by Bram Stoker, Kostova actually linked Dracula to Vlad III Dracula, from Wallachia (a region within Romania), and along with it, tells us a lot about the history of the Balkan region. The book brings you to London, France, Budapest, Romania and Bulgaria.....you'll feel like you are traveling with Paul and Helen....across the globe in search of Dracula.
I totally enjoyed the story .....there isn't much gore involved, just a few attacks, in fact, Dracula only came into picture towards the end of the story. I personally feel that the book is somewhat like Dan Brown's Davinci Code, with Kostova bringing in the Order of the Dragon into the picture, but a check into Wikipedia (search for The Historian), its revealed that Kostova had written the book way before Dan Brown came up with Davinci Code.
A little check to Wikipedia, you'll find that Kostova had indeed put in a lot of research into the book, and include a lot of historical facts. While it might not be entirely accurate, Kostava had planted a plot, a story that's believable. Like Davinci Code, the book is classified as Fiction, hence you can't possibly expect the theories projected within is 100% true, when they called it Fiction, its really imaginery. Putting in facts here and there, is just to make the experience more surreal for the reader....which really makes me wonder why people get so upset about Dan Brown's Davinci Code...he never claimed that its real or that what he wrote is a fact.
As much as I say that the book do not include much gory details, it still give me the creeps (I finished the book at about 1 am), and with the lights off, I really can't help but hide under the comforter and will myself to sleep.....kekekeke.
My 2nd time reading the book.The first time, I read it with haste....because time is very scarce, when I'm working as an auditor. Hardly had time to appreciate it, in fact, I was quite irritated because there's not much of vampire action involved. So, if you are reading this, I would suggest that you appreciate the history, the description of places of interest.....read it much like a travelogue cum adventure themed book. You'll enjoy it better. My 2nd attempt, took me less 1 full day to devour the whole book, of which I spend from morning till night in my room, reading it (until hunger calls, I went down for some snacks and dinner).
I've always been intrigued by the lores and legends about vampires. It all begin with watching Fright Night when I was a kid. My cousin likes to watch movies about vampires and zombies, so naturally, I followed suit. Reading books from R.L Stine and Christopher Pike (he wrote a series of really nice stories about vampires, where he linked them to some of the Hindu avatars like Krishna and Sita) and watching Interview with the Vampire.....and closer to present, Van Helsing really gave me the thrill. However, the more recent Vampire movie, 30 Days of Nights is kinda disappointing though. Its full of gore, and there's no meaning to it at all.
About the book...
The book's title, cleverly sums up the whole story......or I should say, the title tells us the objective of the book. In short, the whole story explains that Dracula hunts and targets of historian, librarian and people with vast knowledge, mainly scholars , where he will infect them with the curse of the Undead, so that he'll have some underlings to look after his archive of books and writings that Dracula had collected over the centuries. Its either refering to Dracula's hunt for well-learned historian as his keeper(s), or refering to Dracula, being the ultimate historian of all time (since he's undead and had lived through centuries). Along the line, Kostova has weaved in some love story that spanned a few generations.
The story opened with the sudden disappearance of a well-knowned historian, Professor Rossi. His student, Paul was the last person to see Professor Rossi before his disappearance. During which, Paul had shown Professor Rossi an antique book, with nothing in its pages, except for a printing of a dragon, with the imprints "Drakulya". Rossi expressed that he too had the same book and from there, Rossi passed on his findings about Dracula to Paul.......
Upon discovering the disappearance of Professor Rossi, Paul is very disturbed and with the findings that Rossi had passed on to him, he's almost convinced that Rossi disappearance had something to do with Dracula. Thus begins Paul's adventure in tracking down Dracula.......
Along the way, he'll meet the love of his life, Helen Rossi. Daughter of Professor Rossi out of wedlock. She hails from Romania, grown up in Budapest and came to London with a vengeance to upstage her father as a scholar. However, on her arrival, she was told that her father had mysteriously disappeared and that's how she and Paul get to know each other......
Kostova wrote the story, with the daughter of Helen and Paul as the narrator.
What I like about the book, is that includes a lot of facts and research on the origins of Dracula. Unlike the version created by Bram Stoker, Kostova actually linked Dracula to Vlad III Dracula, from Wallachia (a region within Romania), and along with it, tells us a lot about the history of the Balkan region. The book brings you to London, France, Budapest, Romania and Bulgaria.....you'll feel like you are traveling with Paul and Helen....across the globe in search of Dracula.
I totally enjoyed the story .....there isn't much gore involved, just a few attacks, in fact, Dracula only came into picture towards the end of the story. I personally feel that the book is somewhat like Dan Brown's Davinci Code, with Kostova bringing in the Order of the Dragon into the picture, but a check into Wikipedia (search for The Historian), its revealed that Kostova had written the book way before Dan Brown came up with Davinci Code.
A little check to Wikipedia, you'll find that Kostova had indeed put in a lot of research into the book, and include a lot of historical facts. While it might not be entirely accurate, Kostava had planted a plot, a story that's believable. Like Davinci Code, the book is classified as Fiction, hence you can't possibly expect the theories projected within is 100% true, when they called it Fiction, its really imaginery. Putting in facts here and there, is just to make the experience more surreal for the reader....which really makes me wonder why people get so upset about Dan Brown's Davinci Code...he never claimed that its real or that what he wrote is a fact.
As much as I say that the book do not include much gory details, it still give me the creeps (I finished the book at about 1 am), and with the lights off, I really can't help but hide under the comforter and will myself to sleep.....kekekeke.
Labels: Book Review
posted by Mh at
3:46 AM
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