Saturday, April 17, 2010

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Book Details
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Paperback, 720 pages
2009, Back Bay Books
ISBN: 0316070637

Synopsis
In this riveting debut of breathtaking scope, a young girl discovers her father's darkest secret and embarks on a harrowing journey across Europe to complete the quest he never could -- to find history's most legendary fiend: Dracula. When a motherless American girl living in Europe finds a medieval book and a package of letters, all addressed ominously to "My dear and unfortunate successor..." she begins to unravel a thread that leads back to her father's past, his mentor's career, and an evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright: a hunt that nearly brought her father to ruin and may have claimed the life of his adviser and dear friend, history professor Bartholomew Rossi. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler, the historical Dracula, have to do with the 20th century? Is it possible that Dracula has lived on in the modern world? And why have a select few historians risked reputation, sanity, and even their lives to learn the answer? So begins an epic journey to unlock the secrets of the strange medieval book, an adventure that will carry our heroine across Europe and into the past -- not only to the times of Vlad's heinous reign, but to the days when her mother was alive and her father was still a vibrant young scholar. In the end, she uncovers the startling fate of Rossi, and comes face to face with the definition of evil-- to find, ultimately, that good may not always triumph.

Review
For me, The Historian was split right down the middle - 50% love, 50% hate. I absolutely loved the story. I couldn't stand the way that story was told.

With any novel deeply based in historical lore, one expects a reasonable amount of vivid description to allow a complete picturing of the time period. The Historian is so very descriptive, it borders on obsessive. There was way too much information about exact architectural details, exact clothing descriptions, exact sights, sounds, tastes, feelings, etc. that while I felt right there in the moment with the characters, the pace was dreadfully slow. I experienced such sensory overload that I found it difficult to focus on the infrequent action.  The thrill of the present-day hunt for Dracula often got lost as the reader was repeatedly dragged back into the 1500s for more Dracula history. The multiple viewpoints weren't the easiest to follow. Trying to decipher whether I was reading the daughter's thoughts, information from Paul's letters or details from Rossi's notes caused me to have to reread numerous sections.

I simply adored the beginning of the book, but it started dragging about halfway through. Information was often substituted in place of action and the book got weighed down by the author's quest for exact historical accuracy. The book ended up sounding a lot like a textbook in places and the ending just wasn't worth the over 700 pages it took to get there.

Rating

Links
Elizabeth Kostova's website

16 comments :

  1. Loved the story but not the way it was told? It happens to me too many times..so I can totally understand your thoughts

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  2. I understand all your points, but I mostly overlooked them. I don't know why bc I'm NOT a fan of a lot of description, but with this particular book... I suppose I found the story satisfying enough to overcome the annoyance I would normally feel at all the description.

    Anyway, at least you enjoyed 50% of it. =) Can you imagine reading 700+ pages of description and flashbacks in time and multiple viewpoints and 100% hating it?

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  3. I haven't read this yet, but your review doesn't deter me.

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  4. Thanks for the honest review and the warning about the filler material. I also dislike it when authors go on about descriptions and just don't move the story forward. I must admit the premise sounds interesting, but I don't think I'll read it if I have to sludge through 700 pages to get to it. :)

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  5. i'm pleased to read your review, i felt the same way and thought i must be the only one after reading tons of great reviews. i loved the beginning but by the end just couldn't be bothered and skimmed heaps of it just to get to the end. which totally put me off buying her other book!

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  6. Just dropping by from the Blog Hop. I'd heard good things about the Historian elsewhere, but from the sounds of your review it might not be my cup of tea. I tend to get a bit bored by too much detailed description and historical info.

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  7. This has been on my wishlist forever, but I still haven't gotten around to reading it. I enjoyed reading your review - I'm not a fan of overly descriptive writing either.

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  8. I started reading this the other day, and to me, even the beginning is boring :s The Historian really is incredibly slow, it just n e e e e e v e r gets to the point, and the descriptions just about did my head in. There's no way I can read any further, I'm just glad it's one of the books in my giveaway, because I really hope it ends up with someone who will enjoy and appreciate it.

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  9. I've had this book for a few years now...everytime I pick it up I can't seem to get going on it.
    Thanks for the review - I could never seem to even figure out what it was about!

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  10. What a pity! I hoped this book was better. Thank you for your review!

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  11. I felt the same way. It is like the author had this great story to tell but just could not tell it correctly. I give her credit for trying but it was hard to read.

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  12. I have this book staring at me from my TBR pile, thanks for your warning. It might help me get through it if I know the story is worth it.

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  13. Amen sister. I couldn't even finish this one, which is rare for me. I 100% agree with your text book statement!

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  14. I actually liked the descriptiveness, but agree that the book moved really slow.

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  15. This was a 3/5 star book for me too. I was disappointed because it had great potential.

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  16. Well, shoot. I won this in a giveaway and was looking forward to reading it. I'll still have to give it a whirl, but appreciate your review. When a book is 700 pages, the last thing you want it to be is slow!

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