Post by BellaSwan on Aug 4, 2008 13:26:22 GMT -5
The Historian
by Elizabeth Kostova
Do you like Dracula? Then this is a must for you. Or for anyone who likes a good adventure or history or travel.
When a young girl finds some documents that belong to her father, she has no idea that she will start on a life-changing quest. Intrigued by the author's directions to his "Dear and Unfortunate Successor," she reads the papers. After questioning her father, she begins to learn about things she never dreamed possible.
Her father is a professor in Amsterdam, but travels throughout Europe. The girl usually goes with him and it's on these travels that her father begins telling her of his past. It turns out that in his youth, he searched for Dracula. Through his retelling, the reader is transported back to his travels. We meet his professor who also searched for Dracula. We meet the woman he falls in love with. We travel to Italy, Romania, Turkey, and other exotic places.
There is so much history in this book, real history and invented history. In Turkey, the reader is introduced to the descendants of an ancient group created to fight Dracula. We also get to learn the history of the real Dracula, Vlad the Impaler.
After hearing her father's stories, the girl sets out on her own quest for Dracula. The three main characters (and a few of the supporting ones) are linked by two things - an old book which finds its way to different people in different forms, and their love for their predeccessor that drives them on their quest.
This is an excellent book. I'll tell you no more for fear of ruining the ending, but suffice it to say that you will not be disappointed. The details and effort Kostova put into this book are amazing. It's a rich new telling of an old story. There were so many characters that were fully developed and that you come to care about. And if you're like me, at the end, you'll be ready for more
OUT OF 10 - I give this book a 9.
by Elizabeth Kostova
Do you like Dracula? Then this is a must for you. Or for anyone who likes a good adventure or history or travel.
When a young girl finds some documents that belong to her father, she has no idea that she will start on a life-changing quest. Intrigued by the author's directions to his "Dear and Unfortunate Successor," she reads the papers. After questioning her father, she begins to learn about things she never dreamed possible.
Her father is a professor in Amsterdam, but travels throughout Europe. The girl usually goes with him and it's on these travels that her father begins telling her of his past. It turns out that in his youth, he searched for Dracula. Through his retelling, the reader is transported back to his travels. We meet his professor who also searched for Dracula. We meet the woman he falls in love with. We travel to Italy, Romania, Turkey, and other exotic places.
There is so much history in this book, real history and invented history. In Turkey, the reader is introduced to the descendants of an ancient group created to fight Dracula. We also get to learn the history of the real Dracula, Vlad the Impaler.
After hearing her father's stories, the girl sets out on her own quest for Dracula. The three main characters (and a few of the supporting ones) are linked by two things - an old book which finds its way to different people in different forms, and their love for their predeccessor that drives them on their quest.
This is an excellent book. I'll tell you no more for fear of ruining the ending, but suffice it to say that you will not be disappointed. The details and effort Kostova put into this book are amazing. It's a rich new telling of an old story. There were so many characters that were fully developed and that you come to care about. And if you're like me, at the end, you'll be ready for more
OUT OF 10 - I give this book a 9.
Thanks for the review 
