The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Alex Bravo

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What did you think of this one? It reminded me of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, except even slower. I liked Jonathan, overall, but at times Jonathan dragged. With this one, it seemed to drag on and on. The ending fizzled out for me. The only reason I read it, and Jonathan, was because of the acclaim and high advance, wondering what they did right.

I now want to read the Thirteenth Tale but if it's the same style, I might wait a while.
 
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The Scip

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I loved the historian, but I listened to it on audio book (it was an abridged version) so I'm not sure how the book actually read. I loved the storyline though. I also thought the ending was anti-climactic.
 

David McAfee

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I bought it because of all I'd heard about it, and I tried...I really tried....to like it, but I just couldn't stay awake long enough to get into it. For me, it was very boring. I put it down about 250 pages in and just never felt motivated enough to pick it back up again.
 

giftedrhonda

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I started reading it but was actually pretty bored and didn't finish it. I hate saying that, because it looked good. But it didn't quite work for me.
 

piscesgirl80

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I loved the book, although I admit I listened to it on CD (unabridged!), so the excellent performances of the narrators may have influenced me somewhat.
 
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Do you know, I've had the book sitting here for months and never got around to it. I haven't heard a single good review of it!

I'll get around to it soon, though. Promise. Once I've finished reading all the poetry books I've bought recently.
 

TrainofThought

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The book went into tiresome mode as she delved into the geography while I wondered when it was going to move on. Elizabeth did a good job with the research, so I have to give her credit for that.

SPOILER!!

It has been a while since I read it, so I apologize for any vagueness. The two main things that bothered me about the book were the daughter’s boyfriend, and her parents. First, what happened to the daughter’s boyfriend? Here they are practically strangers in this adventure together and toward the end, there isn’t any mention of him. And the second, the biggest problem I had with the book was how she ended her parents' lives. Majority of the book was about her parent’s search for Vlad (Dracula) and the love they shared, so I was disappointed Elizabeth didn’t give them their due. When it came to their demise, she only granted them a paragraph like the research took her so long she wanted to wrap it up. They deserved a bigger exit. My two scents.
 

Mags

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I liked it and thoroughly admired the amount of research and imagination that went into it, but thought it took itself a little too seriously, if you know what I mean. Maybe I've just watched too much Buffy but I wanted to author to give us the occasional wink. "Glad you're having fun, but you and I both know it's just a story."
 

RMS

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I'm in the, I haven't yet finished it, category. I get very bored while reading it and keep picking up other books in between. I have promised myself that I will indeed finish it though. I really like the premise, but as others have said, it's very slow.
 

Tepelus

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I finally finished this book tonight - took me about two months, with a couple of weeks of not having picked it up at all - but I finished it! What I liked the most about the book were the travels through the different countries, and the histories, true and fictionalized. I couldn't really feel anything for the characters or relate to them. The first 200 pages were the most boring to me, then things picked up in the next 200, and it wasn't until the last 200 odd pages when I started getting interested in the book. My biggest gripe with it was the ending; I felt it was very weak compared to all the building up in the rest of the book, and left me disappointed. Next would be her portrayal of Vlad Tepes - very unVlad-like in my humble opinion - and he isn't even in the book until the very end. The confrontation with him lasted, what, a whole two pages?

Anyway, I felt the book was well-written, though long-winded. If it wasn't for the disappointing ending, I'd read it again.
 

SirOtter

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I thoroughly enjoyed it, being a semi-professional historian myself.
 

Satori1977

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I have it, bought it over a year ago I think. Was very excited about it, but still haven't finished it. Loved the research aspect too, but it was quite dull and slow. I kept stopping, reading other books. I was maybe 1/3 into it when I last stopped. If I ever pick it up again, I will probably have to start all over.
 

Amynta

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I found the first section to be rather slow, but once I got into the second part the whole thing picked up better and the rest went by well. Except for the ending, of course, which made me wonder if I had missed something.
 

Perks

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I have it, bought it over a year ago I think. Was very excited about it, but still haven't finished it. Loved the research aspect too, but it was quite dull and slow. I kept stopping, reading other books. I was maybe 1/3 into it when I last stopped. If I ever pick it up again, I will probably have to start all over.
I can't say that it's worth the bother. Incoherent when it isn't boring, you really need about twenty thoroughly disposable hours, because you won't be getting anything for your investment. Although, it could make a handy booster seat when you've toddlers over for dinner.
 

Stew21

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I didn't read this book. I listened to the abridged audio version while I was commuting to work - less effort/disposable hours I would be driving anyway, right? This is a good story and a great deal of research, but it could have been told far more concisely. (The abridged audio was 12 hours long).
 
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After two attempts, still haven't got through this one, but i'm bloody minded. I don't want the money I spent on it to have been wasted!
 

Perks

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After two attempts, still haven't got through this one, but i'm bloody minded. I don't want the money I spent on it to have been wasted!
Lol! I've read so many crap book for precisely this reason, it actually came up in my Day of Listening interview.

Cheapskates of the world, UNITE!
 

StevenJ

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It's an interesting book, but could best be summed up as: Promise unfulfilled.
There's little sense of menace throughout, and the ending is rather anti-climatic.
Would have been better at half its length, in my opinion.
As ultimately disappointing as 'The Meaning of Night'.
 
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selkn.asrai

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*SPOILERS*










:rant:







I read The Historian all the way through on a sentimental vacation, but when I contemplated it, it lacked in so many areas. There were the countless "Well, gee golly" coincidences--EVERY country they travel to turns up another scholar who happens to butt in on their conversations and who has likewise received the antiquarian book, and he has that imperative little clue to push them on farther. There was the lack of urgency. There was the grave sin of that huge, unfinished dissertation of an infodump with barely perceptible relevance just to pad up an extra 60 pages. She even justified it with what was essentially, "This was someone's research. Here, let me show you the whole thing." How clumsy and careless. There was nothing in there that couldn't have been distributed in small pieces throughout the book; it didn't contain any groundbreaking new information. I was frankly shocked that she allowed her characters to be ignorant regarding those facts to begin with.

And then the biggest letdown was, for me, the Vladinator himself.

After all of that, he just wanted a LIBRARIAN? THAT was the damnation that loomed for Rossi, after innumerable others? That was seriously his aim? Somehow, I don't equate needing a bookkeeper with going on a homicidal rampage and taking academics hostage, even for a madman like Vlad Tepes. Such an imbalanced motive, in my opinion. Then there's the fact that, after 500 years of undead existence and seeming invincibility and, well, being one of the most vile, incomprehensible madmen in all of written history, all it took was a common handgun to bring Dracula down forever. Silly us.

That whole scene was so laughable. So "Muah haha. Ha. Welcome to my lair." What a melodramatic monologuer he turned out to be. It was, of course, followed by the requisite table discussion in which all is revealed and neatly packaged. Oh, and Mom comes home too. Whatatwist!

So yeah. I read it. Wasn't a fan of it. It had a lot of promise, though. The absence of sparkly vampires definitely gave it an advantage at first. :p

Shame it was so disappointing.
 

profen4

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it's been a couple years but since I just finished this book, I thought I'd breathe some live back into this thread ;) I really enjoyed this book. I agree with some of what asrai said, especially the final showdown - it happened a bit to easy for my liking. But it didn't spoil the chase or the suspense that I had enjoyed for the previous ... um ... 6000000 pages (it's a fat book!).
 

Grrarrgh

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This book actually became a running joke between me and Mr. Grr. I usually read very fast - on the weekends I read a couple of books per day - even a book this size wouldn't take more than a busy weekend to read. I lugged this one around the house for months trying to get through it. The research was amazing - I give Kostova all the credit in the world for that - but it just dragged on and on. That book was a huge factor in me deciding to change my rule about always finishing books that I start. It just never really picked up, and as others have said, the ending was very unsatisfying.