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A review by kamharellano
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is one of my all-time most favorite books ever and this reread (my second) was just as fun as the first time I ever read it—I was 18 then, the same age as the book's unnamed intrepid narrator.
Dracula is probably my favorite classic, and this book captured everything that I loved about Bram Stoker's iconic novel. At its heart, Dracula is a detective story, and what is history but one great big mystery where we try to suss out answers from clues left to us by figures from the past? Told in a series of letters, articles, journal entries, and recordings (a smart literary choice, given the source material), The Historian traces Dracula's movements from his beginnings as a particularly bloodthirsty prince of Wallachia all the way to his possible existence as a vampire in post-WW2 and Cold War Europe through the eyes of a family of academics. The novel starts out with an unnamed 18-year-old female narrator, who discovers a strange book amongst her father's belongings. He then tells her a sordid tale involving her grandfather, her long-lost mother, various friends and acquaintances from Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria, and their quest to finally vanquish the Impaler.
My favorite thing about this book is how it deftly uses Dracula as a metaphor for the evil present in history that is hard to undo in modern times, much as Dracula’s influence still lives even in the 20th century. One has to ask, who is the titular historian? Is it our unnamed narrator, who pieces together her father's past and realizes what Dracula means to her, personally? Is it her father, who bravely traverses Cold War Europe to save the woman he loves? Or is it Dracula himself, who understands more than any other character in the novel what it means to truly go down in history? Throughout the book, I've had different answers to this question, and I would say all of them are correct.
I will say though that if you're not into history in and of itself, or the process of doing research, this book may not be for you. If you're looking for a more exciting vampire adventure, this is not it.
“As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws.”
Dracula is probably my favorite classic, and this book captured everything that I loved about Bram Stoker's iconic novel. At its heart, Dracula is a detective story, and what is history but one great big mystery where we try to suss out answers from clues left to us by figures from the past? Told in a series of letters, articles, journal entries, and recordings (a smart literary choice, given the source material), The Historian traces Dracula's movements from his beginnings as a particularly bloodthirsty prince of Wallachia all the way to his possible existence as a vampire in post-WW2 and Cold War Europe through the eyes of a family of academics. The novel starts out with an unnamed 18-year-old female narrator, who discovers a strange book amongst her father's belongings. He then tells her a sordid tale involving her grandfather, her long-lost mother, various friends and acquaintances from Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria, and their quest to finally vanquish the Impaler.
My favorite thing about this book is how it deftly uses Dracula as a metaphor for the evil present in history that is hard to undo in modern times, much as Dracula’s influence still lives even in the 20th century. One has to ask, who is the titular historian? Is it our unnamed narrator, who pieces together her father's past and realizes what Dracula means to her, personally? Is it her father, who bravely traverses Cold War Europe to save the woman he loves? Or is it Dracula himself, who understands more than any other character in the novel what it means to truly go down in history? Throughout the book, I've had different answers to this question, and I would say all of them are correct.
I will say though that if you're not into history in and of itself, or the process of doing research, this book may not be for you. If you're looking for a more exciting vampire adventure, this is not it.
“As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws.”