the historian
i wish i were doing the 50 book challenge, but the way this year is going for me, it's more like the 10 book challenge, and it is sad. but that will not deter me from writing a review of one of the better books i've read so far this year (others beating it out include three junes, saturday, the songs of the kings and, uh, the half-blood prince): the historian by elizabeth kostova. brief review behind the cut (with lots of spoilers, just so ya know). i'll say right now that it's a perfect vacation book; don't be deterred by its heft. it's fairly quick and fun reading.
the book starts out in 1970s amsterdam, when a 16 year old girl discovers an ancient-looking book in her father's massive library. the book's pages are blank except for an intricate woodcut dragon printed on one page; a packet of yellowing letters are stuffed in the leaves, and each of them starts out, "my dear and unfortunate successor." the girl confronts her father, an american diplomat who runs a center for peace and democracy, about the letters and the story behind them, and we are thrown into the largely epistolary world of, um, vampire hunters. but these aren't buffy the vampire slayer contemporaries; the three hunters the story flashbacks to are all historians, using research, intellect and libraries all over the world to discover the tomb of vlad the impaler, ie drakyula, who apparently is still walking the earth.
the novel's biggest strength is the way kostova is able to coherently manage the three interlocking stories - the daughter's, the father's, and the letters from his vampire-hunting predecessor, professor rossi (whose mysterious disappearance in 1930 is the event that sets the book in motion) - while all the while building suspense and keeping her ducks in a row. the travelogue aspect of the book is a delight as well - we are taken from southern france, to croatia, to slovenia, to turkey, to bulgaria, and a multitude of other places, all of which are described with such detail, beauty and awe that i had to wonder if kostova had spent time in all of these places herself. the author is also obviously skilled in character creation - we run across dozens of different people in the book, some of whom matter, some of whom aren't so important, but each of them is a distinct and finely-drawn physical and emotional presence.
where the book starts to disappoint is the last third. the otherwise fast-moving plots slows down significantly when kostova introduces several chapters on the importance of migratory patterns of bulgarian monks in the 15th century (yes, it is important to the plot, but YAWN). additionally, motivations of several characters are finally revealed, but i found most of them completely unbelievable. dracula is so evil because...he LOVES BOOKS? he tries to lure brilliant scholars to his lair so they can...CATALOG HIS LIBRARY FOR HIM? c'mon. dude hates turks. you think he'd have spent the last 500 years trying to undermine them in some way instead of reading for hours every day. also, helen rossi, the previously-mentioned young girl's mother, who up until the end of the story is presumed dead, reveals her reasons for having disappeared, most of which i didn't think jived with her strong, resolute character.
still, i don't doubt that the only reason i found the last part of the historian disappointing is that the first parts of the book were so intriguing, fast-moving and suspenseful. the book may not live up to the expectations it sets for itself in the first parts, but it is still a fine example of historical fiction, much more sophisticated and authentic than something like the da vinci code, and for a weekend at the beach, i'd definitely recommend it.
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