Elizabeth Kostova - "The Historian"

      Holy Cow, this was an enormous undertaking of a novel!  It's right about 650 pages of Dracula lore, diary entries, and research.  This was Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel, and has won a few awards, which is somewhat uncommon for a first publication.  I truly have mixed feelings about the book.  It was lent to me by a fellow bibliophile, English professor, author extraordinaire, and good friend, one Mr. Rum Fitts.  He also expressed similar mixed feelings. 

     The book is a mixture of narrative by an unnamed teenage girl, oral accounts, journal entries, and written correspondence.  It is also an amalgamation of genres including: adventure, historical fiction, and horror.  It's the story of a young girl living in Amsterdam with her father; together, they travel all over Europe, and have a simple, loving relationship.  One day, she finds an old book in her dad's library that piques her interest, and spurs her desire to purse knowledge of Vlad Tepes, more commonly known by his legendary name, Dracula.  Between her own research, her father's journal, and eventually following in her father's footsteps (literally), she discovers her family history, what really happened to her absentee mother, and a lot of eastern European history and folklore.

                                    HISTORIAN / A NOVEL 

   I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book as light reading, or even as an attention grabber (despite it being a vampire novel, in essence).  The plot starts off at a pretty jaunty pace, but slows to a dreadful crawl somewhere between half-way to two-thirds of the way through.  Don't get me wrong, there are some unexpected twists and turns, but I had to really "want it" to read to completion.  I think overall, if you have nothing better at hand, go for it, but go ahead and carve out a chunk of undisturbed reading time to accomplish this feat.

     Upon beginning the story, I had high expectations of a page turner, and a high adventure story; I was somewhat disappointed in the lost potential.  Also, the climax was definitely not what I wanted.  For all the 600 pages of build-up, I expected more of a "bang."  The plot was well constructed, and well laid out, but there was an unsatisfactory ending that felt hastily "tacked on." 

     I did however; enjoy Kostova's ability to really allow the reader to be present in the settings.  Her descriptions of sights, smells, sensations, and overall scenery were outstanding.  One could really imagine the physical aspects of the scene as it took place.  Good job, Elizabeth!  The thing I liked the most, however, was how every character, from the narrator, to the minor foil characters, and even including Dracula himself had an immense appreciation and deep love of books and all things literary.  Each character in their own way, passionately immersed themselves in research whether historical or otherwise.  How can a dedicated reader not eat that up?

Maybe this book will give you something to do over your spring break "staycation."