The Historian

This weekend, I was able to finish the book The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I give it an *eh* rating.

This book was an interesting take on the vampire novel. Kostova takes the reader through the history of the vampire myth and manages to make the vampire story that much creepier and realistic. I have to say that I was unable to read this book alone in my house at night. However, it took a long time for me to become involved in the book. The characters were interesting, but not intriguing. I didn't feel a lot of empathy for any of the characters. Part of this was due to the fact that the book was set (for the most part) in the mid 20th century and the characters were very much steeped in academia. The language in the book was remiscent of the language in Bram Stoker's Dracula and it reminded the reader that we were talking about a time past. However, the descriptions of old books and locations was sufficiently interesting that I would be interested in travelling to some of the locations in the book so I can see them for myself. I didn't expect the ending. Right up to the very end, I was expecting Kostova to leave herself some room for a sequel. It seems that she did not. Because I was expecting there to be an open ending, I felt like the ending itself was rushed. We spend all this time weeding through historical documents and locations, and the end happens in one chapter. Granted, it was a tense chapter, but I was left wanting more.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, I would recommend it to others, but its entirely possible that many would probably not be able to finish it simply because it takes so long for the book to take off.