The Historian

[Listener]

I'm about 150 pages into this and so far... well, I'm interested, but I'm fearing a Brian Griffin Describes Blair Witch situation (like what happened when I read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) -- in other words, after I get through the doorstop, I'll be left feeling like I just wasted my time.

Anyone read the book?  Am I going to be pissed when I finish it?

(Not that I'll stop reading.  I can't, at this point; I'm too invested.)

[lowky]

I really enjoyed it.  I stopped part way into Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell.  It just seemed very slow and plodding, like nothing was really happening in the story.  I should give it a try again someday perhaps.  I don't know maybe i expected too much with all the hype it was receiving.  But as for the Historian I found it very enjoyable, as well as a sort of where are they now retelling of an older tale.  If my wording seems awkward, I am trying to avoid any spoilers. 

[Jim]

...I'm fearing a Brian Griffin Describes Blair Witch situation...

"Okay, they're ... they're in the woods. The camera keeps on moving. Uh... I think they're looking for some witch or something; I don't know, I wasn't listening. Nothing's happening. Nothing's happening. Something about a map. Nothing's happening. It's over. A lot of people in the audience look pissed."

[Listener]

I really enjoyed it.  I stopped part way into Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell.  It just seemed very slow and plodding, like nothing was really happening in the story.  I should give it a try again someday perhaps.  I don't know maybe i expected too much with all the hype it was receiving.  But as for the Historian I found it very enjoyable, as well as a sort of where are they now retelling of an older tale.  If my wording seems awkward, I am trying to avoid any spoilers. 

OK, good.

Yeah, JS&MN was BLAH... like, the same sort of magic in "The Magician's Nephew", which was like 130 pages (in the omnibus I have) and was handle-able... there was very little in JS&MN I actually liked.  It was like a Norman Mailer meets 1001 Arabian Nights kind of thing.

[Listener]

Argh.  Don't read this book.  The payoff was sooooo disappointing, and ***SPOILER*** I read the climax three times and couldn't figure out where the hell Helen Rossi came from. ***END SPOILER***

A beautifully-written book, just not a very good one.  I really liked the way she portrayed Dracula as a historian as well as a vampire, but the crappy payoff at the end killed it.

I'm glad I only paid $7 for it.

[Mr. Tweedy]

I didn't care for The Historian.

The book has multiple personality disorder.  The plot is about a family's decades-long Quest to Destroy Dracula!  ...But it's also a coming of age story, and a travelogue, and pseudo-historical fiction, and there's a lot of talk about Byzantine architecture and about book printing, and then there's the parts about Slavic folklore, and parts about the Cold War, and the tear-jerky family tragedy parts, and... Oh yeah, Dracula.  It does eventually get back around to the Quest to Destory Dracula! but you've got to be really patient, and don't be expecting much of a climax.  Classic example of taking 650 pages to tell a 250 page story.

As a supernatural thriller, it's pretty worthless.  As a collection of historical and geographical trivia, it's decent.  Depends on what you're looking for.

[eytanz]

Since this thread was revived, I have a question I meant to ask Listener and forgot a couple of weeks ago:

Given that I really, really loved Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, do you think I may be more inclined to enjoy "The Historian" than you did?

[DKT]

I have another question.  I heard earlier that one of the "big twists" in the novel was that Vlad the Impaler was a vampire.  True or false?

[Russell Nash]

I have another question.  I heard earlier that one of the "big twists" in the novel was that Vlad the Impaler was a vampire.  True or false?

Oh man.  Thanks.  Way to give it away for me.

[DKT]

Well nobody's said "true" yet

[Mr. Tweedy]

Big twist?  It isn't really a twist.  It's evident form very early on that Vlad is a vampire.  I don't remember there being a moment of revelation.  It's just part of the story.

[DKT]

That's what I would've assumed but the review made it sound like it was a shocking revelation.  Which really doesn't make any sense, as a plot device (ie, *facepalm* moment).

[Russell Nash]

Well nobody's said "true" yet

Vlad the Impaler is in tons of stuff and you're telling me he's a vampire?

[Loz]

Hang on, I thought he was Luke's father! And really a chick! And Keyzer Soze! And...

I loved 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' and didn't like 'The Historian', too much information, too little plot and movement.

[Listener]

Since this thread was revived, I have a question I meant to ask Listener and forgot a couple of weeks ago:

Given that I really, really loved Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, do you think I may be more inclined to enjoy "The Historian" than you did?

I don't know.  It's a different style of book.  The Historian is a story, while JSMN is more a recounting of events, at least in my recollection of it.  I'd say read the first 3-4 chapters in a bookstore first, just in case, or see if you can find them online.

The Historian has very little magic and mysticism in it; it's more about the historical events that surrounded Vlad Tepes, and a sort of love affair the author has with Europe.

There's also a lot less action in The Historian, and when there is, it comes in short bursts and told as recollections (for the most part, the whole book is a series of nested recollections).  The climax is all of one page long, and I missed half of it the first three times I read that section, trying to find it.  One of my most vivid memories of JSMN is the stuff Jonathan Strange does during the war with the ships and also the lay of the land in France (I think it was France).

I preferred The Historian because I could at least follow it -- it is a lot easier to keep track of what's going on than in JSMN, at least for me -- and because I have some personal reference to the 40s and 70s from an educational background, whereas the stuff in JSMN was just too far back for me to really fix my mind on.

Long answer to a short question, but there it is.  Sorry it took so long for me to notice your post; I'm really backlogged on the forum.