Just one nail now

[threemonkeys]

The upside about being unwell is that unless it is really bad you can get some serious reading done. The last couple of days, I have not had radio/stereo/TV on at all because the noise made my head ache more. So in the gaps between trying to get some sleep I managed to read Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich, ASIM 16 and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Well given the books, perhaps "serious" is not the correct word to use.

Its good to be reading again.

Comments

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

I've been vaguely attracted to "The Historian" but for reasons that are unclear to me I've not (yet) bothered buying it. What did you think of it? Should I indulge?

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Hard question to answer actually because I had distinctly mixed feelings about it. It is ostensibly a vampire story and as such, it seems that the author has decided that even though set in the last 40 years it seems to have been written in a Victorian - Bram Stoker style with the moral sensibilities that attach to that. That didn't ring true.

The core of the story is one of historical search through various archives to find where Vlad has got to. This type of story I find fascinating and the search process certainly pulled me through the story. But in the end it seemed contrived - which being fiction, of course it was. In a real historical search, there are coincidences and moments of serendipity and you accept it - but when its fiction, it seems out of place.

Having said that, the actual writing was well crafted and the story well paced. It was an easy read in that respect.