Reviews with content warning for Torture - Историкът

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Историкът by Elizabeth Kostova

16 reviews

lamergirl's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I liked it, but wished I liked it more. I wanted to love this book soooo much, but I eventually couldn't deny that it was a tad boring, too long, and underwhelming. This book should've been 200 pages shorter; you can only make research and reading letters interesting for so long. An alternative title of this book is The Letter-ception, given the sheer number of letters inside of letters inside of letters.

The pacing of the story was just off, we spent probably 70% of the book with Paul/Helen/Rossi, and only 30% with the daughter. A more even split between these timelines might have worked better.

I thought this book might have redeemed itself with the ending, but it was a disappointment. It was extremely underwhelming and just a complete miss. How do you make Dracula this boring? And he is the main big bad villain

and you kill him just like that? It was sooooo anticlimactic! And his motivations make no sense? He wants a librarian to catalogue his personal library bc he’s too busy doing other things, so he leaves books with promising librarians to tempt them into research, but then threatens them when they get too close, and he wastes like a hundred years doing this? HUH? He was so mundane as a character when we finally got him on screen, I was baffled by the choice. I feel like the author did really well making Dracula creepy and scary when he was indirectly on page, before he was properly introduced. But after that, it was bad.

The best and creepiest parts of this book were the themes of the violence of the past haunting us. I loved that stuff. And Dracula/vampires as a metaphor for history slowly draining and killing us in the present was a great idea. It just wasn’t woven into the conclusion of the story very well.

As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claw.

"I know you must think I’m insane,” he said, relenting visibly. “And I grant you that anyone who pokes around in history long enough may well go mad.”

“Don’t you think this might be a dangerous sort of legacy?”
“I wish to God I could say no. But perhaps dangerous only in a psychological sense. Life’s better, sounder, when we don’t brood unnecessarily on horrors. As you know, human history is full of evil deeds, and maybe we ought to think of them with tears, not fascination."

The thing that most haunted me that day, however, as I closed my notebook and put my coat on to go home, was not my ghostly image of Dracula, or the description of impalement, but the fact that these things had—apparently—actually occurred. If I listened too closely, I thought, I would hear the screams of the boys, of the “large family” dying together. For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history’s terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you’ve seen that truth—really seen it—you can’t look away.

But history, it seemed, could be something entirely different, a splash of blood whose agony didn’t fade overnight, or over centuries.

I shall conclude my account as rapidly as possible, since you must draw from it vital information if we are both to—ah, to survive, at least, and to survive in a state of goodness and mercy. There is survival and survival, the historian learns to his grief. The very worst impulses of humankind can survive generations, centuries, even millennia. And the best of our individual efforts can die with us at the end of a single lifetime.

I felt sure, glaring at the children as they settled onto the sand with their shovels, that these creatures were never threatened by the grimness of history, either. Then, looking down on their glossy heads, I realized that they were indeed threatened; they were simply unaware of it. We were all vulnerable.

How could I protect myself? The windows were all locked, and the door was double bolted. But what did I know about horrors from the past? Did they leak into rooms like mist, under the doors? Or shatter windows and burst directly into one’s presence?

This corner of history was as real as the tiled floor under our feet or the wooden tabletop under our fingers. The people to whom it had happened had actually lived and breathed and felt and thought and then died, as we did—as we would.

It is a fact that we historians are interested in what is partly a reflection of ourselves, perhaps a part of ourselves we would rather not examine except through the medium of scholarship; it is also true that as we steep ourselves in our interests, they become more and more a part of us.

It was strange, I reflected, as we went out into the golden evening of the Byzantine streets, that even in the weirdest circumstances, the most troubling episodes of one’s life, the greatest divides from home and familiarity, there were these moments of undeniable joy.”

I had been particularly struck by Helen’s description of the Janissaries, a crack corps of guards selected from the ranks of captured boys from all over the Empire. I knew I had read about them before, these boys born Christian in places like Serbia and Wallachia and raised in Islam, trained in hatred of the very peoples they sprang from and unleashed on those peoples when they reached manhood, like falcons to the kill. I had seen images of the Janissaries somewhere, in fact, perhaps in a book of paintings. Thinking about their expressionless young faces, massed to protect the sultan, I felt the chill of the palace buildings deepen around me.

There is something vastly mysterious for me about the shift one sees, along that route, from the Islamic world to the Christian, from the Ottoman to the Austro-Hungarian, from the Muslim to the Catholic and Protestant. It is a gradation of towns, of architecture, of gradually receding minarets blended with the advancing church domes, of the very look of forest and riverbank, so that little by little you begin to believe you can read in nature itself the saturation of history. Does the shoulder of a Turkish hillside really look so different from the slope of a Magyar meadow? Of course not, and yet the difference is as impossible to erase from the eye as the history that informs it is from the mind. Later, traveling this route, I would also see it alternately as benign and bathed in blood—this is the other trick of historical sight, to be unrelentingly torn between good and evil, peace and war.

“With your unflinching honesty, you can see the lesson of history,” he said. “History has taught us that the nature of man is evil, sublimely so. Good is not perfectible, but evil is. Why should you not use your great mind in service of what is perfectible? … Together we will advance the historian’s work beyond anything the world has ever seen. There is no purity like the purity of the sufferings of history. You will have what every historian wants: history will be reality to you. We will wash our minds clean with blood."

Content Warnings

sapphic_shroom's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I wanted SO badly for this to be a 5 star book. I enjoyed it so, so much. It's clear the author put a lot of thought and research into the topic, as well as into the geographical and cultural aspects of the story.

This is a slow book, and as such, it probably isn't for everyone. But it was so fascinating to me, I gobbled up at least a hundred pages of this a day. And it's written more like a historical report than a fiction book, with letters and even excerpts from historical documents littered throughout, so it required a lot of focus. I loved the depictions of travel in this book the most. Not to spoil too much, but I think this book shines more in terms of describing the places its set in and the people that inhabit those places than in terms of the actual storyline, which is often dense and sometimes confusing. I found the characters interesting and compelling, and wish we spent more time with the daughter, who appeared only in small fragments up until the end of the book. The most interesting characters were often the side characters to me, like professor Rossi, aunt Eva, or Mr. Turgut and his friend Selim.

The most satisfying part of this reading experience was the fact I knew and have been to many of the places described in this book. A significant portion of the story is spent in the countries of former Yugoslavia, including Croatia, as well as other Balkan countries like Romania and Bulgaria. I could see these places so clearly in my mind when they appeared on the page, and that made the story seem almost alive, real. Zagreb, Budapest, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Plovdiv, Bucharest, Sofia...

So, as I was reading and loving the story more and more, I was sure this would be an easy 5 stars. And then the last two chapters came and the ending left me disappointed and wanting. After all this careful planning of the story, these long and detailed chapters, all the research that went into them, I was expecting something more from the ending. It felt rushed, anticlimactic, and had me feeling frustrated. At one point, I felt so confused by the apparent resolution of the story that, for a split second, I was convinced there was a second book, where the story would continue and we'd get a satisfying ending. I'm not sure WHAT I expected to happen, but the thing that DID happen felt very obviously unsatisfactory.

Still, I can't give it anything less than 4 stars because i truly felt captivated by the story and I was scarfing it down like it was my very last meal.

Content Warnings

dmbh's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

sylvana0507's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 20%

The slow pacing of the spook factor was working really well and I wanted to be able to sleep at night. Also, the pacing really is quite slow and beautiful, but I didn't get quite attached to the story, so I didn't feel the need to make myself finish it.

Content Warnings

chris_reads's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

roseleaf24's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While this is a horror novel, it is a literary horror novel that unfolds slowly and beautifully. After last year of reading frantically to meet a goal, it was a joy to take some time with this one. I had read it years ago, apparently before I was on Goodreads, and it did not disappoint in this reread. I would have liked more of the narrator’s own story, though I realize she is not even named.

Content Warnings

carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I found the development of the relationship between Helen (sidenote: Elena is a MUCH cuter name than Helen, and I hate that she was referred to as Helen, even though Elena is her real name) and Paul to be very sweet. I liked the relationships overall (Paul and his daughter, who I do not think is ever named despite being the titular historian; Paul and Rossi; Helen/Paul and Bora; Helen and her aunt; Helen/Paul and Stoichev; Rossi and

Helen's mother

)

I appreciated that the one question I had -- if Dracula doesn't want to be found, who/what is giving these people the books that set them on the chase? -- was answered.

I overall liked it, however, it dragged a little throughout, but the ending felt rushed.

Content Warnings

queenmarshmallow's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

This book was interesting historical fiction but the narrative was a mess. It’s a mix of present day, a story being recounted to the main character, letters, and translated texts. The timeline doesn’t make any sense and it’s hard at times to determine when the action is happening- is it the main narrative or a flashback?

Content Warnings

jelliestars's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

renpuspita's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Satu kata yang terucap setelah selesai baca buku ini adalah:

CAPEK

Yha, selain tema yang diangkat cukup berat dan kompleks, bukunya sendiri juga sama beratnya karena format hardcover dan tebalnya 768 halaman. Gue perkirakan berat bukunya sendiri nyaris 1 kilo dan karena gue baca sambil tiduran maka otot biseps gue sepertinya sudah lumayan terlatih membawa buku karena sampai sekarang pun masih terasa kram :))

The Historian, pada dasarnya adalah buku jalan - jalan. Lha kok iso? Karena dari awal sampe akhir, kita diajak menelusuri jejak darah dan mitos Vlad III atau Vlad Tepes, atau yang lebih dikenal dengan nama Vlad the Impaler, sang Penyula. Premisnya sendiri cukup sederhana, beberapa akademisi menemukan buku tua berisi halaman - halaman kosong dengan pengecualian gambar naga bengis di tengah - tengahnya. Entah kerasukan apa, para akademisi ini jadi terobsesi untuk mencari kebenaran di balik mitos Drakula dan juga kenyataan di balik hidup Vlad III. Apakah Vlad beneran seorang vampir dan dia masih hidup sampai saat ini?

Diceritakan seutuhnya dari PoV pertama, ada 4 PoV utama di buku ini yang semuanya ditulis dalam bentuk catatan, surat, diary, jurnal, you name it lah. The Historian ini gabungan dari "cerita dalam cerita" yang dibawakan dengan gaya epistolari. Membaca buku ini memang harus dengan FOKUS yang lumayan, karena dibawakan dalam PoV pertama jadi kalau ga fokus, ya ga bisa bedain ini siapa dan ini siapa. Sebenarnya cukup mudah juga sih, dari 4 PoV ini hanya PoV sang protagonis, gadis 16 tahun yang namanya sampai akhir ga disebut yang berada di masa ini, di tahun 1972, dijabarkan dengan narasi penceritaan secara langsung. PoV selanjutnya adalah PoV ayah si gadis tak bernama, yaitu Paul (nama belakang ga tahu siapa), yang awalnya dibawakan dengan cara Paul ini cerita ke si protagonis dan lalu dilanjutkan via surat - surat yang ditemukan oleh si gadis. Lalu ada PoV dari mentor Paul, yaitu Professor Bartolomew Rossi, yang selain berbentuk surat juga berisi catatan - catatan jurnal. Dan terakhir adalah PoV Helen Rossi, ibu si gadis dan anak dari Prof Rossi, yang mengirimkan kartu pos kepada si gadis, 5-6 tahun setelah dia dianggap telah mati.

Plot besar di The Historian sendiri banyak diceritakan dari PoV Paul, sehingga rasanya lebih tepat dia yang disebut protagonis ketimbang anak gadisnya yang tak bernama. Karena ceritanya emang sebagian besar adalah perjalanan Paul dan Helen mencari Prof Rossi yang menghilang entah kemana. Kalau di awal cerita, perjalanan si gadis tak bernama dan Paul menelusuri Amsterdam (kota tempat mereka tinggal), Slovenia, Italia, Venesia, Perancis dan Inggris (Oxford), maka perjalanan Paul dan Helen membawa mereka ke Istanbul (Turki),Budapest (Hungaria) dan Pegunungan Balkan (Bulgaria). Yang perlu digaris bawahi lagi, setting cerita dari PoV Paul kebanyakan di tahun 1954, era dimana Perang Dingin sudah dimulai dan pembaca juga ditunjukkan sentimen terhadap Soviet dari penduduk Budapest, sementara di Bulgaria mereka malah jadi pendukung para komunis. Tentunya ada juga catatan dari Prof Rossi yang ditulis pada tahun 1930, perjalanannya ke Transylvania dan Wallachia yang mempertemukannya dengan ibu Helen, yang lalu Rossi tinggalkan dan membuat Helen terobsesi pada ayahnya itu.

Sayangnya, kompleksitas cerita dan PoV pertama yang berganti - ganti serta alur yang tak linear memang menjadi kelemahan buku ini. Kelebihannya mungkin hanya di penelitian yang sungguh masif oleh Elizabeth Kostova untuk menulis buku ini. Apalagi pas gue cek wiki, Kostova menghabiskan 10 tahun untuk penelitiannya tentang Vlad III yang diakuinya terinspirasi dari Dracula karya Bram Stoker dan penjabaran Kostova untuk beberapa tempat di buku ini memang mau ga mau bikin pengen melakukan hal yang sama, menelusuri jejak sejarah Vlad yang dijuluki Kazikly Bey, Sang Penyula. Tak cuma itu, sentimen agama pun cukup gamblang dituliskan, apa adanya seperti sejarah karena memang pada masa Vlad III berkuasa, bbrp tahun sebelumnya yaitu di 1453 Konstantinopel ditaklukkan Sultan Mehmed II dan sejak saat itu rasa benci terjadi antara Vlad III dan Mehmed II. Namun rasa benci ini tidak hanya oleh kedua penguasa, karena ternyata rakyat Rumania, Hungary dan Bulgaria pada umumnya juga masih tidak bisa menghapus kebencian mereka pada Kesultana Ottoman. Pun orang - orang Turki juga mengutuk Vlad yang dianggap membawa kutukan vampir. Jadi kebencian atas dasar agama ini memang sudah mengakar sangat jauh.

Begitu banyak yang seolah ingin dibicarakan oleh Kostova, sehingga membaca buku ini memang seperti membaca buku referensi alih - alih buku fiksi, walau element supranaturalnya sendiri emang ada. Ga heran gue butuh dua minggu untuk membaca buku ini, berusaha melawan kantuk dan rasa bosan, karena penasaran apakah Paul & Helen bisa menemukan Prof Rossi, apa alasan di balik Prof Rossi yang meninggalkan ibu Helen, dan juga kenapa Helen yang dianggap sudah mati, ternyata masih hidup. Pertanyaan besar yang juga mengarah pada Helen, apakah kematiannya pertanda dia menjadi vampir karena Helen sudah diserang 2x oleh vampir. Namun pertanyaan lebih mendasar, yang sangat fundamental dan jadi basis buku ini ada dua. Apakah Vlad the Impaler memang seorang vampir? Apa maksud buku yang bergambar naga besar di tengah itu yang membuat penerimanya menjadi terobsesi ingin mengetahui sejarah sang Penyula dan mitos yang menyelimutinya?

Semua pertanyaan itu memang cukup terjawab di akhir buku, tapi sayangnya menurut gue momentumnya berkurang dan klimaksnya sangat terburu - buru. Seolah Kostova sudah kehabisan bensin untuk menulis atau mungkin editornya bilang "sudah, ini sudah cukup melantur kemana - mana dan habis banyak kertas." Edisi bahasa Inggrisnya sendiri tebalnya 650-an hal yang ketika diterjemahkan ke Indonesia, menjadi 768 halaman. Masalahnya, buku ini tebal tapi emang Kostova itu gaya nulisnya kadang suka lebay dan ga langsung tepat tujuan. Jadi kayak muter - muter ga jelas. Pun, beberapa plot device seperti kebetulan - kebetulan yang sering terjadi cukup bikin gue merasa kesal. Karena untuk sebuah buku yang berbasis jurnal akademi walau dipenuhi dengan element takhayul yang cukup misterius, kebetulan - kebetulan yang terjadi cukup dipaksakan. Selain itu juga ada beberapa bab yang come out of nowhere kayak pas si gadis tak bernama saat perjalanannya mencari sang ayah hanya dengan ditemani rekannya, Barley yang dia kenal waktu di Oxford, tahu - tahu mereka berdua making out. Gue kayak yang "he, apa sih ini", karena benar - benar cukup mengacaukan tensi cerita. Untuk terjemahannya sendiri menurut gue enak dibaca walau gue berharap setidaknya ada beberapa catatan kaki untuk menjelaskan istilah - istilah yang cukup asing di buku ini.

Batas fiksi dan realita sejarah di The Historian memang kabur tapi gue saranin perlakukan The Historian ini sebagai fiksi karena ya walau gue suka cerita tentang vampir, gue tetap merasa mereka itu mitos aja. Gue akuin penelitian Kostova tentang Vlad III dan juga penjabarannya tentang era Perang Dingin memang cukup oke, namun gue kurang suka dengan pemilihan PoV pertama dari sudut pandang banyak orang tanpa tanda yang cukup jelas dan alur non linear yang kurang mulus. Pun, gue ga yakin itu Paul nulis suratnya panjang - panjang, karena bisa jadi 1 buku sendiri, hahaha. Kalau kamu suka hisfic dengan bbrp element supranatural, mungkin bisa coba baca The Historian ini. Walau kalau gue, ini buku yang cukup dibaca sekali seumur hidup saja

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