fallow
Sorry about the lack of posting around here. I really haven't done any writing in December (I know, I know, that's bad) so I don't have much to say about that. Haven't done that much reading, either, although I'm now working my way step-by-step through The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.
You don't see books like The Historian much anymore. It's a thick book and not at all 'fast-paced'*. Instead it takes its time, unfolding its tale in an epistolary fashion, through the written and oral accounts of some of the characters. It takes lots of time to soak in the ancient European countryside and build up a foreshadowing. One can already tell that this book is about the journey, not the destination.
Don't get me wrong, I'm quite curious to see where it's going. Are we building up to some breathtaking revelation? Or are we just in for a taste of horror of the old-fashioned kind, the kind that is all shadows and hints and whispers and yet somehow still manages to send a thrill down the spine? One has to suspect the latter, though I do enjoy a clever paradigm shift. But everything in this book is so Old World that I reckon the plot might well follow suit.
It's possible that the story is a little bit too parceled out: it's a bit frustrating to get a whiff of the plot and then have to wait for the next chapter to set up its inevitable trip to antediluvian monastery or dusty library so that the tale can continue. On the other hand, I feel like if ever there was a book that could make Vlad Drakul a real character in history this is the one. Beneath this world of dry academia lurks one of Gothic horror, and every glimpse of it thrills.
* Ooh, I've got a rant saved up on that topic.
You don't see books like The Historian much anymore. It's a thick book and not at all 'fast-paced'*. Instead it takes its time, unfolding its tale in an epistolary fashion, through the written and oral accounts of some of the characters. It takes lots of time to soak in the ancient European countryside and build up a foreshadowing. One can already tell that this book is about the journey, not the destination.
Don't get me wrong, I'm quite curious to see where it's going. Are we building up to some breathtaking revelation? Or are we just in for a taste of horror of the old-fashioned kind, the kind that is all shadows and hints and whispers and yet somehow still manages to send a thrill down the spine? One has to suspect the latter, though I do enjoy a clever paradigm shift. But everything in this book is so Old World that I reckon the plot might well follow suit.
It's possible that the story is a little bit too parceled out: it's a bit frustrating to get a whiff of the plot and then have to wait for the next chapter to set up its inevitable trip to antediluvian monastery or dusty library so that the tale can continue. On the other hand, I feel like if ever there was a book that could make Vlad Drakul a real character in history this is the one. Beneath this world of dry academia lurks one of Gothic horror, and every glimpse of it thrills.
* Ooh, I've got a rant saved up on that topic.
posted by braun at 11:22 AM
2 Comments:
Thick books, slow paced? That's my favorite kind! I tend to write that way, and get gigged on it all the time by readers. Since I am a genre writer, I can't get away with that tendency as easily as a literary writer could.
I hope you had a great Xmas and that teh New Year weekend holds some fun partying for you.
Thanks! Hopefully it does...
Post a Comment
<< Home