a candle's fickle flame
Aug. 25th, 2005 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enthusiastickI finished Elizabeth Kostova's the Historian last night. It slowed down a bit towards the end, but the last hunred pages or so were pretty gripping. All in all I'd say it was quite good, if a touch unsatisfying. I enjoyed it for the horror and the suspense and the plot unfolding, and for the way knowledge of the true occult was treated like some horrifying virus in the manner of an HP Lovecraft story. The payoff at the end though, was fairly minimal. That's not entirely a criticism, really. She handles the ending with a light touch, and anything more could have been disastrous. But there weren't a great number of profound revelations or twists waiting for me at the end, and I confess to a modicum of disappointment. So maybe three and a half out of five possible stars?
On a slightly tangential note, it has occurred to me that my fascination with historical serial killers is maybe a little unhealthy. I dig Vlad III (Dracula), but in many ways he's nowhere near as interesting as Gilles de Rais or Elizabeth Bathory. And that's not to mention early modern guys like Ed Gein and of course Dr. H H Holmes (aka Herman Mudgett). Is it creepy that I can name all those people off the top of my head?
On a slightly tangential note, it has occurred to me that my fascination with historical serial killers is maybe a little unhealthy. I dig Vlad III (Dracula), but in many ways he's nowhere near as interesting as Gilles de Rais or Elizabeth Bathory. And that's not to mention early modern guys like Ed Gein and of course Dr. H H Holmes (aka Herman Mudgett). Is it creepy that I can name all those people off the top of my head?
