Natalie is a French girl who is enchanted by all things American and takes a sight seeing trip designed to show her the real America. She is pursued by Pierre, her boyfriend, who is definitely not a fan of America but who is determined to get her to decide if she will marry him. They wind up in the tiny town of Seldom, Nebraska, where a comedy of language, relationships, and cultures ensues. Light, frothy, and a very quick read. I wouldn't buy it but I definitely would recommend it for checking out of the library and losing touch with reality for a little while.
THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova
SPOILERS at the bottom
I really enjoyed this book about various people, all historians, on the hunt of the infamous vampire Dracula. It is difficult to believe that this was the author's first book. She deftly managed to contantly keep the reader on tenterhooks between two or three intertwined stories through the entire 600 page length. As befits a book with such a title there is plenty of history, especially of the Ottoman empire and the Balkans. I literally raced through the last hundred pages to see the outcome of the various groups' convergence on their goal.
However, upon reflection after finishing the book I have two big problems which possibly other readers can help me resolve ... I do so want to love the book in its entirety. And this is where the spoilers come in.
First - I feel that to have a book given to the daughter at the end is cheating. Did they not watch Dracula turn to dust before their eyes? I think they did. It would have been much stronger to leave it that way.
Second - it seems to me that the main premise of the book is actually a huge hole in logic. For Dracula to deliberately give various historians that dragon book and then go to such lengths as killing those near to them in order to dissuade them from following up any research ... and then for the distribution of books to have the ultimate goal of luring historians to him to catalogue his treasure? No, no and no. Supposedly he was brilliant. If his agents are indeed all over the world, watching those promising specimens of historians to see which would serve his purposes best ... then why not just make off with whichever seems best at the time, discarding them once they have done all they can? That is the vampire way. Certainly it is Dracula's way.
Although I must say that I truly enjoyed the overall reason Dracula turned to vampirism ... because he despaired of salvation and then turned to surrounding himself with things. Very fitting.
Tags: Catholicism, Christianity
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