We are past the halfway point of
The Historian
Readalong! It's been wonderful to see everyone's thoughts and ideas, and particularly, the enjoyment that everyone is experiencing as they go on this journey with Rossi, the narrator, and Helen and Paul -- all in search of the truth of Dracula.
It would be great to hear what questions or thoughts you have for the portion of the book we've read thus far. If you've blogged about it, let me know as well so that I can highlight your post on this site -- we'll be able to jump on and comment on your post and insights!
- In Chapter 44, Helen's mother begins to tell her story. It starts, "When I was a girl, I lived in the tiny village of P-- in Transylvania, very close to the Arges River." The town name is omitted -- why do you think this is done?
- In Chapter 45, Rossi meets up with Georgescu outside of the Snagov Monastery. Upon being introduced to the abbot of the monastery, Paul cannot kiss his ring as Georgescu does. "I caught my name in the introductions and bowed to the monk as gracefully as I could, though I couldn't bring myself to kiss his ring." Why is that?
- What areas of the book intrigued you so much that you don't want to miss out on discussing with the group?
- Let me know if you've blogged about it so we can highlight it on this site and we can jump on to comment on your posts!
"The land was beautifully green and fresh, and yellow-leaved willows hung over the streams that wound through it. From time to time we rode into a village; sometimes I could pick out the onion cupolas of an Orthodox church among the other church towers." (Chapter 43)
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| www.tour-central.com |
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| From decafinata on Flickr and globalvoicesonline.org |
"Helen leaned across me for a view, too. 'If we kept on this road, we'd reach Esztergom, the first capital of the Hungarian kings. That's certainly worth seeing, if only we had the time.'"
"When you get to an opening in the forest -- we parked near a little restaurant of sorts with three boats drawn up behind it -- you look out across the lake to the island where the monastery lies, and there -- there at last -- you get a panorama that has surely changed little over centuries." (Chapter 45)
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| Lake Snagov and Monastery |
"The monastery was even lovelier up close, and rather forbidding, with its ancient walls and high cupolas, each crowned with an ornate seven-pointed cross."
"Dracula was not born here but in Transylvania, in a town called Sighisoara. I won't have time to see it, but Georgescu has been there several time, and he told me that the house in which Dracula's father lived -- Vlad's birthplace -- still stands." (Chapter 46)
"Turgut smiled. 'Excellent questions, as usual, my young doubter. Let me try to answer them. As I told you, Selim knows the city very well, and when he found this letter and understood enough of it to see that it might be useful, he took it to a friend of his who is the keeper of the ancient monastery library at Saint Irine, which still exists."
"The most remarkable of many remarkable sights we saw here today, as we prowled the old streets and ruins, was Dracula's watchtower, or rather a handsome restoration of it done in the nineteenth century. Georgescu, like a good archaeologist, turns up his Scotch-Romany nose at restorations, explaining that in this case the crenellations around the top aren't quite right; but what can you expect, he asked me tartly, when historians begin using their imaginations? Whether or not the restoration is quite accurate, what Georgescu told me about that tower gave me a shiver. It was used by Vlad Dracula not only as a lookout in that era of frequent Turkish invasions but also as a vantage point from which to view the impalements that were carried out in the court below." (Chapter 46)
Yours in Profoundest Grief,
