THE HISTORIAN
Themes:
Suspicion: As the story goes on, the protagonist and Barley sense suspicion everywhere whether it's an old guy who stares at you attentively, or a women dressed in black looking for something on the train.
Chapter 25-35 Summary:
So recapping from last chapters, the girl finds a letter in her father's office dated six months ago that he was going to find her mother. She is dropped off at school by cute college boy Barley, but decides to skip school and catch a train to Paris. While waiting for the train to go, she reads her fathers letters, learning more and more about what her father left out of his story. Soon Barley catches up with her and tries to convince her to get off the train. Barley reads through her father's letters. While this is going on in one part of the story, the other part is the story being told in the letters. Barely first thinks she's crazy about the Dracula's existence, and heading for lots of trouble ahead so he decides to stay with her. They stop in Belgium, and Paris. The protagonist and Barley notice a woman in dark clothing looking for something in the train, and an old guys who won't stop starring at her.
So in the letter, the father explains why he only told his daughter bits and pieces of the story. This letter talks about how he meets Helen Rossi. He explains that this letter will give her more information than she ever had in the beginning about her family. He and Helen traveled together to various places including England, Romania and Turkey. They are approached by a Professor Bora, a scholar of Skaespeare, who ask if they are American. Paul (father), Helen, and Professor Bora (Turgut), inspect Sultan Mehmed's box of secrets. While all these new discoveries are happening, I believe there is some sort of romantic tension going between Helen and Paul. They find a name and translate it to Bartholomew Rossi. The Shakespreare professor shows an ancient vampire hunting kit.
Vocabulary:
Acerbic- sharp and fortnight
Lurid-very vivid
Meticulous- showing great attention to detail.
Erudition- profound scholarly silence
Journal Friday November 11, 2011
Now I definitely can't put this book down. So we know the girl finds the letter about how her father has been looking for her mother, but there isn't any more information on that subject. I will probably find it out in the end.
There are a few quotes in the book that I just can't get out of my head.
"Now I fear I may not manage to tell you all you should know about your heritage before I am silenced or unable to inform you myself" (181).
"In the worst case, you will inherit my house, my money, my furniture, and books, but I believe you will treasure these documents I have given to you" (181).
These quotes are just foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen. This expedition that he is taking sounds more like a suicide mission.
So the main character decides to play hooky and take a train to Paris, but unbeknowst to her she has Barley who stops her which I still don't know how he found out. I kind of think that the dad made Barley follow her and be her bodyguard. So Barley believes why she needs to go and search for the truth, and he knows that there are more things coming ahead. The protagonist see two suspicious characters: a lady in dark clothing who was coming near their seats. Luckily, she didn't. You wonder could she be a assassin or someone working with Dracula. She definitely fits the part because of the black and the scarf around her head. She wakes up and finds an old guy reading the paper, but she notices that he hasn't turned a page. It he hasn't turn a page you know something is wrong so he was watching her. You can definitely tell the theme is once again suspicion. It's kind of weird what this girl goes through. I don't know if I would be able to run away from random people who might or might not want to kill me. It is just scary what she has to deal with. Barley suggests that they should get on the next train to Perpignan, and this shows that he's learning more about how she thinks and what she will do next. Yep I still think he's more of a bodyguard in secret going to college. Hey, it happened in the movie First Daughter. So despite the suspicion of weird people following the girl and her bodyguard, the story of her father and Helen is just as good. He and Helen travel together whether it is from England to Communist Romania and Turkey. Wow that's change! They find Sultan Mehmed's box with the name of Bartholomew Rossi on it. Here it goes ago we are finding some sort of clues to get this mystery solved. Scholars in Turkey think he is dead. Helen asks her aunt for information on Rossi. Gee doesn't this sound familiar. Well of course it does because when the teenager pretends to be a Professor and meets Helen, she agrees to talk to her mother in a few years. Okay when Turgut shows the vampire hunting instruments of death, I was just yes finally proof of vampires.
Recommendation
Every time I read this, it just keeps getting better and better. I do have to say that this is getting a little difficult to comprehend because there is a pattern where the books talks a little about the father's past and then the current. It gets a little confusing sometimes.
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