IRA# 5

The Historian


Themes:


Always traveling- It seems like wherever they go, Helen and Paul just can't stay in the same place. They go from Oxford, to Istanbul, to Budapest. 


Romantic tension between one another- At first. I really didn't think that Helen was seen as more than a colleague, but now after reading and feeling their love for each other, but they just don't take it to the next level. They remain colleagues for now.

Distrust and Secrets- When having access to these kinds of historical documents, you can't rely on anybody. You can only very few people because everything bad is happening. Innocent people are being harmed just by knowing this information. Every time, Paul and Helen go someplace to learn more, they risk their lives and somebody else's.


Vocabulary:


Peremptorily- positive or assertive in speech and tone (291).


Virility- loving your characteristics such as masculinity (295).


Voluble- continuous flow of words (299).


Redolent- having a pleasant odor; fragrant (301). 




Summary
Chapters 35-41


Turgut suggests an expert that has connections with the library and specific documents. Paul and Helen find out that this expert is an impostor and a vampire. Helen scares him off. They find out that the three maps that were in their possession about Dracula's location have been stolen. While this story is going on, we switch back to the present where Barley and the protagonist are staying in a barn in Boulois, France.  Then we switch back to the previous story. Paul is looking at the Topkapi Palace where many people were put to death by Dracula. Paul and Helen take a plane from Istanbul to Budapest, where Paul will give a lecture on the Ottoman Domination of the Carpathians at the conference. Paul meets Helen's aunt Eva and figures out more information. He inquires about how the aunt is so high up in government that she can sneak an American into a communist country.


Friday, Nov 18, 2011


The main point is that you can't trust anybody in this story. You can't say a word about anything to anybody. We know this because of what happened when Paul and Helen were accompanied back to the books store by the so-called expert Selim. However, we know that that expert was not Selim, but most likely a vampire. HA HA Vampires in Istanbul? No! I'm just being sarcastic that's basically where they were popular. Everyone wants to get a hold of the documents to cover up the fact that Dracula is still alive. Why wouldn't there be vampires? As we can see nothing is going on with the potential couple Barley and the protagonist, but things are starting to heat up between Paul and Helen. While they are working together, you can tell they both have some form of love for each other.


                         Helen
"If it had not been for my aunt and uncle, my mother might have died. Both of us actually" 

                      Paul


"I'm thankful to your aunt and uncle, too (309).





OK now I am going to answer a question from my last blogs. Who do you think is the mother? I believe without a doubt that Helen is the girl's mother. I really just wish that this novel would kick it up a notch and allow this romance to happen. It is happening way too slow. I really just want to tell each other that they are both in love, but no because they work together. As one of my themes for this perfect couple, I said traveling together because they both want the same thing proof, they want answers, which means they won't stop until they get them.  of course their romantic tension because there is something going on even if they don't want to show it. It has to happen sometime in book because I know for a fact that Helen is the mother.

Next section I want Helen and Paul to admit to each other that they are in love. I want to know more about the protagonist and Barley because they were rarely mentioned. Also, I want to know the protagonist name! This book is so weird! It doesn't seem to give you name until you get to the middle.


Recommendation
I'm still kind of liking this book, but it needs to go faster. I still have trouble telling apart the father's story and reality. Overall this is still a pretty good book. I'm learning a lot about Dracula and how he was a bloodthirsty ruler who killed anybody who was disloyal to him.