The Second History Lesson.

"Dark was coming in early already, and with it arrived a gloomy slanting rain. i find this the most appealing kind of autumn evening, not the most dismal, so i felt only a faint shiver of premonition when my hands, searching for ten minutes reading fell casually on the antique volume i had been avoiding. i had left it tucked among less disturbing items on my desk. i sat down there and opened the book. immediately i became aware of something very strange. a smell rose from its pages that was not merely the delicate scent of aging paper and cracked velum. it was a wreak of decay. a terrible sickening odor. a smell of old meat or corrupted flesh. the little volume seemed alive in my hands, yet it smelled of death."

this passage helps characterize Professor Rossi. it shows that he is not a fearful man, but calm and collected for the most part. the book is a symbol for Dracula and the undead. the scent of decay that is described is the same stench that i would think she come from the undead because they are hundreds of years old, far past simply slight decay.
My questions are...
How could this book smell of decay?
why was he not more scared?
why did he try to hide the book?
what does he mean by "seemed alive"?
something bad is about to happen, isn't it?

The Historian

The way Elizabeth Kostova begins this book is very unique. she begins it as though she wants the reader to believe this piece of fiction is just the opposite. true words spoken written and recorded in a journal format that cause fear for your own survival. The author begins the journal at the very end it seems. she begins by telling the beginning, switching between the accounts of many those involved. Kostova begins by sharing with us the making of this journal and her compiling of all the information gathered. she them goes on to thank those that helped her and tell what got all of the curiosity started. she does all of this to try to convince us that we are reading true accounts of Dracula, and surprisingly, she does this very well. in the midst of reading simply her opening, i was excited to hear real tales of Dracula and his horrible past... and present.


"As a historian i have learned that in fact not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. and it is not only reaching back that endangers us, sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws."

Kostova scares us with this passage. she has just begun to tel us about the focus of her journal, and these two sentences spark a number of questions.

Who doesn't survive?
what happened to her mother?
can history really be that frightening?
does she reach back into history?
what does she mean by history reaching forward?
can history reach forward?

In saying this, she develops her character. she makes aware her fear and love for history and the enjoyment she gets from the danger of it. also this passage foreshadows upcoming events, making it seem as thought history will somehow attack them or put them in some form of danger.