ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601120088
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY WENDY MORRIS|
THE BLOOD COUNTESS. By Andrei Codrescu. Simon and Schuster. $23.00.
"The Blood Countess" is a novel in two parts, the intertwining stories of Countess Elizabeth Bathory and her 20th-century descendant Drake.
Elizabeth's story reads like a biography, dry and often detached. The author even includes references and quotations from other sources. And like a biography, there is no evident plot beyond the progression of events of her life leading to her trial and imprisonment.
Drake's story, presented as a first person court testimony, is more interesting. He describes his return to his native Hungary where he is immediately caught up in mysterious circumstances he does not understand.
``The Blood Countess'' is an unpleasant novel, filled with sex and torture. Elizabeth tortures and kills hundreds of girls for amusement and in efforts to preserve her own beauty. Since the Countess is an actual historical figure, it is difficult to determine to what degree, if at all, the excesses described are the author's own fiction.
The author himself, Andrei Codrescu, is an NPR commentator who, like Drake, is from eastern Europe. On the radio he speaks with a heavy, lyrical accent, and you can hear the accented cadences of his speech echoing in his written words. This is the only pleasant thing about the book.
Wendy Morris lives with her husband, her cat and a growing number of books.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB