WEEK 5 DISCUSSION

[Fireflywishes]

I'm opening this thread so people can discuss this weeks reading. I will add discussion questions soon but please post your own thoughts, observations, questions, etc.

There aren't very many questions this time around, everytime I wrote down a question it'd get answered in the next chapter or so, so I had to cross it off the list!

Do you think the last article/work that Rosi was studying had something to do with his disappearance (The Ghost in the Amphora) since it was related to vampire folklore?

(roughly pg. 374) "At that moment, the world in which I had grown up, its reserve and silences, its mores and manners, the world in which I had studied and achieved and occasionally attempted to love, seemed as far off as the Milky Way." Can you relate to this quote? Have you ever had a moment like this before? If so, care to share?

What do you think happened/what is the reason that Rossi didn't remember going to Romania? Do you think Rosi was telling the truth when he claimed he'd never been there? Thoughts about this whole situation?

What are your thoughts of Helen's ancestry (now that we know she is a descendant of Vlad Dracula)?

Helen told Paul that there are certain times her bite hurts even though its healed - is there a reason for this, in your opinion?

What do you think about Turgut and Selim Aksoy when they say they "work for the sultan" ?

[Fireflywishes]

Sorry for the delay in discussion questions - they are posted (above) now.

[PFMdg]

OK, I totally botched it....I caught up on week 4 then read through week 5, then I could not answer the week 4 questions for fear of giving something away!! At that point though, I did agree with Sunshinejenn, I thought Dracula was in France. Now, I'm on the Bulgaria train....figuratively, of course!

Do you think the last article/work that Rosi was studying had something to do with his disappearance (The Ghost in the Amphora) since it was related to vampire folklore?

Yes, I suspect that when you get too close to uncovering something, you get stopped....I'm not convinced Rossi is alive at all.

What do you think happened/what is the reason that Rossi didn't remember going to Romania? Do you think Rosi was telling the truth when he claimed he'd never been there? Thoughts about this whole situation?

What are your thoughts of Helen's ancestry (now that we know she is a descendant of Vlad Dracula)?

I'm not convinced it was Rossi who went to Romania, I suspected it might be Dracula posing as Rossi. Then, learning that Helen's mother descended from him, it got a bit skeevy. I'm still not buying that Rossi would abandon her...that's horrible, and he seems a loyal sort of guy. I also don't quite buy that he would forget - Dracula wants to keep them apart....if in fact it was even really Rossi.

Helen told Paul that there are certain times her bite hurts even though its healed - is there a reason for this, in your opinion?

I think she was targeted not only because of Paul and the usual circumstances, but also because she is a blood relation. It could hurt because of proximity to Dracula, but could it also be because it is genetically in her blood as well?

Also, I'm noting that the Dracula hunt seems to launch significant relationships...obviously Paul & Helen...anyone think the author & Barley will stay together?

[Fireflywishes]

I'm thinking the same thing about Barley and Paul's daughter.. I think if they don't at least have some kind of romantic relationship in the end, they will at least stay very good friends.

I think it's an interesting clue that Rossi's name turned up on that bibliography sheet or whatever it was that was in that chest from the archives in Istanbul. If I remember correctly it said Ghost in the Amphora with Rossi's name as the author, or am I mis-remembering now that I have the Ghost in the Amphora stuck in my head? It seems almost like Dracula is interested in his own history, and using these historians to collect it for them - and maybe once they collect enough of it, or get too close to knowing the truth, he snatches them up?

I think it was definitely Rossi that went to Romania.. I just think something happened to him right after he left that made him lose his memory - because, I agree with you, he's not the kind of cad who would just leave like that. And he really did love her, it's especially obvious from the letters that she kept. He had real plans to come back for her.

I'm REALLY curious about when Helen got her dragon tattoo. Because Helen's mom got hers before she could even remember - so probably a baby, and her dad gave it to her becaue he thought she'd grow up to be the ugliest. Somehow I don't think Helen's mom would have thought the same thing about HER daughter.. so who gave Helen her tattoo?

[goodword]

I also thought that the disappearances might have been linked to the people getting too close to the truth.

I really want to believe that Rossi is a good man--how could he have forgotten visiting Romania? It must be some kind of brainwashing. Or maybe he also has a scar, and the scar does something to the memory.

I wondered if Helen's scar hurt more when she was close to Dracula--or to someone working for him. When she is in particular danger.

[PFMdg]

I'm thinking the same thing about Barley and Paul's daughter.. I think if they don't at least have some kind of romantic relationship in the end, they will at least stay very good friends.

I hope so. I have to keep remembering that she is only 16, so I am hoping that an afterward might allude to it since she is writing this as an adult...

I think it's an interesting clue that Rossi's name turned up on that bibliography sheet or whatever it was that was in that chest from the archives in Istanbul. If I remember correctly it said Ghost in the Amphora with Rossi's name as the author, or am I mis-remembering now that I have the Ghost in the Amphora stuck in my head? It seems almost like Dracula is interested in his own history, and using these historians to collect it for them - and maybe once they collect enough of it, or get too close to knowing the truth, he snatches them up?

Excellent point! I did not consider this at all. It makes a ton of sense, especially because Dracula is clearly an egomaniac, engendering a cult of worshippers.

I'm REALLY curious about when Helen got her dragon tattoo. Because Helen's mom got hers before she could even remember - so probably a baby, and her dad gave it to her becaue he thought she'd grow up to be the ugliest. Somehow I don't think Helen's mom would have thought the same thing about HER daughter.. so who gave Helen her tattoo?

I suspect that this is some sort of family tradition that Helen's mother was bound to continue. It may well be that although the parent has the choice of which child receives it, Helen's mother knew that leaving Romania and going to her sister, that she may never find Rossi, may never marry or have another child, so Helen had to have it.

Also, if so, did Helen forward-practice the tradition, as in, does the author have this?

I wondered if Helen's scar hurt more when she was close to Dracula--or to someone working for him. When she is in particular danger.

Very interesting idea....and creepy too!

[sunshinejenn03]

What do you think happened/what is the reason that Rossi didn't remember going to Romania? Do you think Rosi was telling the truth when he claimed he'd never been there? Thoughts about this whole situation?
A- Where was he before Greece and Romania? I can't seem to recall right now...was that when Rossi ran into that weird guy while looking at the maps? And then he went on to Greece (or so we thought)? Grr, wish I had bookmarked it! I think he doesn't remember Romania. That's for sure. However, Helen's mom does say that vampires take many shapes... ????

What are your thoughts of Helen's ancestry (now that we know she is a descendant of Vlad Dracula)?
A- I knew she was when Turgut displayed the painted portrait of Dracula and Paul mentally connected the similarities to Helen. Ha, should have mentioned it, didn't think to!

Helen told Paul that there are certain times her bite hurts even though its healed - is there a reason for this, in your opinion?
A- Vamp venom, yo. Vamp venom.

[sunshinejenn03]

WHO is the woman in black???? I originally thought it was Helen, but don't Helen and Paul see her, too, on their journey?

Could she also be Dracula, in one of his many shapes?

[Fireflywishes]

WHO is the woman in black???? I originally thought it was Helen, but don't Helen and Paul see her, too, on their journey?

Could she also be Dracula, in one of his many shapes?

I can't recall a time when Paul and Helen saw a woman in black.. doesn't mean it didn't happen though - there's so much going on in this book I really should be taking notes as well as writing down question as I read LOL

A- Where was he before Greece and Romania? I can't seem to recall right now...was that when Rossi ran into that weird guy while looking at the maps? And then he went on to Greece (or so we thought)? Grr, wish I had bookmarked it! I think he doesn't remember Romania. That's for sure. However, Helen's mom does say that vampires take many shapes... ????

Before he went to Romania he was in Istanbul, that's where he saw the documents from the trunk (the same trunk/chest that now holds the bibliography with his name on it) .. I do believe it was in Istanbul that he was looking at the maps and that guy came in and basically scared him off. From there he went to Romania (because he wanted to see if there was an area there that resembled the maps he saw, i think??) and to also visit the area of Transylvania, he was only going to Greece after ROmania because he was asked to help out on another dig and he thought the colleagues working that dig would be able to help him out later in his career.

I agree with you that he definitely doesn't remember Romania.. I firmly believe he really went there though (I don't think Dracula disguised himself as Rossi) but it's interesting that you'd link the guy he encountered while viewing the documents in Istanbul to his lost memory in Romania.. again, never thought of that before but maybe he got bit in Istanbul during that incident (doesn't remember that part) and got bit once again while he was in Romania (and thus doesn't remember being there either..)

Now that you reminded me of a thought I was going to mention before, about vampires being able to change shapes - that spider spinning it's web on Helen's back while they were out on the bridge looking over the water.. and if I'm remembering right, Helen's bite was hurting her.. it made me wonder if the spider was actually a vampire..

[sunshinejenn03]

I thought that too. He also saw what he thought were more bats again in this set of chapters.

I thought Helen and Paul saw the woman in black at a bus stop while in Romania. Darn I wish I could find it. Maybe I'm thinking of the narrator but I coulda swore it was Helen and Paul. I remember something about "she pressed her face into the red nosegays.".
I need to look it up.