Carlos Ruiz Zafón (1964–2020)

Sometimes a story needs to go beyond our base reality and travel into a strange and bizarre alternative that nonetheless can exist all around us in our daily lives. In The Angel's Game we are tempted to expect a down to earth heart-wrenching story of one man's struggle with his existence and his destiny. Perhaps we can call it a unfulfilled love story and even a parable. Clearly we also have a new incarnation of a Faustian tale but most of all we have a good gripping story that will seduce you and not let go until you have read the final page.

Daniel Martin is a writer from a poor family. His father is abusive and he barely remembers his mother who disappears very early in his life. Books are his only escape and fantasy becomes his flight and fight. Through reading and later telling the unfortunate protagonist attempts to maintain some sort of tangible relation with reality. This all changes when mysterious events and an even more mysterious stranger catch him in a series of events he can not escape from and the more he tries the more he gets caught.

A vague man by the name of Corelli asks the writer to pen a book, a complicated nearly impossible book. In return every unspoken wish appears to be fulfilled. A deadly and pending lethal illness disappears, a lovely young assistant turns up on his doorstep and money flows in by the thousands. As this book progresses and as the results of this deal with the devil become ever more apparent and it becomes clear that he was not the only one caught in this self fulfilling trap.

Zafon wrote a smooth first novel when he published The Shadow of the Wind and clearly that first book created great confidence. A confidence definitely earned. In his second novel a certain hastiness slips in between the paragraphs. Characters too often lose their appetite at critical points, and many more such plot devices reveal themselves the further in you get. Clearly the author enjoyed writing this book tremendously and the depth and smoothness of the text is evidence of this pleasure. However at some point the string of unexplained events, endless trail of deaths and lost loves become ever slightly tedious.

Nevertheless this is a great read and a wonderful sequel to the first book.… (more)

This is the third installment of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and is very much a novel for those who want to find out 'what happened'. You will learn many answers about Daniel, Fermin and the others and you will be thrown headfirst into the familiar environment of mid 20th century Barcelona. As usual the writing is smooth and this one has some good humorous lines and situations.

It is however not the same quality plot and narrative as the two earlier novels. You need to be fairly familiar with the other books to understand the deeper meaning and all the hinted at threads. Also this book is really short, something the publishers tried to hide more by making the font extra large and formatting the text close to double spaced. Perhaps the author was rushed to publish a next installment as fast as possible, in which case he firmly steps into Alexandre Dumas' career. Something the author appears to be aware of since he recycles a complete plot with all the trappings from The Count of Monte Cristo.

If you're a fan of the series then this is certainly worth a read. Not sure how well it reads otherwise. The end of the novel hints at further adventures and installments but hopefully the author starts on a blank sheet and writes a complete independent story.… (more)

The Shadow of the Wind is wonderfully atmospheric, descriptive and a totally compelling read.

Barcelona 1945 and the aftermath of the Spanish civil war. An antiquarian book dealers son called Daniel mourns the loss of his mother. His father takes him to the secret and mysterious cemetery of Forgotten books, Daniels choses a book called the Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax and when he sets out to discover the authors other works, he makes a shocking discovery and here the story begins.

A historical fiction novel that for me read more like a gothic style mystery which is my favourite type of novel. I really enjoyed the sense of time and place in the novel and enjoyed reading about landmarks in Barcelona which I really want to visit on finishing this novel.
I love books about books and this one is unique and different, It’s a quiet sort of novel and yet it totally absorbing and a really well crafted mystery.

A lot of characters to keep track of in the novel, and at times I felt I struggled with keeping track of all the characters but this but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.

A Gripping tale, suspenseful, atmospheric and extremely well written novel for lovers of books about books.… (more)

Read for irl book group. I may change my rating dependent on what I learn from others' insights there. Most reviewers on GR seem to be so enchanted that they cannot think or write clearly of the true value of the book.

I did not read it earlier because I saw the cover, heft, and blurb and was intimidated. I thought it would be even more gruesome than it is, and that it would be Literary. But it's not so literary, after all. It's more of an homage to, and gentle spoof of, Victorian and Gothic literature.

In some ways this is brilliant. I can definitely see the appeal.
There are some original insights, an intriguing mystery, a setting that is a character in its
own right. In fact, despite my tepid rating, I was so engaged I never thought of putting it down.

However.
It's overrated.

Parts are unintentionally funny, including the attempts at colloquial language by the translator, ie 'how come' instead of 'why.' (I almost wish that this had been designed the way translated poetry often is, with the original on a facing page.)

Parts are gratuitously gruesome.
As a whole, it's unpleasant. Especially, it's misogynistic.
I'm not saying the author is, but I am saying that almost every character is, including most of the women. Fortunately, the writer doesn't make the characters or events come fully alive. Honestly, I didn't care very much when people were being beaten, burned, etc.

Coubert's identity is obvious from the beginning. The layers of mystery, red herrings, etc. might make a reader feel that more is going on here of weight, moment, significance, than really is, but honestly this is just another melodramatic thriller with pretensions to Literature.

My bookdarts aren't examples or samples, per se. But the author saw fit to write them and not
excise them, so, since they stood out to me, here they are:

"Like the good ape he is, man is a social animal, characterized by cronyism, nepotism, corruption,
and gossip. That's the intrinsic blueprint for our 'ethical behavior.'"

"[He] had the soul of a poet, and therefore the soul of a murderer."

But why couldn't our boy just mind his own business in the first place?
How would things have turned our differently if he had?
I must admit, even with all the info-dumps and recaps, the timeline shifts confused me and I couldn't even begin to untangle the mystery at the pace that Daniel was doing so.

I am looking forward to discussion, but I'm also looking forward to returning the book to the library and to not thinking about it more. I'm not going to contemplate it more now in order to write a better review, that's for sure.
....
Discussion was not fruitful, in part because only three of us read it. The other two members did like it. Rating lowered, and thoughts unchanged. Desire to post more detailed reaction still nil. Sorry.… (more)