Books
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
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Prisoner of Heaven |
The third in his cycle of novels is again set around the Sempere & Sons bookshop. Set in 1957 a man enters the bookshop, buys and inscribes the most expensive book. This sets in train the back story of imprisonment and betrayal. Not the magic of the first book but the gothic atmosphere, characters and story are entertaining and absorbing - Fermin is a treat. More to come.
(Christine Miller - bwl 66 Autumn 2012) |
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The Angel's Game |
I was disappointed by this book having enjoyed Zafon's Shadow of the Wind (bwl 28 and 47). Whilst he is able to create great atmosphere the intensely gothic approach of Edgar Allan Poe does not come off when set in the 20th C. The tale develops into farce by the end and I was left unsure whether this novel was a ghost story, a horror story or neither. The clumsy translation is also irritating.
(Judith Peppitt - bwl 57 Summer 2010) |
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The Angel's Game |
I read this because I thought Zafon's first book was brilliant, this one was a very pale imitation of the first, and very difficult to follow, extremely complicated, and most of it didn't make sense. Really bad. Shame. The first one made one feel one was in Barcelona, this one, one needed a pull-out map.
(Margaret Knott - bwl 57 Summer 2010) |
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The Labyrinth of the Spirits |
If you're a Zafon fan, you won't need urging to read this fourth book in his series centred around the Cemetery of Forgotten Books (see previous bwls). They can be read in any order but really you should begin with The Shadow of the Wind which sets the tone of all the others and is in fact the best. Gothic, exuberant, full of twists and turns, it gallops along which is good because it is huge and in hardback very heavy!
(Jenny Baker - bwl 92 Spring 2019) |
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The Shadow of the Wind |
Post-war Barcelona, 10 year old Daniel is taken by his father to 'The Cemetery of Forgotten Books' where he must choose and adopt one for life. He becomes obsessed by his choice and as he grows up he discovers several others inordinately interested in trying to discover more about its mysterious author, Julian Carax, whose life at moments seems to strangely mirror his own. Part atmospheric thriller, part love story, with a cast of brilliant characters.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 28 February 2005) |
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The Shadow of the Wind |
This is a book which is difficult to précis - a mystery, a love story, a story about loyalties both adhered to and discarded, it is beautifully written and gripping until the very end (even though I had solved the "mystery" about a third of the way through). I was constantly struck at the clever invention of the plot and although it isn't short I read it in two sessions. Riveting and very satisfying!
(Julie Higgins - bwl 47 September 2007) |
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