Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Genre: Historical, Horror, Gothic
First published 1999
Narrator: Marcel Navarro
Playtime 7h 55m
Publisher Grupo Planeta
Book description: Fifteen years later, the memory of that day has come back to me. I have seen that boy wandering through the mists of the station in France and the name of Marina has flared up again like a fresh wound. We all have a secret locked up in the attic of the soul. this one is mine. In the Barcelona of 1980, Oscar Drai sounds awake, dazzled by the Mocernista pleasures close to the boarding school where he studies. On one of his escapades, he meets Marina, a daring girl who shares with Oscar the adventure of delving into a painful enigma from the city's past. A mysterious post-war character set himself the greatest challenge imaginable, but his ambition dragged him down sinister paths whose consequences someone still must pay today.
Review:
This was an amazing ride. I might hesitate to recommend this because I'd be scared of people being heartbroken by the stories. It had been a few years since I had last read Zafon's works, and it was a great comeback. The writing style is very particular and it just transports you to this magical place, the setting, and ambiance are so enthralling; it features many of the classics of a gothic tale: doomed love, monstrous creatures, scientific experiments went wrong, and searches through the sewers.
There are two storylines we follow, the preset where Oscar is going through life like any other teenager in his boarding school, and then he meets Marina by accident. He goes into a seemly abandoned house and finds a pocket watch. When another person shows up he runs away from there but he took the watch. When he tries to return the watch he meets Marina and then German, her father. They become close to the young man. We all know where the friendship between the two young people will lead, but it is a very cute journey to watch the friendship blossom into the wonders of first love. The real intrigue begins when the mysterious and enigmatic Marina pulls him into a fascinating adventure as she leads him to a cemetery, where they watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the last Sunday of each month. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, a veiled woman places a single rose on an unmarked grave. They start following like weirdos and trying to figure out the woman's identity and purpose.
Pursuing the mystery of this act leads the two into an unimaginably twisted and grim adventure in Barcelona's underworld and a dark secret that lies beneath the city streets. They come across old crazy doctors making unimaginable experiments, stories of success and backstabbing, of love and despair. It is a rollercoaster of emotions.
Zafón weaves reality and magic, science fiction, and superstition together smoothly and beautifully, where sorrow goes hand in hand with joy and excitement, telling a compelling story shaped in part by Barcelona itself, bringing the city to life for us while telling a tale that is ominous, melancholic, and horrific at the same time.
I almost spent a sleepless night, but had one o the best so far this year. It had been a while since I was able to put off sleep on behalf of reading. Zafon makes great work in creating two intertwined stories full of grief, laughs, and tears. It seems like this story was meant for a YA audience but it's well done that it can be enjoyed by any audience really. I totally recommend this to anyone who loves gothic tales- this one will surely jump to my all-time favorites. I will need to find a physical copy of this one so I can add it to my collection.
I did listen to the audiobook and the effects were fantastic. I am not sure how well the translation was made, it is available and I just hope that the translator managed to capture the magic Zafon means to transmit. I am not sure if I want to try to find an English version in the library or something and compare them. I might try that for a later date. It's a good project idea. No ETA, I am bad at keeping my TBRs as it is.
Anyhow I absolutely loved it!
This was used to cover the challenges:
Around the World: Spain
Read more Latin/Spanish authors ad works in Spanish.
Reread works from authors I have read before.
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