The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

HRevvdon@evpl — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:31:00 GMT

Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s novels feature a very human hero and several cynical malevolent bad guys in sleazy film noir settings. They are ominous and foreboding. They are also well written and unpredictable. I finished reading The Angel’s Game (2009) last week; well actually I listened to a download from EVPL. I thought listening to it would help me follow the twists and turns, which it did. However, despite a very good reader I lost some of the pleasure of reading the writing. I enjoyed The Angel’s Game more than Zafon’s other novel, The Shadow of the Wind (2005).

David Martín, is the young hero and narrator The Angel’s Game, and is tormented soul – undereducated, orphaned, and alone in the word save one or two good men who have been his benefactors while growing up. Martin is also a tormented writer turning out a “penny dreadful” newspaper serial called “The Mysteries of Barcelona.” His success with the newspaper serial does not lead him to write a great novel, but a series of books entitled “City of the Damned.” Martin is approached by a mysterious publisher, Andreas Corelli, who entices him to write a book for him, a writing espousing a new religion; he begins to believe he has made a deal with the devil. The project Corelli has hired Martin to do involve him in all manner of deceptions and crimes, including a fair number of violent deaths.

David’s saga starts in the final days of World War I and ends with a spooky epilogue in 1945 in a dark Barcelona. The plot is an elaborate pact-with-the-devil filled with love, hate, and violence.

"The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

MediaPhile@evpl — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:13:00 GMT

If you read and enjoyed Ruiz's international bestseller "Shadow of the Wind," you should probably read his newest (and related) novel "The Angel's Game." This is the second in a series of novels that will all link back to the fictional Cemetery of Forgotten Books featured in "Shadow."

"Angel's Game," set in gothic 1920s Barcelona, centers around an impoverished pulp fiction writer, David Martin, who unwittingly sells his soul to the devil. He finds, of course, that he has made a terrible bargain and must pay a price.

The plot is labyrinthian. Either read this one really carefully the first time, or plan on reading it twice in order to grasp all the threads. I read it twice, and am glad I did.

The author's website is full of intriguing tidbits, including downloadable Barcelona wallpaper and original soundtrack music composed by the author.

Books Blog : shadow of the wind

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

"The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon