Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel's Game

[ThRiNiDiR]

Last week I stumbled upon Slovenian translation of "The Shadow of the Wind" (in translation: "Senca Vetra" - [url="http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6903/articleimagesx0.jpg"]image[/url]); was quite surprised by the fact that we actually have a translation, since the smallness of the market etc. etc.

[Dark Wolf]

Funny thing is that "The Name of the Wind" was published in 2005 in Romania, but nobody bothered to promote it.

[Larry.]

That's odd, considering it sold 10 million copies worldwide, with only 2 million being in the US.

[Werthead]

[quote name='Dark Wolf' post='1373050' date='May 28 2008, 14.06']Funny thing is that "The Name of the Wind" was published in 2005 in Romania, but nobody bothered to promote it.[/quote]

A year before anywhere else in the world? :)

I think you mean [i]Shadow[/i] :D

[Dark Wolf]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1374085' date='May 29 2008, 01.03']A year before anywhere else in the world? :)

I think you mean [i]Shadow[/i] :D[/quote]

Obviously I meant "The Shadow of the Wind", sorry :bang: It would have been amazing if it was "The Name of the Wind", it would have made us truly clairvoyants.

[Larry.]

For those wanting to know a bit more about the Cemetery of Lost Books and can't wait until the English translation is released on June 16, I decided to [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/cemetery-of-lost-books.html"]translate a passage[/url] that talks about the Cemetery's presumed history.

[delete this account pls]

Oh, this comes out this year? Cool. I was impressed by Shadow. and I'll definitely pick this up when the translation comes out.

[Larry.]

I'm not for sure, but I think this time the US publishes before the UK, as I seem to recall it being sometime in the autumn for the UK, unless they too have bumped up its release date.

[Larry.]

And because I'm so nice, here's [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-wonder-how-authors-would-feel-about.html"]a bit of dialogue[/url] that happens to contain a character who was mentioned in passing in [i]The Shadow of the Wind[/i].

[delete this account pls]

Nice work on the translations DF :thumbsup:

[Larry.]

Thanks! I thought I'd translate a few of the more beautiful passages in the novel, ones that only hint at the story and don't spoil it for others. It was easier to do than I thought, as I think I spent only 90 minutes combined on both passages.

[Larry.]

[url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-final-zafn-passage-before-longer.html"]This last bit[/url] (which I'll explain more in a review in a couple of days) is going to be tied in with the book's first paragraph.

[Larry.]

And here is a [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/second-revised-review-of-carlos-ruiz.html"]much fuller review[/url], that utilizes those newer translations of mine. Some people might be upset by the thematic discussion, although the ultimate plot twists were not revealed.

[Larry.]

Bumping this for those in the UK who've already read the book and might want to discuss their general impressions (spoilers I guess in the boxes)

[Mexal]

Bumping this for those in the UK who've already read the book and might want to discuss their general impressions (spoilers I guess in the boxes)

Thanks.

I think you're right on target with the themes of the book (and even more on target than I even thought while reading it) and I think that's ultimately what makes it a brilliant book. I agree with you that it's a harder book than Shadow of the Wind to get into because there is a lot of scene setting with David Martin's character but I think it's really rewarding if you can manage through it. I wasn't personally bored at all by it but I can see people who were hooked early on in SOTW having a bit of a problem getting into The Angel's Game.

[kkemikk]

Started reading it today. About 80 pages in and I'm quite enjoying it. I think this will be a superb read again.

Zafon :bow:

[Procrastimancer]

I've just finished The Angel's Game. I had not a single problem getting into the novel and I very much enjoyed it. I feel it benefited (over The Shadow of the Wind) from a better main character, better writing, and a very interesting premise. However, I also feel that it could have done with a bit more explanation towards the end. I was left confused as to what was actually going on. I had ideas of course, but then the very end came along ensured that I couldn't be sure about anything.

The only thing I can be sure of is that I need to reread the both of them.

[delete this account pls]

I totally forgot this was out until I noticed the thread. Just ordered it.

[Arbor Gold]

I've just finished The Angel's Game. I had not a single problem getting into the novel and I very much enjoyed it. I feel it benefited (over The Shadow of the Wind) from a better main character, better writing, and a very interesting premise. However, I also feel that it could have done with a bit more explanation towards the end. I was left confused as to what was actually going on. I had ideas of course, but then the very end came along ensured that I couldn't be sure about anything.

The only thing I can be sure of is that I need to reread the both of them.

Yes, to all of this. Loved the book, but I really have no idea what was going on in the end.

ETA: Alright, I'll kick off the discussion with a question. What's the deal with Corelli?

[Larry.]

Corelli...

SPOILER: The Angel's Game

A.C. in Spanish...and English, I suppose, can refer to a sort of the Anti-Christ. He was a sort of Mephistopheles in this tale and I thought Zafón had him play the roles of Tempter and Accuser quite nicely.

Or did you want to know something else about him?