Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
 Excellent book. September 17, 2008
I read this book in spanish and loved it. look forward to reading more of Zafon's work.
Masterpiece!!! August 26, 2008
If you can read Spanish, this is a must. The plot of the book is simple, yet addictive after the first few pages. One really gets the felling of being in Barcelona at the time.
I could say more, but I wouldn't want to spoil such an captivating book.
 Just for entertainment... August 7, 2008
I won't lie.. I'm a bit surprised by all the praise this book has received. Mr. Ruiz Zafon is indeed a talented writer, but comparing him to Garcia Marquez and Borges is a little too much in my humble opinion. (I mean.. really??!! Is he really up there with a Nobel-prize winner??!!)
Not to trash unecessarily this book. Don't get me wrong: it is good. Not excellent, not a classic but good nonetheless. It is engaging, fresh and well written. It flows and, considering that this book is over 500 pages, it is quite an achievement. It never gets tedious.
However, (and here comes my surprise) I really think the vocabulary is... odd. Everyone else seems to be praising it but for me it seemed as if Mr. Ruiz Zafon was using the synonyms tool in Word a little too much. I read the book in Spanish, my mother language, so no awkward translations were involved. The magic of writing, at least to me, is to describe moments, characters, things with words that exactly fit the ocasion. And, unfortunately, I never felt that in this book. The author kept on showing off (so to say) his vast vocabulary (or using the synonyms tool in Word) but never really hitting the nail. At times, I found myself thinking: "ok man, now you are trying way too hard!".
The book was recomended by some friends of mine that aren't native speakers. So I guess that, in that sense, this book is actually very helpful for people learning Spanish. It definitely would help them increase their vocabulary. But as a native speaker is just... odd.
Also, the plot turns cheesy at times, especially towards the end. It lacks some creativity there. But in general is alright.
So, as a summary: good book, fresh, entertaining. Recomended for people learning Spanish or if you want something to entertain yourself during a long flight.
A book that inspires August 5, 2008
My mom gave this book to me as a birthday present. I read it in a week only because I had school and was impossible to be glued to the book...although I did try. Its just that good.
I believe the most memorable thing about the book its the beauty of the story: learn from the past to create your own present.
This book is a mastepiece by Zafon in which we can still see a similarity with previous books (Marina, El Principe de la Niebla) but I feel he wrote this book with a more mature sense of self and a new light of his own writing skills.
I say its a book that inspires because it touches your heart in a way that you can feel what the characters feel. You can live the situations, see the places.
Its the book we all wish we could write. Its a story we can all tell. A love story we will like to experience. An adventure waiting to happen. A mystery within each page and an inspiration for every dreamer out there.
Trust me you will not regret reading this book. And you will probably read it a lot. So if you can sit and enjoy
 perdida de tiempo July 12, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
este es un libro intelectualoide y pedante, con grandes aspiraciones y pocas gratificaciones...
escrito por alguien que obviamente se cree demasiado grande, pero escribe como un chico...
personajes de carton y una historia caprichosa e infantil (para un intelectual)...
por supuesto esta escrito como si fuera IMPORTANTE... pero es puro palabrerio, sin mucha substancia...
buenas criticas por parte de otros intelectualoides que aman el lenguaje grandilocuente aunque sea solo gas...
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