Marina

I loved the atmosphere of Barcelona's past that pervades the book, but I never quite bought the fantastic elements of the story. I think that might be the point. As Oscar recounts his memories of the unbelievable events of his sixteenth year, are these memories real or imagined? Marina has fantastic trappings and a gothic feel, but at its heart it's a very simple story of friendship and the memory of first love. Although this isn't the type of book that usually appeals to me, I was attracted to it because the teenage protagonists are the same age as I was during the novel's time frame. The intensely emotional story will appeal to teen and young adult readers.

This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher show more through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. show less

The internets tell me that this book was written before The Shadow of the Wind, which I think was Zafon’s break-out book internationally. Prior to that he was well known in Spain, but not much outside. This first US edition of Marina seems to indicate that has changed. My copy came to me through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, probably on the strength of my having 2 of his other books.

Zafon writes modern gothic and he does it well. It’s not terribly original since he uses the usual tropes of the genre, but he injects enough individuality that it isn’t boring. Far from it. In this one we’ve got a couple of teenagers on the track of a mystery involving the tragic stories of 2 couples where the women were both singers. show more There’s a graveyard visitor who is literally hooded in disguise (and she uses a horse-drawn carriage). Crumbling mansions and a deliciously decrepit theater. Freaks and a doctor named Shelley. A sinister creature who reeks of rotten meat. Possessed puppets. Secret symbols. Cannibalistic butterflies. Abandoned tunnels beneath the city. Insanity. Gruesome surgery. Recluses. The whole thing drips with creepy atmosphere and dread. It’s wicked fun.

Sometimes Oscar was a bit too sophisticated for his years though, remarking about how he likes to observe how women size each other up at a first meeting. Really? at 15? And in a boarding school, how much opportunity would he have had? Also, Oscar and Marina are about the least sexually curious teenagers I’ve ever seen. There are a couple of chaste kisses and some esoteric longing on Oscar’s part, but that’s it. Weird. Especially in 1980 which is the year this whole story takes place.

I raced through it. At times I was reminded of Poe and some of his tragic tales like Ligeia. Then there was a Phantom of the Opera vibe. Then Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau. So if you like all those and can deal with high-flown tragedy filtered through a gothic style with a couple of dreamers for protagonists, this is your book. show less

Marina is subtitled "A Gothic Tale," so I guess that should give you some idea of what to expect. Our narrator is Oscar, a young man who is a student at a boarding school. He stumbles into an overgrown, seemingly abandoned house and leaves with a watch he found there. Finally driven to return it, he meets the occupants of the house, Marina and her father German. From there, mysteries abound - a strange woman in a black veil, the symbol of a black butterfly, a deranged genius from the past.

I didn't realize this was a young adult book going in, and it's not a genre I read. I also have no other experience with Zafon, so I just have to judge it on what I read here.

The good: Zafon takes "atmospheric" to a whole different level. The city of show more Barcelona is a character unto itself, and I swore that I could feel the fog in the narrow streets. (This is really two positives - for setting and for writing.)

Some of the creepy scenes are truly creepy, even from a more jaded adult perspective. I can imagine certain things in here might keep a young adult reader up at night.

If you're going to go gothic, you might as well go full-tilt, with drama galore, and he certainly does that.

The bad: The format of "meet someone, have them tell you a story" is effective at communicating information, but maybe not the most involving way to connect us with Oscar and Marina. I never felt like I really got to know either of them all that well.

The story takes a while to really get going.

So, it comes down overall on the positive side. It's a quick read once you get past the beginning, and it's great for painting mental pictures.

Recommended for: the type of person who would take a "ghost tour" of Barcelona, fans of early horror movies

Quote: "We had reached the enchanted Barcelona, the labyrinth of spirits, where the ghosts of time walked behind us." show less

Supongo que conocen a Carlos Ruiz Zafón [CR], estimados lectores. Hace unos años leí La sombra del viento y lo único que puedo decir es que quedé sobrecogido por el inmenso Universo literario que había creado el autor. Espectacular, estimados lectores.
Leyendo Marina, que escribió dos años antes, me encuentro con un CR que está preparando el asalto a una novela magistral, afilando sables, preparando poleas y engranajes, como el que construye una sencilla parroquia sobre la cual experimenta para construir una catedral más adelante. Ya se intuye, tanto en la trama como en la atmósfera, al CR que se avecina. De hecho, reconocemos en este libro muchas ideas, hechos y descripciones que más tarde serían incorporadas a La show more sombra….
Marina habla de un misterio aparentemente sobrenatural en la Barcelona de los años 70. Dos adolescentes se ven involucrados en una historia que pugna por salir del pasado donde quedó enterrada. Finalmente, llegan hasta el final del asunto, mientras a su alrededor la vida no puede hacer otra cosa que seguir su curso, jugando con nuestros protagonistas sin que le importen sus deseos o anhelos.
Qué quieren que les diga, estimados lectores. Adoro a este hombre. Me encanta cómo escribe, porque es que escribe como le da la gana. Empecé la novela una noche a las once y cuando me quise dar cuenta era la una y media, y yo al día siguiente madrugaba, qué desastre, pero al día siguiente no podía dejar de pensar en la novela. El estilo tenebroso de una Barcelona desconocida, iluminada por una luz distinta a la habitual, los personajes tan bien dibujados y la trama, a veces intuida, nos piden que sigamos leyendo.
Una cosa que odio: Dos veces que me he leído un libro de CR, dos veces que he acabado llorando. Ya le vale, joé, que entre lo bonito, lo trágico y lo grandioso me satura los niveles y me pongo a echar lágrimas. Sé que CR tiene dos libros más aún, escritos antes que éste y que La sombra del viento. Los leeré, no me cabe duda.
Mi nota: Rematadamente bueno. show less

Published in Spanish in 1999, this book has finally made its appearance in English, and boy am I glad it has. Since The Shadow of the Wind I've read just about everything Carlos Ruiz Zafón has published, and I've enjoyed each of his works to some degree. This one, though, I absolutely loved. A gritty gothic tale of Barcelona, filled with the author's characteristic shiver-inducing atmospherics. The tropes of the genre are put to excellent use here, and I very nearly read it all in one go. More of this, please!

Spanish Edition Review: (5/5)

This book is one of my all-time favorites. Not only does it have the beautiful scenery descriptions of a classic gothic novel, it also shows the beauty of friendship and grief through the lens of a child.

I first read the Spanish edition in one of my university classes, and we were able to have several deep discussions on it, not only surrounding guesses on what will happen next, but on the character's actions and how they relate to one another. It is a book that lives rent free in my head all the time, and it deserves its place there.

This review and others posted over at my blog

I received this book for free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blurb from Amazon: When Fifteen-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in Barcelona, no one knows his whereabouts for seven days and seven nights.

His story begins when he meets the strange Marina while he's exploring an old quarter of the city. She leads Oscar 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 woman shrouded in a black velvet cloak descends from her carriage to place a single rose on an show more unmarked grave.

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her, they begin a journey that transports them to a forgotten postwar Barcelona--a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons--and reveals a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

What I liked:
According to Amazon, this book has been a "cult classic" in Spain (looks like it was published there back in 1999) and I can see why. I will say that I've yet to read anything else by Zafón and now I'm almost afraid to because I worry it won't live up to my extreme love for this book. I have a lot of thoughts on this book, so pardon me if my review is less than coherent.

I was instantly absorbed into the plot and the "old quarter" of Spain that Zafón presents in this book. It's set in the 80's, but in my mind I was immersed in the architecture and gothic touches of the late 1800s. Zafón does an excellent job of describing the old buildings with just enough detail, yet I was free to add in my own touches. I really ran with the gothic theme and I was loving what I was seeing in my head. When I was about a third of the way through this book, I had the idea that it should be a video game - and I mean this as a compliment. I feel the atmosphere Zafón created is perfectly suited to a sort of mystery/adventure/puzzle game - maybe even something like Heavy Rain, where your actions can affect the entire outcome of the game. I just desperately wanted to see the entire world in some sort of animated graphics - I wanted to creep around corners with Oscar, break into crumbling old buildings, and run from the monsters he fought.

I don't want to say too much about the story, because I think you should just read this book yourself. But Oscar and Marina discover a photo album that leads them on a dark adventure. They meet several people who are enmeshed in this old tale and as they speak to each person, the story becomes more layered. It was interesting to try and figure out who was telling the truth, or maybe whose perspective on past events was more accurate.

There was a bit of a horror aspect to this story, but not in a gorey sense. But Zafón did create some...monsters that made my skin crawl a little. Again, I really don't want to reveal too much, but I enjoyed the villain's slow descent into madness and the horror that he became. I also appreciated that the romance in this novel was very downplayed. I am guessing this book is being marketed as Young Adult, due to the fact that the back cover says ages 12+. There was a relationship between Oscar and Marina but it felt so normal to me - it didn't seem forced for the sake of having some romance - and it certainly wasn't the highlight of the book.

I also appreciated Oscar's character flaws. He's not incredibly self confident, and at one point admits to Marina that he's not quite sure where he's going in life or what he wants to do - that really resonated with me, personally. He made mistakes in this book and sometimes his actions led them into deeper trouble. Oscar and Maria often don't know what they're up against or what move to make next.

~

Honestly, I don't have anything negative to say about this book. I flew through it and was left wanting more of Oscar's world. This book made me curious, excited, creeped out and sad - a lovely little emotional rollercoaster! I would recommend it to anyone who likes YA, or adult, gothic fiction or mystery. It didn't change my life, but it was an excellent first impression for Zafón and his prose was a treat to read.

I changed my mind - even if you're not a fan of YA/adult gothic fiction/mystery, just read this book! show less