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Loading... The Angel's Game (2008)by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
  
Books Read in 2020 (192) Top Five Books of 2013 (756) » 11 more Historical Fiction (293) Best of World Literature (140) Magic Realism (247) Indie Next Picks (64) Secrets Books (92) No current Talk conversations about this book. Wow, what a very strange book! This one got weirder and weirder as it progressed until at the end I'm really not sure what happened. It calls out to be re-read but I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to go there any time soon. And yes, I did like it but now I think I'm ready for something fluffy. (  ) JudyGibson | Jan 26, 2023 |  In The Angel's Game, several characters believed that books contain the soul of the author and the souls of its readers. After finishing this one, I can believe that a part of me was left behind inside the pages. I feel like someone has ripped out something from inside of me (my soul?), ran it through a food processor and then threw the pieces into the air and let them fall where they will. I still haven't reassembled myself and feel internally discombobulated. Ultimately, I don't know how I feel about the book. The language was gorgeous, and Zafon's translator is amazing. But I can't react to the storyline at the moment... it was intense. I loved the little moments in the book; I just haven't figured it out for the overarching book. (  ) wisemetis | Jan 14, 2023 | https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl9vElDPjEK/ Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The Angel’s Game: So evocative of the time and place you can smell and taste everything he speaks of. #cursorybookreviews #cursoryreviews ( ) khage | Dec 11, 2022 | In The Angel's Game Carlos Ruiz Zafon weaves an intricate tale of love, murder, and the supernatural. When a mysterious publisher offers pulp author David Martin an offer he can't refuse, Martin soon discovers that there is much more than a book at stake. Ruiz Zafon keeps the twists coming throughout the entire book, and the level of suspense continuously builds as Martin tries to find out just what he's become involved in. This is a book to be read slowly and savored. Highly recommended. (  ) lpg3d | Nov 12, 2022 | This is a thriller mystery novel about a novel. It's about writers and being in love with books. There is a lot of mystery and bits of supernatural elements. The Gothic parts are apparent in the mood and the use of buildings especially, which are always huge, dark and gloomy, if not dank, tiny and grimy. I am almost done with it, but man is it a slog to go through. I found that I no longer care about the main character. I just want this story to end. The journey was more interesting than the destination let's just say. The revelations I feel did not warrant the trouble the characters went through solving it. I like the B and C plots more, as I think the supporting characters are better people than the main ones. I think I like the first book more. - - - - - So I just right now finished the book, and surprisingly, I liked the ending. It dipped at the part I was talking about earlier, and I still think that the plot wasn't resolved satisfactorily. Nevertheless, the Epilogue pulled things back together. I still think the main character is unlikeable, and that's the point of that character, which makes him a 'good' character in the sense that his interactions with the other minor characters would be interesting. I hope I am making sense somewhat. Overall, I am interested now in how things would proceed for that character. So if he still appears in the other books I would probably read those too. [My copy](https://i.redd.it/sfu0j7je7fv21.jpg) ( ) rufus666 | Aug 14, 2022 |
 The result is a twisty, sarcastic ode to books, with a satisfying dollop of religious theory thrown in for good measure. On its surface, "The Angel's Game" is a thriller laden with Gothic elements, but readers who need a traditional denouement with answers neatly laid out will come away disappointed. (I definitely had a little moment of "Wait! What? Huh???" at the end.) But while the plot payoff may not be what readers are expecting, the novel itself is such a pleasure to read that the characters could have ended with a rendition of "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow," played on cowbells and a zither, and I would have shrugged it off. “Faust” this isn’t. Ruiz Zafón’s flamboyant pulp epic is something altogether sillier, a pact-with-the-devil tale whose only purpose is to give its readers some small intimation of the darker pleasures of the literary arts, the weird thrill of storytelling without conscience.  Game is a multi-layered confection that combines undying love, magical realism, meditations on religion, the importance of books and a love affair with the vibrant city of Barcelona. Zafon hits the reset button on what it means to be a great writer. His visionary storytelling prowess is a genre unto itself. While much of this novel is highly enjoyable, at some latter point the tongue withdraws from the cheek. In wrapping up a host of absurd sub-plots, somewhere in there the writer loses his sense of humour. When the book ceases to be self-conscious about its own manipulations, it stops being fun. This won’t bother some readers; some will happily dive into the mysticism up to the neck. But others will miss the drollery and sophistication with which the novel began, and for these readers Zafón’s straight resolution will disappoint. Zafon delivers a warning about the dangers of obsession, mixed with an obvious passion for literature and the printed word; his book is also a song of love for Barcelona with all its creaking floorboards and hidden subbasements. A nice fit with the current craze for learned mysteries and for spooks of both the spying and the spectral kind.
In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martin, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. Close to despair, he receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime--write a book unlike anything that has ever existed--a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, and perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home. No library descriptions found. 
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumCarlos Ruiz Zafón's book The Angel's Game was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  Popular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)863.64 — Literature Spanish and Portuguese Spanish fiction 20th Century 1945-2000LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.69)
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