I had always felt that the pages I left behind were a part of me. Normal people bring children into the world; we novelists bring books. We are condemned to put our whole lives into them, even though they hardly ever thank us for it. We are condemned to die in their pages and sometimes even to let our books be the ones who, in the end, will take our lives. – Chapter 39
I read Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind almost three years ago, and while most everyone who’s read that title raves about it, my opinion at the time was a little muted. It was definitely a page turner, but I had some misgivings about the manner in which the female characters were portrayed. So, I really wondered if The Angel’s Game would have those same characteristics. Fortunately, I was happily surprised with this new book in that regard and can even say that I enjoyed The Angel’s Game more than The Shadow of the Wind.
This book is sort of a prequel to Shadow in that the story occurs directly before it. However, The Angel’s Game can be read on its own. You’ll just enjoy it a bit more if you’ve already read Shadow. Conversely, you will also enjoy The Shadow of the Wind more if choose to read The Angel’s Game first. There is a place that is enjoyed in both books:
My favourite place in the whole city was the Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It smelt of old paper and dust and it was my sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to my heart’s content. – Chapter 5
This story is a bit gothic in mood, with books, religion, and violence thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed it and I also enjoyed some of the characters, particularly Isabella. After finishing the book, though, I was left wondering about the reliability of the main character’s (Daniel Martin’s) narration. The ending will definitely have you scratching your head as to what really happened in the story. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as far as I’m concerned. I don’t always have to have things neat and tidy at the end of the book, but I would have liked to read this one in a group to try and get a consensus on some of the plot details. Whether I ever make sense of this one or not, I’ll look forward to Zafon’s next release.
2009, 470 pp.
[Disclaimer: This copy was received from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program]
Unfortunately, it’s been awhile… I’ve been reading but for some reason am struggling to write any reviews lately. I’ve also been succumbing to a guilty pleasure of mine — foreign films. I’m in love with Netflix instant viewing and can’t get enough of it right now. Also, I’ve had some DVDs on my shelves for awhile that I’ve finally made time for as well. So, up first is what I’ve been reading and hope to finish by January, and then on to some short movie reviews.
I finally finished Thousand Cranes by Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata. It’s a short book, but for some reason I couldn’t rip right through it like I usually do with shorter works. It’s about a son whose dead father’s ‘women’ insert themselves into his life. A tea ceremony also had quite a bit to do with the story, but of course I couldn’t quite fully understand the cultural significance of that part.
I’m almost done with Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, which I read to fit into the Canadian, 1%, Book Awards, and Orange January challenges. (I’m a master at overlapping.)
I’ve also started Kafka on the Shore by Murakami to try to fit in one more Japanese title before the end of January. It’s also on the 1001 list.
Now on to my movie madness… With the exception of the first title, all of these are slow character movies. I happen to love slow character movies, so your mileage may vary on these if you don’t have similar tastes.
Lola and her boyfriend Manni must get 100,000 Marks before a certain time or Manni’s probably dead. I’ve had this one on my shelf for awhile, and with great music, dialogue, and action, it’s going to stay there!
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(Kinamand is Chinaman in English) This one really surprised me. Very touching. Keld’s wife divorces him and he marries Ling solely so she can get a visa to stay in Denmark. Will their relationship remain one only of convenience?
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Great movie set during the Spanish Civil War. Carol moves from New York to her mother’s village in Spain and meets her relatives for the first time. I really loved Carol’s spunk and her growth in her family relationships. This one taught me a bit of Spanish history as well.
It was very interesting to watch this one after Run, Lola, Run — some similarities but without all the action. Otto and Ana believe in fate and coincidences. Their names are both palindromes (the same forward and backward) and fairly important to the story. One scene in this movie was so amazing — a shot of the midnight sun moving horizontally to the horizon in the arctic circle. Beautiful!
(This movie has some graphic scenes.)
This was kind of depressing but I liked the story. Apartment dwellers living in a factory town trying to make the best of their lives. Home is still home, no matter the circumstances.
(Graphic scenes and language)
Now I have some more Japanese films on my shelves that I want to get to!
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair was written in 1924, when Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was only 19. It went on to sell millions of copies over the years and was translated into multiple languages. Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 and died two years later in 1973.
Neruda’s poems definitely have a sensuousness about them, and they also evoke the poet’s passion and pain. I only wish I knew Spanish so I could understand the poems in their original. Poetry must be one of the most difficult of writings to translate, but this dual language edition was penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.S. Mervin.
An interesting note — the cover of the book is Heart by Andy Warhol.
A portion of “Every Day You Play”:
Mis palabras llovieron sobre ti acariciándote.
Amé desde hace tiempo tu cuerpo de nácar soleado.
Hasta te creo dueña del universo.
Te traeré de las montañas flores alegres, copihues,
avellanas oscuras, y cestas silvestres de besos.
Quiero hacer contigo
lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos.
My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
I go so far as to think that you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want to do with you
what spring does with the cherry trees.
There are times in life — not many — when you can see, with dizzying clarity, the fatal fork in the road represented by one small act, the catastrophe that lurks behind a trivial decision.
A few weeks ago I posted about the literature in translation I had read so far this year and was surprised to note that I hadn’t read any titles translated from Spanish. Even though I should have saved this book for the Latin American Challenge in 2009, I decided to go ahead and read it because I really wanted a Spanish title on my list for this year.
Guillermo Martinez is a writer I’ve been meaning to read for awhile now because he’s from Argentina (which I visited earlier this year) and he’s also a professor of mathematics (and I’m a geeky former engineer). I had known about his book The Oxford Murders and I plan on reading it in 2009. I really want to know how he combines math with murder in that one!
The Book of Murder isn’t about math, but it does take place in Argentina. It begins with the narrator (who is a novelist) receiving a desperate call from Luciana, a girl who had worked for him previously as a transcriptionist. She has had several tragedies in her life, but she doesn’t believe any of them are accidents. She believes another novelist, Kloster, is the one responsible, and she needs the narrator’s help to prove it. But is Luciana even sane? She has spent time in a mental hospital, after all…
I really enjoyed this book and Martinez’ writing. I’ll definitely be looking forward to The Oxford Murders in 2009.
Short Story Monday This book of stories by Roberto Bolaño is a NYT Most Notable Book. Bolaño is a Chilean author whose book The Savage Detectives was named to the most recent NYT Most Notable list as well. It seems to be getting a lot of buzz on many ‘Best of 2007′ lists. Although Bolaño died in 2003, some of his works are just now being published in English.
The settings of these stories are in Chile, Mexico, Spain, and many other countries. It has a very international feel to it. Bolaño’s writing is fascinating. Without really enjoying many of the stories, I still felt compelled to read them. There is always something literary going on; perhaps that’s why they intrigued me. However, many of the stories just had too much violence and seediness for my taste–otherwise the book would have had a higher rating from me.
I’m curious about The Savage Detectives, though, and I may try to read that one in 2008.
2006 (for the English translation), 219 pp.
Rating: 3.5
I had always felt that the pages I left behind were a part of me. Normal people bring children into the world; we novelists bring books. We are condemned to put our whole lives into them, even though they hardly ever thank us for it. We are condemned to die in their pages and sometimes even to let our books be the ones who, in the end, will take our lives. – Chapter 39
Run, Lola, Run
Kinamand 
Carol’s Journey
The Lovers of the Arctic Circle
Something Like Happiness
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair was written in 1924, when Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was only 19. It went on to sell millions of copies over the years and was translated into multiple languages. Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 and died two years later in 1973.
This book of stories by Roberto Bolaño is a NYT Most Notable Book. Bolaño is a Chilean author whose book The Savage Detectives was named to the most recent NYT Most Notable list as well. It seems to be getting a lot of buzz on many ‘Best of 2007′ lists. Although Bolaño died in 2003, some of his works are just now being published in English.
